Rating: 
Summary: What a disappointment!! and for the Booker???
Review: Oh, I was so disappointed in this book! A Booker prize spent on a wonderful author's least successful novel (where were they handing out prizes when she wrote "Alias Grace"?). The story opens and is narrated by the aging Canadian Iris Griffin Chase who has had a less than positive life experience. She and her younger sister, Laura, are raised in money but their father loses much of it in the Great Depression. Iris is married off to a young wealthy associate of the father's, and Laura - who is ethereal and dreamy and weirdly naïve eventually lives with them briefly.
Laura drives a car off a bridge to her death at a young age (early in the book), and Iris, as she is recounting the story of her, basically, is suddenly muted by the interjection of an odd science fiction sort of novel (called "The Blind Assassin") in which two lovers (we never know their names, but later we are supposed to guess who they represent) meet in basements, attics and cheap hotel rooms and tell each other the strange story of the Blind Assassin. So we bounce back and forth between Iris's narration of the mysteries of her life including her sister's suspicious death, her husband's suspicious death her daughter's estrangement from her, etc) and these bizarre trysts of story-telling.
This book was incredibly long and ended in a completely unsatisfactory manner - almost as if Atwood suddenly realized how the story was droning on and on and decided it was time to end it. I did not have the same feelings of suspense during the reading of this book that some other have, and the ending did not surprise me. While I appreciated the writing (Atwood is, indeed, a marvelous writer), the character of Iris was irritating and weak and Laura's character was not given enough handling and was therefore not as captivating as she might have been. I kept wishing to 'get into' the Blind Assassin sections of the book but found that even that story line continued page after page to go absolutely nowhere. Ugh! Come on, Margaret, give us another "Alias Grace"!
Rating: 
Summary: brilliant, startling stuff.
Review: I thought this book was amazing. Not only does Atwood weave a heartbreaking, beautiful, tormented tale, she does it with exquisite style and grace. Her words suck you into the page. There were many times (as in all of her books) that I had to stop and reread a line aloud because it was so good- just right on the mark. This is not an easy, blow by the seat of your pants read. If you're looking for late night fluff to divert your attention for a few hours (and there's nothing wrong with that) then I would say: stay away from this book. I don't believe it was meant to be read quickly. I am a fast reader and I generally whip through books... this one takes a bit longer- but it's worth it, and I think it's good when a novel asks you to pay attention. When I finished the book I felt taken aback and admittedly, a bit teary... and, the best part... I just wanted to read it again. It was that good! It's a story about sisters, aging, science fiction, marriage, deception and a gamut of other fantastically written things. GET IT NOW!
Rating: 
Summary: A Brilliant Mixed Bag
Review: No question Margaret Atwood is a wonderful stylist and that she has here written a tour de force in her structuring three stories in one, the stories of Iris and Laura Chase and the science-fiction story within a story, as the lover of both girls, Alex Thomas, tells a gripping tale while making love to Iris. In itself this tale of Alex's could have held my attention if it had not been constantly interrupted to go back to the main tale and, in that interruption, gradually diminished my interest in Alex's story and rendered the main tale slow going. The main story, Iris's, holds most of one's attention but finally shows that Iris is a woman with little spunk over the early years of her life, thus causing misery for herself and her sister. Yet, this is probably Atwood's aim: not to create a romantic heroine, but to show how we can mess up a life through inaction or what James Joyce would call paralysis.
None of the characters in the novel win our sympathy, with the exception of Laura, who spends most of the time in the wings. Alex Thomas, loved perhaps by both sisters, is an unworthy recipient of anyone's love. And Iris's husband Richard and his sister Winifred are Dickensian villains. I found myself marking several insightful passages in the novel, but finally the excessively disruptive nature of the story made me take forever to read it and left me with little satisfaction at the end.
