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A review by gorecki
Burning Questions: Essays and Occasional Pieces 2004-2021 by Margaret Atwood
4.0
Goldfrapp have a song titled “Lovely Head” that goes like this:
“Frankenstein would want your mind,
your lovely head. Your lovely head.”
And this is very much true in my case if I were Frankenstein and the song were written about Margaret Atwood.
There are people who inspire you just by being there. Atwood is one such person for me. Her serene presence, the calmness around her when she’s on a stage, or in front of a camera, or scribbled across a page. There’s something in her calmness that recharges me. True, she’s written a couple of books towards which I’m quite indifferent and a couple that I actually hated, but she’s also written some of the most incredible novels I’ve ever read. But when it comes to her non-fiction, that’s a whole other story.
I think Atwood’s non-fiction really gives us a sense of who she is as a person, her personality shines through it - what preoccupies her, what inspires her. She doesn’t teach or preach - she shares her views and thoughts so you can draw your own conclusions. And most importantly: she is consistent. Having read two of her three essay and occasional writing collections, her earliest and her latest one, I have seen the repetitions and they have never diverged. She doesn’t change her mind to suit her audience. She’s been called a prophet for predicting things in her fiction that end up being reality, but I think that by being so consistent in her thinking over the 60 years of her writing career, she’s just proving that history repeats itself. Having seen something once, means you will probably see it again later in some form, in some place.
Moderation is another thing that comes to mind when I think of Atwood. The way she differentiates between calling someone a witch, a witch hunt, and the structure of the Salem witch trials. Her inability to rush into rash decisions and condemnations that do not have a solid ground.
I would love to have Atwood’s mind. But since I don’t, it’ll have to be enough for me to turn her into my religion and follow her teachings as a bible. At least her version of the world is just, inclusive and based on facts.
“Frankenstein would want your mind,
your lovely head. Your lovely head.”
And this is very much true in my case if I were Frankenstein and the song were written about Margaret Atwood.
There are people who inspire you just by being there. Atwood is one such person for me. Her serene presence, the calmness around her when she’s on a stage, or in front of a camera, or scribbled across a page. There’s something in her calmness that recharges me. True, she’s written a couple of books towards which I’m quite indifferent and a couple that I actually hated, but she’s also written some of the most incredible novels I’ve ever read. But when it comes to her non-fiction, that’s a whole other story.
I think Atwood’s non-fiction really gives us a sense of who she is as a person, her personality shines through it - what preoccupies her, what inspires her. She doesn’t teach or preach - she shares her views and thoughts so you can draw your own conclusions. And most importantly: she is consistent. Having read two of her three essay and occasional writing collections, her earliest and her latest one, I have seen the repetitions and they have never diverged. She doesn’t change her mind to suit her audience. She’s been called a prophet for predicting things in her fiction that end up being reality, but I think that by being so consistent in her thinking over the 60 years of her writing career, she’s just proving that history repeats itself. Having seen something once, means you will probably see it again later in some form, in some place.
Moderation is another thing that comes to mind when I think of Atwood. The way she differentiates between calling someone a witch, a witch hunt, and the structure of the Salem witch trials. Her inability to rush into rash decisions and condemnations that do not have a solid ground.
I would love to have Atwood’s mind. But since I don’t, it’ll have to be enough for me to turn her into my religion and follow her teachings as a bible. At least her version of the world is just, inclusive and based on facts.