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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed this early work from Margaret Atwood. As with all of her novels, the characters are so multilayered, complex, loveable. I think my favorite part of the book, and perhaps the "tightest" aspect of the story, is the telling of Joan's childhood and adolescence. I was surprised and interested that a large part of the main character's identity is centered on having been fat in the past. I've often noticed that Atwood seems sort of passively fat-phobic, which I've always just taken as a generational quirk, but this really brought an interesting angle to the topic. There's some genuine empathy, sorrow, and gentleness in her depiction of Joan as a fat kid -- too fat to be allowed to dance in the ballet recital, to be loved by her mother, or, as she ages, to noticed by men. I think a more modern reader might take offense to some of the ways Joan talks about her fatness, especially as she "reduces" and is haunted by her past, but I also think they're truthful to the character and how she's perpetually running away from herself.
I also loved the supernaturalism and the Spiritualist aspect of this novel; it felt very fresh, especially as some of Atwood's more "slice of life" novels can have some repetitive threads and recurrent images/themes. I did think the end was somehow weak, especially that last chapter. It felt off to me, and I think it could've ended with the chapter before, where Joan is waiting to see if she's been discovered and by whom. I think somehow the story felt more compressed as it went along; the Royal Porcupine could've had more time dedicated to him, the lead-up to the fake death, the return of Paul -- all of these things could have been worked just a little longer to add to the climax of the story. It almost feels like the novel was just one half-draft away from being totally finished, or it needed just another nudge to bring it completely full circle. Regardless, I still enjoyed it, and I think it's an interesting read in the Atwood canon for its fairy tale themes and seeds of Cat's Eye and other future novels.
I also loved the supernaturalism and the Spiritualist aspect of this novel; it felt very fresh, especially as some of Atwood's more "slice of life" novels can have some repetitive threads and recurrent images/themes. I did think the end was somehow weak, especially that last chapter. It felt off to me, and I think it could've ended with the chapter before, where Joan is waiting to see if she's been discovered and by whom. I think somehow the story felt more compressed as it went along; the Royal Porcupine could've had more time dedicated to him, the lead-up to the fake death, the return of Paul -- all of these things could have been worked just a little longer to add to the climax of the story. It almost feels like the novel was just one half-draft away from being totally finished, or it needed just another nudge to bring it completely full circle. Regardless, I still enjoyed it, and I think it's an interesting read in the Atwood canon for its fairy tale themes and seeds of Cat's Eye and other future novels.
Margaret Atwood writes with poetically beautiful prose, and the novel follows an absorbing story. The plot moves slowly and doesn't have a lot of action, but it works well. The ending is a little disappointing, but I really enjoyed the book and highly recommend it.
Such a refreshing breath of honesty in this narrator, hallelujah for a character that actually makes mistakes. She paints frankly assessing pictures of the people around her, and quickly realizes that everyone is flawed, herself especially. The duality of everything and everyone in this book is compelling, causing me as a reader to reevaluate whether everything in my own life is as simple as it seems. The Royal Porcupine! The Polish Count! Amazing.
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3,5/5 ⭐️
"Lady Orakel" war unser April-Read im Juniverse Bookclub und mein erstes Buch von Margaret Atwood – sicherlich nicht das letzte. Atwood beeindruckt mich mit diesem skurrilen Roman aus dem Jahr 1976, der überraschend verspielt und humorvoll ist, ohne dabei an ihrer charakteristischen, intelligenten Auseinandersetzung mit Weiblichkeit, Selbst, Körper und Liebe zu verlieren.
Joan ist unsere Protagonistin, unsere rothaarige Botticelli-Heldin, die das Buch mit der fesselnden Zeile beginnt:
Joan, eine Meisterin der Flucht, hat ihren Tod vorgetäuscht und taucht in einem kleinen italienischen Dorf wieder auf. Sie schreibt Gothic-Romane, lebt unter zwei Identitäten, und das Bild, das sie nach außen hin zeigt, ist nur ein Spiegelbild des Ganzen. Ihre innere Welt ist geheimnisvoll, verborgen, beklemmend. Bald beginnen sich ihre Geheimnisse in einer höchst unpraktischen Weise zu überschneiden.
Atwood beschreibt die Grausamkeiten der Kindheit und die gegensätzlichen Natur von Freiheit und Liebe so überzeugend, dass ich in der Geschichte mitgerissen wurde. Manche Momente waren nachvollziehbar, wie die Komplexität der Mutter-Tochter-Beziehung, herzerwärmend, wie die Figur von Tante Lou, absurd, wie das Königliche Stachelschwein, und beängstigend, wie ein ehemaliger Liebhaber, der zu einem beunruhigenden Stalker wird.
Sie spielt auch mit der literarischen Welt und ihren Konventionen. Als Joan unerwartet als literarische Dichterin veröffentlicht wird, wird sie von einem männlichen Interviewer angegriffen, der versucht, sie in die "Frauenbefreiung" zu drängen – etwas, dem sie entkommt, so wie Atwood es auch tut.
Die Frage, die sich daraus ergibt: Was ist die Wahrheit, wenn so viele Wahrheiten in einer Person existieren? Viele Charaktere in diesem Roman sind zwei Seiten derselben Medaille. Es ist unmöglich, genau so zu sein, wie man sich präsentiert, oder sich genau so zu präsentieren, wie man ist. Ich habe diese Reise von Anfang bis Ende genossen. Ich schätze Joans chaotisches Leben, weil alle Leben chaotisch sind.
