Scan barcode
notoriousagk's review
2.0
Two stars because I think this was probably a "good" book, but I didn't care for it at all. I've read both Surfacing and Life Before Man now, and I think I just may not connect with Atwood's older work. In this case, I felt like I was missing some of the key cultural context that would have allowed me to fully "get it." I think that might be a generational thing, as well as a geographical/political thing (I lack the necessary understanding of environmentalist arguments, Canadian/Quebecois national identity, and growing up in a post-WWII environment/living as a young person in the sixties, for starters). Certainly, of the Atwoods I've read, I feel like her oldest work was also the densest, and the least accessible to a general audience reading a few decades after publication (I didn't have the same problems with, say, Cats Eye or The Robber Bride).
That said, I really didn't care for The Handmaid's Tale either, when I read it in high school, and now it's one of my all-time favorite novels. I'd consider re-reading, maybe in a different season of my life. And The Edible Woman is one I've been hoping to read, but now I'm thinking I may put it off a few years. Not giving up on Margaret Atwood just yet.
That said, I really didn't care for The Handmaid's Tale either, when I read it in high school, and now it's one of my all-time favorite novels. I'd consider re-reading, maybe in a different season of my life. And The Edible Woman is one I've been hoping to read, but now I'm thinking I may put it off a few years. Not giving up on Margaret Atwood just yet.
irreverentreader's review
3.0
There isn't much in this book that I'm inclined to like. But somehow Atwood still manages to score at least a 5/10 on atmosphere and writing capabilities alone.
Like many of the books I've read during the 1960/1970's period there was a huge trend towards opacity and haziness in storytelling. While not even remotely my favorite writing tool, it does work in Surfacing. It creates a level of tension in the story that is only emphasized by the setting: deep in the remote backwoods of the Canadian wilderness. Throughout this book I had a sense of discomfort and dread as the narrator both tries to search for her missing father and come to terms with the undefined trauma that happened to her earlier in life.
But for all that build up, there never was a real payoff. Instead, the mystery of her father is abruptly resolved and only causes the narrator, who is already in the downward spiral of madness, to fall further into it. But it's a madness that feels melodramatic. While the writing was difficult to decipher when I first started reading, I got used to it, and a poetic beauty emerged from the disjointed nature of it. But in Part III, Atwood goes overboard with it. It becomes overdone and overworked; it pushes the limits of belief, and it stops offering itself up as an art form and slides into superficial ornamentality. Honestly, it didn't surprise me to learn that when she wrote this book, she was a professor at York University--the style and slight whiff of pretentiousness surrounding this book, when compared to her other works, reeks of MFA style writing.
I was also bothered by the side characters in this book. They are truly horrible humans that I wanted to cringe away from. In a way, that speaks to Atwood's ability to craft characters that feel so real and gritty, but it also made me wonder how the protagonist ever met them and became friends with them-- because like so much of her shadowy past, that is never covered or clarified. For me, that is a constant theme: this book could have used a lot more clarity.
If you are new to Atwood, I would advise skipping this one and starting with The Handmaid's Tale, The Maddaddam Series, The Penelopiad, or Alias Grace. This is surely in the bottom half of her works
Like many of the books I've read during the 1960/1970's period there was a huge trend towards opacity and haziness in storytelling. While not even remotely my favorite writing tool, it does work in Surfacing. It creates a level of tension in the story that is only emphasized by the setting: deep in the remote backwoods of the Canadian wilderness. Throughout this book I had a sense of discomfort and dread as the narrator both tries to search for her missing father and come to terms with the undefined trauma that happened to her earlier in life.
But for all that build up, there never was a real payoff. Instead, the mystery of her father is abruptly resolved and only causes the narrator, who is already in the downward spiral of madness, to fall further into it. But it's a madness that feels melodramatic. While the writing was difficult to decipher when I first started reading, I got used to it, and a poetic beauty emerged from the disjointed nature of it. But in Part III, Atwood goes overboard with it. It becomes overdone and overworked; it pushes the limits of belief, and it stops offering itself up as an art form and slides into superficial ornamentality. Honestly, it didn't surprise me to learn that when she wrote this book, she was a professor at York University--the style and slight whiff of pretentiousness surrounding this book, when compared to her other works, reeks of MFA style writing.
