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Summary: A simply outstanding book!
Review: This book is one of the best books I've read all year. I actually listened to the sound recording - which is wonderful - the female reader is one of the best I've ever heard! Do not be discouraged if you are confused in the first few chapters (or listening to the first tape) - hang in there - it's worth it! Atwood's descriptions of ordinary happenings are made magical by her worthy prose - don't miss this book - and this story! A great Christmas gift - especially the sound recording. Be sure to get the unabridged version.
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Summary: The power of the unsaid
Review: One way to appraoch this extraordinary novel would be from the perspective of all that is not said. The narrator of the "Iris" sections sets herself the task to tell, thruthfully, the sad history of her family. As she progresses, however, she is forced to admit that she is leaving vital parts of the narrative out, as if they are just too painful to put into words. Even this she never fully admits to, as she repeatedly tries to relate events without becoming too involved. Yet she consistently fails in this attempt. By the end of the novel, when the "revelation" comes, most readers will have already guessed at it, but Iris herself chooses to leave out the details.Underlying this untold story is the recurring image of a photograph cut in two. The photograph shows a man and a woman together, but where it has been cut, a disembodied hand intrudes. It is this hand, we come to realize, which is the true narrator. Much has been said about the structural difficulties of this novel. Atwood's elliptical approach to the narrative might indeed seem to be a difficulty, but it is herein that the true greatness of the novel lies: the "novel within the novel", i.e. Laura Chase's "The Blind Assassin" harbours within it another novel, namely the science fiction story of the planet Zycron. Here mystical forces and wondrous beings engage in their struggles. These three narratives are interspersed by newspaper articles. All in all it is a tangled web. Through this tangled web, however, the reader is able to piece together the story Iris is not willing to tell. Without the complicated structure most of the meaning of the novel would have been lost. It is, above everything else, one of the most complete and compelling accounts of the complicated business we call "life" I have ever read. As such, a mere retelling of the story would be futile. Using all her powers as both novelist and poet, Atwood has given us an insight into the essence of living against all odds. The imagery is often startlingly evocative, as the wry observations of the ageing Iris is juxtaposed with the raw sexaulity of the anoymous lovers from Laura's novel, which is again juxtaposed with the alternatively magical, cruel, beautiful and sad imagery of the science fiction story. The novel leaves one emotionally drained. Often provoking out-loud laughter and often eliciting wry smiles, it remains a desperately sad work about loss and unfulfilled promise. It is a giant of a book and without any doubt one of the greatest novels I have ever read.
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Summary: The Blind Assassin [UNABRIDGED]
Review: I am reviewing the audiobook version of this novel. It has become my second favorite audiobook of all time (my first is The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell). In fact I finished it last week and began it again this week. I got to work this morning (70 miles) and don't even remember the trip and this is on my second listening. The story is compelling and the reader is excellent.
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Summary: Atwoods Best in 3-D
Review: A complicatedly haunting story with a constantly changing point of view giving it tremendous depth and texture. The amazing thing about the book is that the basic storyline remains solid despite the shifting camera angles, and when the climax finally comes, the complete picture becomes clear and is completely amazing. It's a great combination of a good pop-novel story to keep you turning the pages, and artistic merit with regard to originality of story and development of character. This is probably her best work, combining erotic family issues, sci-fi and social issues. Placing a novel within the novel would seem like pretentious showing off were it not done so well. And that construct gives extra dimensions to the emotions this will stir within you as you savor page after page. Once you've finished it, you'll want to start it again.
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Summary: Wonderful book
Review: Ms. Atwood is a marvelous word craftsperson. Rarely have I read a book in which I felt I knew the characters so well -- and they were not sympathetically presented, yet I felt great sympathy for them. Ms. Atwood manages to find the words to describe that which most of us either register fleetingly, or not at all, and because of that, she sharpens our vision.
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Summary: COMPELLING AS USUAL
Review: I count Margaret Atwood as one of my favorite authors. I have never been so completely addicted to an author's rich language in writing. This is what keeps me coming back for more. There were times throughout the novel when it seemed I didn't really care about the characters. Even to the end, I really didn't have any sympathy for Iris. Did you? I was thrilled at the connection between the two stories told in the novel. So although I don't end up feeling happy after reading an Atwood novel, this one included, I can't help but want more. She's that good.
