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A review by jesssalexander
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
3.0
I don't know why I think Margaret Atwood makes for good summer reading. I've read a lot of her stuff (usually dystopian, usually sci-fi) and found this historical fiction read to be another example of her beautiful though semi-chaotic writing style and her mastery of the art that is luring the reader in and gripping them with a fist til the last page.
For an author known for her feministic themes, the main character is so extremely weak. But that's not quite right. Grace has a passive, dormant strength that we never see in her actions, but rather in her thoughts, her sassy words, and later in her stoic peacefulness. All book, she is a victim. She is someone that does not do things, but rather has things happen to her. She is an eerie character. We never quite know if she was insane, possessed, or just a super good actress and liar.
My favorite passages in the novel are the long, lyrical stream of conscious passages and even the dreams. As a general rule, I don't love dream sequences because I think they are a cheap way of showing what a character feels and thinks subconsciously without being outright and obvious. But Atwood just writes dreams melodiously and I can't fault it.
Simon Jordan's character is great. At the beginning, I was so team Simon! He is a forward thinking doctor interested in learning the truth about Grace's part in the murders and her mental condition. It helps that he is single and seems to have good values. And then everything turns sour as different parallels between him and McDermott are subtly drawn. Though wildly different on the surface, James and Simon both are driven by a thirst for power, a fear of being slighted or shamed, and a lust for the female victim. This side of Simon's character is illustrated most clearly through his elicit relationship with his landlady and later through his abandonment of Grace and cowardice toward both his own private life and her legal case. I wish his storyline ended differently. It felt really abrupt and vague (though I did love the bit of ambiguity about whether he had escaped a partial possession by Mary near the end before she could repeat her murderous acts).
To go from solidly rooting for a romance between Grace and Simon to thinking he got what he deserved half lobotomized and safely in the claws of his mother and that weak woman pining for him is quite a feat and good writing. But even better than Simon's character is his MOM. We only see her through written correspondence, but she is so icy and conniving! I loved it! Especially her two letters at the end to stupid Mrs. Humphrey.
I have to admit I was half-expecting, like Grace, that Simon was the one waiting for her in NY, but the ending chosen was more fitting, if too perfect. Maybe Atwood was enchanted by Grace and, like all the gentlemen Grace managed to charm, wanted a perfect happy ending for her too.
For an author known for her feministic themes, the main character is so extremely weak. But that's not quite right. Grace has a passive, dormant strength that we never see in her actions, but rather in her thoughts, her sassy words, and later in her stoic peacefulness. All book, she is a victim. She is someone that does not do things, but rather has things happen to her. She is an eerie character. We never quite know if she was insane, possessed, or just a super good actress and liar.
My favorite passages in the novel are the long, lyrical stream of conscious passages and even the dreams. As a general rule, I don't love dream sequences because I think they are a cheap way of showing what a character feels and thinks subconsciously without being outright and obvious. But Atwood just writes dreams melodiously and I can't fault it.
Simon Jordan's character is great. At the beginning, I was so team Simon! He is a forward thinking doctor interested in learning the truth about Grace's part in the murders and her mental condition. It helps that he is single and seems to have good values. And then everything turns sour as different parallels between him and McDermott are subtly drawn. Though wildly different on the surface, James and Simon both are driven by a thirst for power, a fear of being slighted or shamed, and a lust for the female victim. This side of Simon's character is illustrated most clearly through his elicit relationship with his landlady and later through his abandonment of Grace and cowardice toward both his own private life and her legal case. I wish his storyline ended differently. It felt really abrupt and vague (though I did love the bit of ambiguity about whether he had escaped a partial possession by Mary near the end before she could repeat her murderous acts).
To go from solidly rooting for a romance between Grace and Simon to thinking he got what he deserved half lobotomized and safely in the claws of his mother and that weak woman pining for him is quite a feat and good writing. But even better than Simon's character is his MOM. We only see her through written correspondence, but she is so icy and conniving! I loved it! Especially her two letters at the end to stupid Mrs. Humphrey.
I have to admit I was half-expecting, like Grace, that Simon was the one waiting for her in NY, but the ending chosen was more fitting, if too perfect. Maybe Atwood was enchanted by Grace and, like all the gentlemen Grace managed to charm, wanted a perfect happy ending for her too.