The Blind Assassin

Rating:
Summary: A Great Novel by Margaret Atwood
Review: Margaret Atwood is yet another author I have mixed feelings about. While I admired The Handmaid's Tale and adored Alais Grace, Cat's Eye and The Robber Bride are two novels that I wish I had never read. I loathed them. Needless to say, I was somewhat reluctant to buy the Blind Assissin. The praise of her talents on the back of the jacket seemed a bit over indulgent, and I have always felt that, like Virgina Woolf, Atwood is all too aware of her powers and will go to great lengths to convince you that she is, in fact, a great writer. She favors unconventional structures for many of her novels (strange structures, even, that often jar the reader as jumps are made between characters and perspectives.) Don't even get me started on the frequently used (frequently mixed) metaphors which litter her pages. Such elements are once again present in The Blind Assassin; this time, however, the leap between different points of view (in this case between Iris' musings and Laura's novel) never feels gimmicky or false. In fact, The Blind Assassin moves smoothly from start to finish, and all of the stories, articles, and reflections pull you deep into the lives of the Chase sisters, and all are essential for the novel's unexpected conclusion. It is positively engrossing (I missed the finals of the US Open while reading this, grrr) and for the first time I began to realize that perhaps Atwood was right all along: she is a great writer.

Rating:
Summary: While admittedly not for everyone.....
Review: Atwood fans will not be disappointed. I was hooked from the beginning. WWII has just ended and 25-year old Laura Chase has just driven off a bridge. Atwood then immediately takes us to Laura's sci-fi novel 'Blind Assassin,' published posthumously in 1947. As the novel within the novel unfolds, so too do the stories of Iris and Laura, WWI & WWII, the labor movement, 1930's Toronto high society and much more. Mystery, sci-fi and romance all wrapped up in one fantastic novel.

Atwood leaves a trail of crumbs that keep the reader hungry for more. I couldn't put it down. I must warn you though, if you're looking for a book that will leave you feeling all warm and fuzzy, this isn't the one. I've been in a gloomy mood since finishing it this morning. But, if you appreciate fine writing that leaves you thinking about life and human nature long after you've finished it, then you'll want to read Blind Assassin.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling, and well worth the reader's effort.
Review: What intrigued me about this novel were the various gimmicks (to use reviewer David Eustace's term). Without them, if the story had been relayed in a chronological manner, all of the mystery and much of the wonder would have been absent. Ms. Atwood has given the reader several challenges with this novel - what events and emotions shaped Iris as we see at the end of her life? Who are the mysterious lovers whose clandestine meetings fill a third of the book? What is the answer to the mystery of both Laura's and Richard's disappearance? And why is the story of the blind assassin integral to the overall novel? I loved putting the clues together bit by bit as I read. This book demands more from the reader than most books, for it is a process that the author and the reader enter into together - a process of readjusting suppositions and unraveling the mysteries Ms. Atwood presents. I only gave it four stars, however, because I found the ending to be unsatisfying. The buildup was much too complex and powerful to be resolved in such ordinary answers. Iris is, however, a completely fascinating character and is well worth the time and effort the reader spends to enter and understand her life.

Rating:
Summary: A book I can put down
Review: I am an avid reader, despite the fact that I work, am training for a marathon, and am the mother of two small children. I generally enjoy mystery/thriller books, however, I like to take a "break" and sometimes read different type books. I rely on Amazon's "Movers and Shakers" and the "Top Selling Books" to help me select a new book. This is actually how I selected this book. I have somehow struggled and read about 100 pages of this awful book. I don't believe I am going to torture myself any more by attempting to get through this 400 page boring book.

I do not recommend this book. The book doesn't flow at all, it is disjointed, too detailed and basically, horrible.

Rating:
Summary: A Double Dose of Atwood
Review: The Blind Assassin contains a novel within a novel and lucky readers get twice the Atwood. This is a tender and poignant story of love, death, family, and high society. All familys have secrets and family members often turn a blind eye to them. This story is a rich study of family and of the time it takes place. In beautiful language, Margaret Atwood takes the reader on a twisting, dangerous road full of hairpin curves and sudden obstacles. I loved the cliches of the '30's and the insights into high society. A complicated, dense novel that packs and emotional wallop.

