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amyfalconer's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I found this novel disturbing and discomforting, although wonderfully written. I read it in a day, and I often think about it with a less-than-fond recognition.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence
The novel explores a toxic relationship between the protagonist and her lover. It is an exploration of the lust for power and control.chubbybunnyreads's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
dr_amy_cooper's review against another edition
1.0
Hated it. Would have stopped reading it if it hadn't been by Margaret Atwood.
stefhyena's review against another edition
3.0
It's really fashionable to read Margaret Atwood at the moment (though I am reading the wrong ones). I do appreciate that she is a feminist voice and that she is a truth-teller. I don't appreciate her version of humour because it is too dark and traumatising. I don't want to be one of those positivity nazis that asks us all to always act like everything is perfect but the world-view I got from this book- of chaos, pain and abuse of power - was actually traumatising to even consider (I found the same from Oryx and Crake when I read that). I feel there needs to be some hope, meaning or connection to redeed characters like Rennie otherwise it's just hell to spend 300 pages with them.
I also feel that the only point to reading something this dark would be if we were changed by it in some way, frightened into behaving differently. So for example I really fail to understand women who avidly read Atwood and keep sleeping with men. I largely agree with the way Atwood portrays men which is why I can't find them even remotely attractive. But there's a part of me that resists the essentialist overtones here even so. There's a truth here but it is distorted to the point where it provokes nothing but despair which too easily becomes acceptance of things that will literally kill us in the end.
All of those many words are just trying to say I am traumatised in this book. I did not enjoy Rennie's journey with the horrible Jake, the cardboard cut-out Daniel and the compensating for something Paul and I did not like her peripheral relationships with women either- although it is interesting and clever how Atwood apparently centres the relationships with men but at the end it is Jocasta who Rennie yearns for, it is Lora who shares the worst depths of the story with her. All the men retreat to being nothing apart from part of the patriarchal fabric that is causing all the distress and harm.
Which is pretty much how I see most men (most).
It's an intelligent book anyway, I suspect I will have even less patience with unintelligent ones for having read it. I don't deny Atwood's talent and brilliance I just don't want to go that dark and I wish she would temper it somehow (without making it ridiculous).
I also feel that the only point to reading something this dark would be if we were changed by it in some way, frightened into behaving differently. So for example I really fail to understand women who avidly read Atwood and keep sleeping with men. I largely agree with the way Atwood portrays men which is why I can't find them even remotely attractive. But there's a part of me that resists the essentialist overtones here even so. There's a truth here but it is distorted to the point where it provokes nothing but despair which too easily becomes acceptance of things that will literally kill us in the end.
All of those many words are just trying to say I am traumatised in this book. I did not enjoy Rennie's journey with the horrible Jake, the cardboard cut-out Daniel and the compensating for something Paul and I did not like her peripheral relationships with women either- although it is interesting and clever how Atwood apparently centres the relationships with men but at the end it is Jocasta who Rennie yearns for, it is Lora who shares the worst depths of the story with her. All the men retreat to being nothing apart from part of the patriarchal fabric that is causing all the distress and harm.
Which is pretty much how I see most men (most).
It's an intelligent book anyway, I suspect I will have even less patience with unintelligent ones for having read it. I don't deny Atwood's talent and brilliance I just don't want to go that dark and I wish she would temper it somehow (without making it ridiculous).
logophile's review
4.0
Maybe because I listened to rather than read this, but it never seemed to entirely hold together. An odd blend of Atwood's dry intellectualizing of mundane social life and overt political topics. The climax was very powerful, though, and Laura will stay with me for a long time.
Not my favorite Atwood—she's at her drier and more intellectual here—but I appreciated the Banana Republic politics and the apolitical narrator's political awakening, if not the quasi-feminism. The scenes in the prison were memorable, and the character of Laura tragic in a very subtle way.
Not my favorite Atwood—she's at her drier and more intellectual here—but I appreciated the Banana Republic politics and the apolitical narrator's political awakening, if not the quasi-feminism. The scenes in the prison were memorable, and the character of Laura tragic in a very subtle way.
snuzzbobble's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
shelves's review against another edition
3.0
(3.3): came looking for a Margaret Atwood, not sure what i got.
raesengele's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content
womanroars's review against another edition
4.0
If you are trying to decide on which litfic to read by Atwood first, I wouldn't start with this one, but it was great and I love Atwood.
Malignant. Where are my hands?
Malignant. Where are my hands?