Rating: 
Summary: Heart wrenching and astonishingly lyrical novel.
Review: This is the very first book that I've read, written by Margaret Atwood. Her excellent writing style, poetic prose, unforgettable sub-plots (especially Xenorians, Sakiel-Norn and other mind staggering stories) inside the deeply fulfilling plot made me felt rewarded as a reader after I read the last page just five minutes ago. Iris Chase and Laura Chase, the two main characters, were brilliantly depicted. Reenie's witty remarks, Winnefred's gaudiness, and Richard Griffen's highly ambitious but lurid characters were all portrayed with the guile of a master of art. The soliloquies of the main character are simply unforgettable. I've read few other booker prize winning books in the last few years, The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood is the best among them. I heartily recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Atwood's Flawed Masterwork
Review: This is an amazing novel, and I very much wanted to give it five stars, but the plot and some of the characterizations were surprisingly weak and disjointed. However, by no means should you pass up the chance to read The Blind Assassin! Atwood is clearly at the top of her form here, and her command of the language is nothing short of stunning. Her way of setting a mood, describing small details and employing simile and metaphor make for those small, literary epiphanies that true readers long for! Read this and experience the author's incredible gift for language.
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Summary: Finally--an Atwood I Love
Review: Although I am not usually a Margaret Atwood fan, I found The Blind Assassin the best book I've read this year. This is partly because Atwood, even at her darkest, writes wonderful prose filled with innovative, yet apt metaphors. The Blind Assassin, though, is far more than great writing. Here, Atwood keeps us guessing throughout the entire book about the relationships involving the narrator and her deceased sister. The characters are vividly drawn, particularly that of the chief villain, the narrator's sister-in-law. The plot, subplot, the story that one character, a sometime writer, is fabricating, and excerpts from a novel published by one of the sisters are all beautifully interwoven. The book is set primarily during the era between the two world wars and contains historical background on Canada during this period that is also of interest. This book, which plays with the role of artifice in daily life, is definitely a work of art itself deserving of the Booker Prize!
Rating:
Summary: Haunting
Review: For once, the Booker Prize got it right. I despaired that they would continue choosing bland, but well written novels, ignoring the fact that readers like to be entertained as well as seeing the literary goal posts lifted. The Blind Assassin achieves both. It has a well-plotted story and is written in a free-flowing style that could best be described as 'seamless'.The Blind Assassin tells a story of two sisters. Sometimes the story is told in the first person, so there's no doubt about who is who. Sometimes it's told in the third person, and puzzling out which of the sisters is involved in the plot is the central theme of the book. You'd think, with just two people to choose from, that this would be relatively easy, but it's not. For different reasons, either of them could fit into the action. And (unless you're blessed with 20/20 visionary powers) the ending should come as a complete surprise. The opening chapters were difficult to get into. This isn't an easy beach read (at least, not to begin with). It's stylish and graceful, and it's well worth persevering because, from about page 100 onwards, everything that has come before suddenly starts to slot into place. The characterizations were superb, particularly that of Winifred. Some reviewers feel that her brother Richard was not well characterized, but it was quite unnecessary to do so, since it was clear that Winifred was the driving force behind his success. And this alone demonstrates a skill beyond many writers. The Blind Assassin with haunt you long after you turn the final page.
Rating:
Summary: Seamless Storytelling
Review: This was the first book I've read by Margaret Atwood, and I've already ordered "Alias Grace". She's a storyteller in the grandest sense, with intricately woven plotlines, and engaging and mysterious characters. The two central to this story are sisters, Iris and Laura Chase. The former is our narrator, and she opens the book by recounting on page one the circumstances of her sister's death. From there the book moves from the present, back to the past, and to a novel within the novel that slowly reveals its' origins as the story progresses. This is not a light read, and the multiple stories demand your attention, very much like A.S. Byatt's "Possession." Yet the writing is so rich, and the story so absorbing, I found it a thoroughly rewarding read.