Rating:
Summary: Bleakly Beautiful
Review: I admit to being an Atwoodaholic--I wrote my master's thesis on Surfacing and paid double the price to have Alias Grace shipped to me from Canada in advance of its US publication date. As such, I devoured her newest novel in two sittings, despite its 500+ page length. It has left me feeling bleak and, in the words of the book's narrator "scraped clean inside." This is a beautifully structured book, involving three (perhaps even four) narrative layers that play off of each other to build a terrifying commentary on love, passion, sisterhood (both the biological and, by extension, emotional kinds), and betrayal. The book contains the closest thing to a love story Atwood has ever written, and it's a harrowing one that will sneak up on you and devastate you in the end. With the primary action being set between WW I and WWII, the novel also offers a final comment on the twentieth century: humanity's culpability in creating, destroying, and creating again, and on the quiet moments of beauty that are possible (temporarily) among the rubble.

This is a great book, a worthy successor to the wonderful Alias Grace. Read it at your own emotional risk, but READ IT.

Rating:
Summary: A Sweet Exhiliration
Review: The Blind Assassin does not disappoint. Atwood has styled a fully developed novel within a novel, and takes us through a lilting & genteel 30's/40's murder mystery and an elegantly erotic upperclass/lower class tale intertwined with an engaging and ever shifting off-world science fiction story.

The Blind Assassin's character development is played out through survival techniques. Self-actualization is borne from denial; what is obvious remains buried deep in the book's psyche. Atwood combines the colloquial cadence of a post WW1 world with the lush fictions from that era & the mannerisms of anticipation inherent in pre-WW2 times.

This book is a rare find. Unlike more predictable fiction it suspends real time and space so thoroughly--the reader is likely to travel in a daze connected directly to the storyline long after the last word has been read.

Rating:
Summary: AMAZING
Review: THIS BOOK KEPT ME ABSOLUTELY SPELLBOUND! THERE ARE MANY TRANSITIONS BUT WITH EACH ONE YOU ARE SWEPT AWAY INTO THE LIVES OF THE CHARACTERS. TRUE TO THE NATURE OF OF OUR OWN PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS, THERE IS A COMPLEXITY INDIVIDUAL TO EACH ONE. I FOUND HER WRITING TO BE SIMPLE IN READING AND FAST MOVING WITH A PERFECT ENDING. ANYONE WHO READS THIS BOOK WILL BE GLAD THEY DID.

Rating:
Summary: Overflowing Novel
Review: Like a great chef who wants to impress, but who adds too many ingredients and spices to the p(l)ot, Atwood's new book has too many contents, and too many voices at work.

For example, there is a narrative interrupted by supposed newspaper extracts, and then by two people talking, that itself turns into a plot, that contains a novel, also called The Blind Assassin. Why? Were writer and publisher uncertain as to the material? Why so many gimmicks?

Still, this book keeps a reader turning pages, and some of its many devices are fun. My test for a book that is gimmicky is to ask if the story was in straightforward a-z manner, how would I rate it? My reaction might have been to rate highly the wonderful writing -- despite what the New York Times says, her similes are fun -- but as to the plot, when all is over --so what?

Rating:
Summary: A Challenging Canvas
Review: Margaret Atwood is one of the finest writers of modern fiction today and she is also the pride of Canada. Atwood has entertained and challenged readers over the years with books like The Handmaid's Tail, Cat's Eye, The Robber Bride, IMHO her best novels. The Blind Assassin is two tales in one. The narrator is Iris Chase, the older sister of Laura Chase who, at the start of the novel, drives her car off a very famous bridge in Toronto, an apparent suicide. The novel carries on with Iris recalling the Chase family's life, all three sisters are daughters of a button manufacturer during the depression era. We see them as little girls, young teenagers and then women, their lives unfold in an entertaining and sometimes humorous fashion. At the same time we are given a science fiction story entitled The Blind Assassin written by the character Laura Chase. The Sci Fi story harkens back to The Handmaids Tail, a strange society where there are two classes divided and a very strange love affair going on. Sounds complicated right? This is a book you have to stick with and as you move through the story, the characters and their stories will grow on you. This is not my favourite Atwood novel, it was clearly a huge challenge for her to write but in the end I felt it was a winner and will not dissapoint her fans.