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kingarooski's review against another edition
4.0
A fantastic collection of Margaret Atwood's essays, reviews and miscellaneous writings. I absolutely loved A Writing Life and I hope that we get to read Margaret Atwood's diaries one day. Greetings, Earthlings! is also a great piece. We learn a lot about Margaret over the last twenty years or more and her commentary on humanity's trajectory is fascinating.
shanat's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Like having tea with a brilliant, brutally honest aunt. Each essay made me think, many made me laugh, and as a result of reading this I now have a long list of books to read.
girlglitch's review against another edition
3.0
Burning Questions is a mixed collection of essays and speeches, composed over the last 17 years. While Atwood covers a range of topics, there are several recurring themes: the art of writing, the environment, retrospectives on Canadian authors. The essays are presented chronologically, which sometimes leads to some oddly juxtaposed pieces, but with the sheer volume of material compiled here it's not surprising that there is quite a bit of repetition too.
Atwood writes with her characteristic wisdom and sly humour, but I can't help but feel this compilation would have benefited from more critical curation. En masse, some of the pieces lose their individual power.
*Thank you to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review*
Atwood writes with her characteristic wisdom and sly humour, but I can't help but feel this compilation would have benefited from more critical curation. En masse, some of the pieces lose their individual power.
*Thank you to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review*
lebishop13's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
If you are care about this world, its people, how we got here, and where we are going, read this.
Someone somewhere wrote, in reference to Atwood, "She could write a shopping list, and it would be an interesting read." That's certainly the case here. These pieces range from book reviews to thoughts on her novels to speeches she gave to mini biographies of prominent writers to warnings about the future. Almost every single one of them left me with something to think about and want to share with others. I listened to the audiobook and loved all the different narrators. I'm curious about how they decided who narrated what! This is immediately going on my list to buy a physical copy so that I can jot down some thoughts and share my favorite pieces with people in my life who I think will resonate with them.
Also, I probably added 30 books to my TBR shelf from books and authors she spoke about in this book...not including my new desire to read everything she has ever published.
Someone somewhere wrote, in reference to Atwood, "She could write a shopping list, and it would be an interesting read." That's certainly the case here. These pieces range from book reviews to thoughts on her novels to speeches she gave to mini biographies of prominent writers to warnings about the future. Almost every single one of them left me with something to think about and want to share with others. I listened to the audiobook and loved all the different narrators. I'm curious about how they decided who narrated what! This is immediately going on my list to buy a physical copy so that I can jot down some thoughts and share my favorite pieces with people in my life who I think will resonate with them.
Also, I probably added 30 books to my TBR shelf from books and authors she spoke about in this book...not including my new desire to read everything she has ever published.
toniclark's review against another edition
5.0
This collection comprises a miscellany of 50 essays and speeches of varying length, written over the past 17 years. Atwood has always had an impish look about her and she has a matching sense of humor — which she deploys alongside her prodigious intellect to discuss books and authors, the craft of writing, growing up, coming of age, life with her husband, gender issues, the environment, global warming, the erosion of democracy, and the pandemic. And so much more!
As I recently heard it said, think of any pressing contemporary issue and Atwood was writing about it 10 years ago. She’s amazingly insightful and incisive, but also casual and conversational in tone. Listening to the audio felt like listening to a really brainy friend. I know I’ll return to this collection over and over.
The only drawback of the audio is that most of it is not narrated by Atwood, herself. And, since I’ve heard her speak many times (in person, in interviews, etc.), I’d much rather listen to her than to the wide range of speakers who read these essays. Most of them do it well enough, though I found I couldn’t listen to a couple of them. I will no doubt pick up a digital or hard copy of this wonderful collection to read at leisure with time to savor and dwell on favorite pieces and passages.
Among the burning questions addressed here is that of whether Atwood is still alive. Answer: yes.
As I recently heard it said, think of any pressing contemporary issue and Atwood was writing about it 10 years ago. She’s amazingly insightful and incisive, but also casual and conversational in tone. Listening to the audio felt like listening to a really brainy friend. I know I’ll return to this collection over and over.
The only drawback of the audio is that most of it is not narrated by Atwood, herself. And, since I’ve heard her speak many times (in person, in interviews, etc.), I’d much rather listen to her than to the wide range of speakers who read these essays. Most of them do it well enough, though I found I couldn’t listen to a couple of them. I will no doubt pick up a digital or hard copy of this wonderful collection to read at leisure with time to savor and dwell on favorite pieces and passages.
Among the burning questions addressed here is that of whether Atwood is still alive. Answer: yes.
emilyfrizz's review against another edition
4.0
It's so interesting to read essays, thoughts and critiques by authors - even more so to see those spread across almost two decades. Burning questions is a true time capsule, where the events and concerns of our world are stringed together with interesting opinion pieces, critiques and the odd poem. Something different, but invaluable.
ksiazkoty's review against another edition
5.0
O zbiorach zawsze ciężko jest coś napisać, a w szczególności ocenić. Jednak tutaj wiedziałam, że dam 5 gwiazdek. Nie było "złych" esejów, tylko takie, które przez temat - mniej mnie interesowały, jednak dalej pisarsko nic nie można im było zarzucić.
Wszystkie teksty były błyskotliwe. Niektóre zabawne - w szczególności te, w których autorka ukazuje dystans do siebie i swojej twórczości. Inne poważne, trudne - poruszające tematy społeczne, polityczne, ekologiczne. Często bardzo bezpośrednie, autorka nie ukrywa swoich poglądów, a jednocześnie nie mamy w nich nienawiści - tylko dużą wrażliwość.
Atwood zapewniła mi dużo rozmyślań o aspektach, których w okolicznościach dnia codziennego - pominęłabym: nie zastanawiałabym się nad nimi.
Wszystkie teksty były błyskotliwe. Niektóre zabawne - w szczególności te, w których autorka ukazuje dystans do siebie i swojej twórczości. Inne poważne, trudne - poruszające tematy społeczne, polityczne, ekologiczne. Często bardzo bezpośrednie, autorka nie ukrywa swoich poglądów, a jednocześnie nie mamy w nich nienawiści - tylko dużą wrażliwość.
Atwood zapewniła mi dużo rozmyślań o aspektach, których w okolicznościach dnia codziennego - pominęłabym: nie zastanawiałabym się nad nimi.
marta0r's review against another edition
4.0
I love Margaret Atwood and her books so so much. I adored some of these essays, and even the ones whose topics I didn't care that much about were made interesting by her writing.