Rating:
Summary: A BIG pleasure; relax and savor the words
Review: I kept putting off reading this book; at 521 pages, "The Blind Assassin" can be intimidating for time-challenged readers. Finally, I read a few pages and was captivated by the writing. Time is relative, so I decided to relax and enjoy it, word for word, no skimming unimportant descriptive passages. Sometimes when pushed for time, I would read only a page, or even only a paragraph or two. And isn't this why we read books like this: literature, where we can savor the writing, as well as the story? For example, this is a book in which the protagonist, as an elderly woman, takes time to contemplate the paradox of doughnut holes (page 310), and wonders if they can be used to demonstrate the existence of God. "Does naming a sphere of nothingness transmute it into being?" Not a critical element of the story, but definitely an enrichment. Thank the literary gods we have authors who can write this way -- and are still allowed to. I bought the book because it is a Booker Prize winner, which it truly deserves (as opposed to that dreadful "Vernon God Little" which won last year). This was my first Margaret Atwood book, so I was surprised at the poetic language, unaware that several volumes of her poetry have been published. On page 43 I knew I was in for a pleasant ride when I read this passage: "For whom am I writing this? For myself? I think not.... Perhaps I write for no one. Perhaps for the same person children are writing for, when they scrawl their names in the snow." There is the true beauty of this book, even more than its clever structure and challenging mysteries. Still, the structure is definitely a work of art: a story within a story within a story, like a Russian nesting doll, and with news clips and even letters tossed in occasionally as clues and atmosphere enhancers. With old, arthritic fingers, Canadian octogenarian Iris Chase Griffen is writing down the history of her family and its disasters, highlighted by the death of her sister Laura who "drove a car off a bridge" in 1945. Meanwhile intervening chapters are devoted to Laura's published novel, "The Blind Assassin," which is a parallel story in which clandestine lovers meet for sex, cigarettes, sousing, and science-fiction story-telling. The man, who is on the run for his life, continues to make up the science fiction story at each rendezvous. All three stories eventually merge, either literally or metaphorically. The result is a major achievement, and I was left wondering how many hours did this author spend bringing together three plots in such a beautiful, seamless fashion. Though the book is long, I now wish it was longer. (Maybe Atwood will work up a sequel, bringing us the story of the survivor.) Meanwhile, read it. Don't rush. Savor the words.
Rating:
Summary: An enriching journey
Review: Margaret Atwood takes what could have ended up being a very long rambling story -- about a woman of some privilege who gets married off as a strategic financial alliance and thus ends up miserable -- and lures the reader in as if this woman's life is the most fascinating life story you'll ever encounter. The story is told in several narratives: the novel within the novel within the novel. The first narrative is, of course, Atwood's; the second narrator is Iris, the protaganist, in her old age, who is writing down the story of her life (she's a crotchety, sarcastic delight); within Iris' own "book," Iris includes the text of her "peculiar" sister Laura's novel, titled "The Blind Assassin," which we read in its entirety in alternating chapters. Atwood/Iris also uses newspaper clippings to tell parts of the story; they are interspersed throughout the book and help authenticate Iris' tale. If all of this sounds confusing, it's not. The story skillfully unfolds and all of it works together, and ultimately comes together, just beautifully. I could offer up a full review, but I'd never do it justice. Easily the best book I read last year.
Rating:
Summary: Captivating novel, Imaginative in words
Review: The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood is one of her best books. It has two parts to it, the real and the imaginary. Both of them are enchanting. The imaginary is haunting and transports you to a different world where children working on carpets with fine thread become blind due to straining their eyes too much and use their senses to commit crimes. It describes in detail the planet of Zycron and the city of Sakiel-Norn. Reading it, one can picture oneself out there. It has elements of the past such as Persian empire and the future thrown into it. The real world is also equally scary. Laura publishes a novel and then commit suicide, but her brother-in-law was for the Nazis before the war. She manages to destroy him, though he tries his best to hold her down. The plot is involved, and intricate but put together beautifully and is enchanting. As in Cat's Eye, this is a book that has elements of fantasy, villany, wit, sci-fi thriller all packed in delicious proportion. Atwood is an outstanding author and captivates the audience with her style of writing and her way of depicting situations is unique. One must not miss this book, it is too magical. It deserves all the praise that it got.
Rating:
Summary: The Booker Prize winner? Surely not!
Review: Atwood writes very well. That's the good news. However, the story is dull, depressing, slow-moving, and obvious--yes, obvious. Virtually all of the plot twists are telegraphed so completely that the book's surprises come as no surprise at all. As the narrator unfolds her life, it is so pathetic and, honestly, uninteresting that one should admire Atwood's fortitude in completing the manuscript. But if you think a famous author and a famous prize make a book worth reading, you're as mistaken as I was! Learn from my mistake!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Story
Review: I really think that Atwood's books only get better. The Blind Assassin is a great tale- I don't feel cheated by it or as though the ending was stunted. Atwood blends the past and present as well as Science-Fiction and love to create a unique tale. Worthy of the awards it won, and fascinating to read.
Rating:
Summary: Such promise
Review: The first line of the book holds such promise for an incredible journey. The book goes downhill from there. Dull. Dull. Dull.
Rating:
Summary: A very good half a book
Review: ...but I feel cheated out of the second half. Atwood spends ~500 pages twisting three stories in and out, drawing connections and parallels that aren't immediately apparent, following the Chase sisters through their childhood and early adult lives, building up to a crescendo of family crisis and betrayal - and then stops. All loose ends are not so much tied up as simply snipped off in a mere 20 pages or so. I feel as though I was told half the story, and then dropped cold.
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