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A review by terrypaulpearce
Surfacing by Margaret Atwood
3.0
This book has bold - especially for 1972 - political opinions and opinions on gender, on nature, and there is sumptuous prose, great imagination and keen insight into relationships and humanity. But for me it's a book more of potential than achievement, a book written by somebody who could -
and did - become the woman who wrote genius such as Oryx and Crake, Alias Grace and The Blind Assassin, not the woman who was yet the finished article. For me it's too dense with beautiful prose at the expense of clarity, and needlessly obscure in places; I was unsure what was happening often. I spent the first part of the book wishing more would happen and the last wishing that less would, or that it would happen more slowly and clearly. Nevertheless, it's an interesting insight into where she came from and the skills and concerns that would one day give us The Handmaid's Tale.
and did - become the woman who wrote genius such as Oryx and Crake, Alias Grace and The Blind Assassin, not the woman who was yet the finished article. For me it's too dense with beautiful prose at the expense of clarity, and needlessly obscure in places; I was unsure what was happening often. I spent the first part of the book wishing more would happen and the last wishing that less would, or that it would happen more slowly and clearly. Nevertheless, it's an interesting insight into where she came from and the skills and concerns that would one day give us The Handmaid's Tale.