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A review by grahamclements
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
5.0
The Blind Assassin is three stories in one. One story is of Iris's life as she is shipped off into an arranged marriage to save her father's business. Another story is a novel written by her sister Laura about the infidelities of an unnamed woman and a writer, and the third is a pulp fiction story the writer lover makes up to amuse the woman. It is the story of the Blind Assassin.
Atwood's novel spans many decades, from the 1930's onward. Iris and Laura are daughters of a rich button factory owner whose business is going down hill. The father is manipulated into marrying off Iris to a rival who wants her as a trophy wife. At the begining of the novel we find out that Laura committed suicide at the age of 25, so the reader wants to find out why and what the novel she wrote might reveal about her death.
Atwood's writing is spectacular. Her use of simile has the consistency of wave after wave flowing onto a beach. The plot is full of tension as the narratives of Iris's life story and Laura's novel come together with a slowly revealing twist. Iris's story is told in first person, while Laura's novel is in third person, giving a clue to the authenticity of the two narratives.
In the end, the two main stories come together, while the pulp fiction story seems to be there to emphasis how those with power are ruthless in their application of it, and those without power are helpless to resist. But the Blind Assassin and the sisters try to resist.
The Blind Assassin deservedly won a Booker. It is up there with the other seven novels of Atwood I have read. She is an author I treasure and I look forward to reading all her novels.
Atwood's novel spans many decades, from the 1930's onward. Iris and Laura are daughters of a rich button factory owner whose business is going down hill. The father is manipulated into marrying off Iris to a rival who wants her as a trophy wife. At the begining of the novel we find out that Laura committed suicide at the age of 25, so the reader wants to find out why and what the novel she wrote might reveal about her death.
Atwood's writing is spectacular. Her use of simile has the consistency of wave after wave flowing onto a beach. The plot is full of tension as the narratives of Iris's life story and Laura's novel come together with a slowly revealing twist. Iris's story is told in first person, while Laura's novel is in third person, giving a clue to the authenticity of the two narratives.
In the end, the two main stories come together, while the pulp fiction story seems to be there to emphasis how those with power are ruthless in their application of it, and those without power are helpless to resist. But the Blind Assassin and the sisters try to resist.
The Blind Assassin deservedly won a Booker. It is up there with the other seven novels of Atwood I have read. She is an author I treasure and I look forward to reading all her novels.