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A review by thebobsphere
Bodily Harm by Margaret Atwood
3.0
When I started this project to read all of Margaret Atwood’s 17 novels, I was expecting a slow start then a gradual build up. Since I thought her third novel, Lady Oracle to be fantastic, I mistakenly believed that each succeeding novel would top that. I guess I was wrong as I didn’t like Life Before Man and Bodily Harm, her 5th novel, did not impress me much. I do admire her for trying out different things though.
Bodily Harm is a feminist political thriller. There are boat chases, guns, drug smuggling, moments of romance, prisons, corrupt politicians; it’s all there. In one way you could call it a high octane adventure novel but Atwood does go deeper,
The main protagonist is journalist, Rennie: she is a cancer survivor and has had two major relationships. One is with the sado-masochistic, sexist Jake, who treats her as an object. The other is with her doctor Daniel, who loves her but is committed to his role as an upstanding family man. Finally she knows that she has to escape when she finds out that her house has been broken into and the person leaves a rope on her bed. Luckily, she has been sent to write an article praising a Caribbean island. Little does she know that life over there will be equally complex.
Bodily Harm is about masculine dominance. All the males in the book have some sort of power over Rennie: for Jake it’s sexual, Daniel is medical, Paul, a man Rennie strikes a relationship with in the Caribbean coerces her to join him on adventures. Then there’s the three male politicians who feed off on power from the country. Throughout the book Rennie is called sweet and naive, even by the 2 strongest female protagonists in the book. However, the events change her outlook on life and she does become stronger.
Did I like the book? despite multilayered plot, I found the prose to be a bit flat. I struggled a lot to be interested in the characters and situations but I did get bored in places. Personally I thought the parts taking place in Toronto and Rennie’s change to be the more interesting sections. Even the writing was okish, bordering on the functional at times. Definitely not a dud but I do know that there are better Atwood novels. In fact, the next one will e the one that made her an author of worldwide renown.
Bodily Harm is a feminist political thriller. There are boat chases, guns, drug smuggling, moments of romance, prisons, corrupt politicians; it’s all there. In one way you could call it a high octane adventure novel but Atwood does go deeper,
The main protagonist is journalist, Rennie: she is a cancer survivor and has had two major relationships. One is with the sado-masochistic, sexist Jake, who treats her as an object. The other is with her doctor Daniel, who loves her but is committed to his role as an upstanding family man. Finally she knows that she has to escape when she finds out that her house has been broken into and the person leaves a rope on her bed. Luckily, she has been sent to write an article praising a Caribbean island. Little does she know that life over there will be equally complex.
Bodily Harm is about masculine dominance. All the males in the book have some sort of power over Rennie: for Jake it’s sexual, Daniel is medical, Paul, a man Rennie strikes a relationship with in the Caribbean coerces her to join him on adventures. Then there’s the three male politicians who feed off on power from the country. Throughout the book Rennie is called sweet and naive, even by the 2 strongest female protagonists in the book. However, the events change her outlook on life and she does become stronger.
Did I like the book? despite multilayered plot, I found the prose to be a bit flat. I struggled a lot to be interested in the characters and situations but I did get bored in places. Personally I thought the parts taking place in Toronto and Rennie’s change to be the more interesting sections. Even the writing was okish, bordering on the functional at times. Definitely not a dud but I do know that there are better Atwood novels. In fact, the next one will e the one that made her an author of worldwide renown.