Fazit: Alles in allem ist "Lady Orakel" ein interessantes und unterhaltsames Buch. Es hat zwar nicht so einen starken Tiefgang, aber es bietet dennoch genügend Stoff zum Nachdenken und Unterhalten. Ein bisschen straffer im letzten Drittel und es hätte mir noch besser gefallen. 3,5/5 ⭐️
"Lady Orakel" war unser April-Read im Juniverse Bookclub und mein erstes Buch von Margaret Atwood – sicherlich nicht das letzte. Atwood beeindruckt mich mit diesem skurrilen Roman aus dem Jahr 1976, der überraschend verspielt und humorvoll ist, ohne dabei an ihrer charakteristischen, intelligenten Auseinandersetzung mit Weiblichkeit, Selbst, Körper und Liebe zu verlieren.
Joan ist unsere Protagonistin, unsere rothaarige Botticelli-Heldin, die das Buch mit der fesselnden Zeile beginnt:
Ich plante meinen Tod mit Bedacht - anders als Leben, das, trotz meiner lahmen Versuche, es unter Kontrolle zu halten, dauernd auf Abwege geriet.
Joan, eine Meisterin der Flucht, hat ihren Tod vorgetäuscht und taucht in einem kleinen italienischen Dorf wieder auf. Sie schreibt Gothic-Romane, lebt unter zwei Identitäten, und das Bild, das sie nach außen hin zeigt, ist nur ein Spiegelbild des Ganzen. Ihre innere Welt ist geheimnisvoll, verborgen, beklemmend. Bald beginnen sich ihre Geheimnisse in einer höchst unpraktischen Weise zu überschneiden.
Atwood beschreibt die Grausamkeiten der Kindheit und die gegensätzlichen Natur von Freiheit und Liebe so überzeugend, dass ich in der Geschichte mitgerissen wurde. Manche Momente waren nachvollziehbar, wie die Komplexität der Mutter-Tochter-Beziehung, herzerwärmend, wie die Figur von Tante Lou, absurd, wie das Königliche Stachelschwein, und beängstigend, wie ein ehemaliger Liebhaber, der zu einem beunruhigenden Stalker wird.
Sie spielt auch mit der literarischen Welt und ihren Konventionen. Als Joan unerwartet als literarische Dichterin veröffentlicht wird, wird sie von einem männlichen Interviewer angegriffen, der versucht, sie in die "Frauenbefreiung" zu drängen – etwas, dem sie entkommt, so wie Atwood es auch tut.
Die Frage, die sich daraus ergibt: Was ist die Wahrheit, wenn so viele Wahrheiten in einer Person existieren? Viele Charaktere in diesem Roman sind zwei Seiten derselben Medaille. Es ist unmöglich, genau so zu sein, wie man sich präsentiert, oder sich genau so zu präsentieren, wie man ist. Ich habe diese Reise von Anfang bis Ende genossen. Ich schätze Joans chaotisches Leben, weil alle Leben chaotisch sind.
Fazit: Alles in allem ist "Lady Orakel" ein interessantes und unterhaltsames Buch. Es hat zwar nicht so einen starken Tiefgang, aber es bietet dennoch genügend Stoff zum Nachdenken und Unterhalten. Ein bisschen straffer im letzten Drittel und es hätte mir noch besser gefallen. 3,5/5 ⭐️
DNF - I have seldom had such a bad reaction to a book. It was all over the place. Just no, I have a headache from reading the first few pages!
(2019 Year of Epic Reads Weekly Challenge #31: Read a book you've been putting off for too long)
um. I usually LOVE Margaret Atwood, but this one...not so much. Reviews say, "comedy", but I say just depressing and meandering.
This is my first experience with Margaret Atwood. I've had this book on my shelf for five years, but could never really form the interest. I'm really glad I decided to pick it up and give it a go, and I will definitely look at more of her titles.
I really enjoyed her writing style, and was captured from the first page just from that alone.
The characters... despite disliking or even hating most of them, they were no doubt well-written. Exceptions were to Sam and Joan (that I can immediately recall) - who I also sometimes would get iffy with but only because of say, I may not really agree with them about something. Or sometimes in Joan's case I just was unsure about what to think or react because I was never in that situation and have no idea how relatable she is to others (example would be in her obesity).
There wasn't really much of a plot, but I do enjoy character-driven things, so this didn't bother me much. It was pretty exciting to learn about how everything worked up to what we saw in the beginning, however.
Now, for me I felt really let down with the ending. I felt certainly wanted to see a bit better about how things went from there and I still have a question left unanswered, I believe.
I really enjoyed her writing style, and was captured from the first page just from that alone.
The characters... despite disliking or even hating most of them, they were no doubt well-written. Exceptions were to Sam and Joan (that I can immediately recall) - who I also sometimes would get iffy with but only because of say, I may not really agree with them about something. Or sometimes in Joan's case I just was unsure about what to think or react because I was never in that situation and have no idea how relatable she is to others (example would be in her obesity).
There wasn't really much of a plot, but I do enjoy character-driven things, so this didn't bother me much. It was pretty exciting to learn about how everything worked up to what we saw in the beginning, however.
Now, for me I felt really let down with the ending. I felt certainly wanted to see a bit better about how things went from there and I still have a question left unanswered, I believe.