I was also bothered by the side characters in this book. They are truly horrible humans that I wanted to cringe away from. In a way, that speaks to Atwood's ability to craft characters that feel so real and gritty, but it also made me wonder how the protagonist ever met them and became friends with them-- because like so much of her shadowy past, that is never covered or clarified. For me, that is a constant theme: this book could have used a lot more clarity.
If you are new to Atwood, I would advise skipping this one and starting with The Handmaid's Tale, The Maddaddam Series, The Penelopiad, or Alias Grace. This is surely in the bottom half of her works
mcfade28's review against another edition
3.0
A young woman goes home to rural Canada to search for her missing father. Throughout this short novel, we watch the narrator descend into madness. Not Atwood's finest work by any means, but it's very readable.
_rusalka's review against another edition
3.0
Oh Margaret Atwood. We continue this dance.
Atwood is a brilliant writer. Hands down. I will read whatever she writes. But it seems that I will love 50% of her books, and find 50% a bit meh. Well written, beautiful meh. But meh.
In case you are unclear, this book falls into the latter category.
Surfacing tells the story of two couples going deep into the Quebec wilderness to find the main character's father who has gone missing from their family cabin. The couples spend a week in the cabin, looking for her father, exploring, and revealing more of themselves as time goes on. There is a brilliant mood of suspense and uneasiness throughout the book, however I don't think this builds up to a satisfying climax or resolution. As we learn more about the characters, I struggled to understand why on earth the main character was friends with some of them, let alone invited them into a forest with her (maybe because they were the only people she knew with a car), and I'm so over unlikable characters.
This said, there are some great themes dealt with within this book which still would have been somewhat taboo in 1972; feminism, sexual liberation, divorce, women leaving children, borderline domestic violence/psychological abuse. Not to mention the thread of Canadian nationalism running through the whole book, which I liked there was no discussion about French Canada or British Canada, Canada isn't America is the most important theme.
So lots going on in a little book, but it just didn't end up anywhere. Well, it ended up somewhere but not where I expected and not a satisfying place at all. Till next time Margaret Atwood. If my previous experience is anything to go by, the next book will be a winner.
Atwood is a brilliant writer. Hands down. I will read whatever she writes. But it seems that I will love 50% of her books, and find 50% a bit meh. Well written, beautiful meh. But meh.
In case you are unclear, this book falls into the latter category.
Surfacing tells the story of two couples going deep into the Quebec wilderness to find the main character's father who has gone missing from their family cabin. The couples spend a week in the cabin, looking for her father, exploring, and revealing more of themselves as time goes on. There is a brilliant mood of suspense and uneasiness throughout the book, however I don't think this builds up to a satisfying climax or resolution. As we learn more about the characters, I struggled to understand why on earth the main character was friends with some of them, let alone invited them into a forest with her (maybe because they were the only people she knew with a car), and I'm so over unlikable characters.
This said, there are some great themes dealt with within this book which still would have been somewhat taboo in 1972; feminism, sexual liberation, divorce, women leaving children, borderline domestic violence/psychological abuse. Not to mention the thread of Canadian nationalism running through the whole book, which I liked there was no discussion about French Canada or British Canada, Canada isn't America is the most important theme.
So lots going on in a little book, but it just didn't end up anywhere. Well, it ended up somewhere but not where I expected and not a satisfying place at all. Till next time Margaret Atwood. If my previous experience is anything to go by, the next book will be a winner.
sausome's review
4.0
This book was short, and a bit boring in the beginning, but then BAM! Yellow-wallpaper-esque craziness starts crawling from the pages in creepy, psychologically disturbing fashion. I loved these last chapters in which this occurred. I felt like this could've probably worked better as a shorter story with less of the build-up to the breaking point, to be, perhaps, even more jarring and effective. But still, I would love to meet the mind that writes like this.
BRING MARGARET ATWOOD TO LEFT BANK BOOKS!!! I'd die!
BRING MARGARET ATWOOD TO LEFT BANK BOOKS!!! I'd die!
panicorpotato's review
4.0
The more Margaret Atwood I read, the better I feel I "get" her writing. Surfacing is not the type of book I typically enjoy. I'm a fast reader with a short attention span and too often find myself skimming details to find out what happens next. Books like this one, however, don't work that way. The characterizations run deep and Atwood is not afraid to bare her characters' flaws. It's also deeply methaphorical and rather slow-paced, in a traditional sense, but once I caught on, slowed down, and let myself truly experience the story, I fell in love with it.
karina_andrea's review
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5