Rating:
Summary: Great Summer read
Review: Take this one along on vacation, if you're looking for a great read many cuts above the usual Oprah selections. Atwood's latest---winner of the Booker Prize--is several novels within a novel--the story of a rich woman's clandestine affair with a leftist agitator in Canada in the 30's, a science fiction tale, the memories and dreams of an old woman full of longing and regret. Atwood leads the reader down many blind alleys and then almost casually reveals that everything that has gone before really happened in a completely different way. Several times I went back to attempt to discover how she did it--why did I so clearly think "X" was the case when now I see clearly that it was "Y" all along? The reader's experience mirrors that of the characters'--Atwood suggests we all live in our own worlds, focused on our needs, desires, and pain, only dimly perceiving what is really going on. Atwood writes in several different styles in this book, with great skill and a real feel for dialogue. You'll enjoy this one.
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Summary: The 30's
Review: The 30's!!! That's what this book envoked in me, what the 30's must have been like: the glamour and the economic despair! Iris marries to survive the depair and finds the glamour not that fantastic. This was an intricate and immaginative read!
Rating: 
Summary: Unreadable!
Review: Unreadable! I wasted my money unless Amazon.com will give me my money back. Atwood can write interesting books with style but this certainly is not one of them. Like an aging tennis player maybe she needs to learn when to quit, or hire someone else to decide on what is a good work of art and what is not. Please don't inflict on us, your adoring public, all your work! --Strephon Kaplan-Williams
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Summary: A Novel with an "Echo"
Review: The Blind Assassin is the first book I've read by Margaret Atwood, and I must say, it was excellent. Although I am usually not fond of a plot that leaves the reader guessing throughout (mostly because the author fails, and I know "who done it" right away), THIS novel kept me guessing right up until the end. Atwood does an incredible job of telling a story within a story (within a story), being careful not to slip and give away the ending. She seems to have a knack for getting the reader to really care for her characters. I will certainly be reading more by this author!
Rating:
Summary: A complex, multi-level delight!
Review: This is my second favourite Atwood novel. I must say I liked Alias Grace better, but in my opinion Atwood is getting much better at telling good stories. Her previous novels (e.g. Cat's Eye, The Robber Bride) had great characters, pithy social commentary, and continually witty turns of phrase, but I couldn't call the plots exactly gripping. The Blind Assassin has all these previous great characteristics, but also kept me intrigued throughout, especially with its mysteries about who is who and writing what. Perhaps I'm a little dense at picking up clues (other I know are better than I am, and found some!) but I could not predict the ending. I knew it wasn't going the direction it seemed, or the semi-obvious alternative -- and I gathered who was the woman having the affair with Alex -- but I wasn't prepared for the final revelation about the famous authoress. And I must say I was far more delighted at being so surprised than figuring it out earlier! Atwood's technique of tossing in non-chronological newspaper articles certainly added to the plot's weavings and untanglings. (And her descriptions of women's clothing are priceless!) I had to go back and forth to find previous references to the same event as stated in the newspaper, or obscure character references, but this didn't detract from the reading experience at all. I like to work a little at my reading, not have it all handed to me plain and simple, and The Blind Assassin is that kind of book! I also really appreciate how Atwood is delving more into Canadian history for her novels, how the socio-political scene affected, and was affected by, ordinary people -- and ordinary wealthy industrialists, of course! Atwood's first sentence alone is a masterpiece: "Ten days after the war ended, my sister Laura drove a car off a bridge." Now that deserves to be in a list of 10 best first sentences of all time! I also love Atwood playing so creatively with sci-fi! I remember hearing her speak about her brother's horde of sci-fi comics, and how she devoured them as well. The sci-fi novel-within-a-novel shows her impish non-literary underbelly -- with the secret, steamy bedroom settings as a bonus! If you're looking for a complex, multi-level novel, that will keep you pondering it's subtleties and implications for months to come, this is it!
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