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Summary: The Blind Assassin
Review: Ms. Atwood has a very vivid imagination and she is able to make the reader see and feel all the emotions that the characters feel. Whenever I finish one of her books I want to discuss it immediately with someone and to double check that I did not "miss" any part of the story. I get so involved with her books that I try to read faster to see what happens. Then I am sorry when it ends but there is nothing left to explore. She has done it all. Amazing!
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Summary: Not like Handmaid's Tale but just as good!
Review: The only other Atwood book I've ever read was The Handmaid's Tale and when Blind Assassin came out, I swore I was going to read it. Thankfully I did because it is really a superb reading. Atwood doesn't disappoint. Not at all. Someone mentioned in one of my clubs that this book was really two stories entwined together throughout the book and I thought, oh geez, I'm going to have to do a lot of backtracking just to keep everything straight. Actually, it flows together beautifully with a twist at the ending ~~ almost as if Atwood was tying up the loose ends of the stories with a bow. You finish the book with a sigh and being totally amazed at Atwood's prowess with words. If you don't have a lot of interruptions, then take the time to savor her descriptions and her voices as a journey through someone's life. If you do have interruptions, reassure that you won't lose the thread of the storyline. You can pick up just where you left it at and become immersed into the story again. I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone! You won't regret it. And Atwood has gained another devoted fan in me.
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Summary: Wealth, Deceit, Illicit Affairs--A Novel Within A Novel
Review: In her ingenious new tale of love, rivalry, and deception, The Blind Assassin, Margaret Atwood interweaves several genres -- a confessional memoir, a pulp fantasy novel, newspaper clippings --to tease out the secrets behind the 1945 death of 25 year old socialite Laura Chase. This Booker Award Winner (named for the voting by British bookies)was an odds on favorite to be exactly that--a winner. Events open with the present day autobiography of Laura's older sister, Iris: The sharp witted widow recalls growing up in a repressive family of wealthy Toronto industrialists -- and how dreamy Laura developed a forbidden interest in a scruffily attractive union leader. Entwined with this saga are marvelous excerpts of Laura's posthumously published novel-- an erotic cult classic called ''The Blind Assassin,'' detailing the illicit affair between an unnamed strike organizer and an heiress, during which the man relates a clever, bedtime sci-fi yarn about a blind assassin who falls for a mute sacrificial virgin. Atwood performs a spectacular literary sleight of hand, fashioning a bewitching, brilliantly layered story of how people see only what they wish to -- and how terrible the consequences of not voicing the truth can be.
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Summary: Blinded by Atwood
Review: Margaret Atwood's latest novel is so lush I felt that I was swimming in words. Atwood's writing style has always been lyrical as in her other novels such as The Handmaid's Tale and Alias Grace. The newest one The Blind Assassin is not only a feast for the literary senses. It's also unique in its structure. This structure is a novel within a novel. Iris Chase Griffen narrates the main novel by telling the events which surround and cause her sister Laura Chase to write a smaller novel called "The Blind Assassin". With newspaper clippings and The Blind Assassin in excerpts, Iris tells of her and Laura's lives and their repercussions in a letter to her estranged granddaughter. Her narration which is set mainly in the first half of the twentieth century portrays the limited roles of women at that time especially well-to-do women. Supporting characters include the sisters' father Norval Chase whose downfall puts them into the hands of scheming brother and sister Richard(who becomes Iris' husband) and Winifred Griffen. World Wars I and II figure into the politics of the novel as well as the fight between communism and democracy. I wish I could write as well as Atwood so that I can properly do her justice in this review. She just has amazing psychological insights; she delves into the subjects in a poetical way. Although her writing style may be obtuse at times, the readers should stick with it so they can have their own epiphanies while reading, that a-ha feeling readers get from great literature. Of course, it's not perfect. The only complaint I have is that the sister's novel is not as compelling as the rest of the book. But that still doesn't detract from the fact that Margaret Atwood is one of our best modern writers. For more of my book reviews, check out the online review site epinions
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