Post by Ana Ng on May 7, 2002 20:48:28 GMT -5
Just bought this book, it's the newest from one of my favorite writers, Margaret Atwood, and I made my purchase not know a thing about it.
Imagine my surprise to find a fantastical Sci-Fi story contained within! I'm about 70 pages in, and it's absolutely wonderful so far. Atwood is, in my opinion, one of the few great modern authors.
For those interested, here's the summary on the back:
The Booker Prize-winning sensation frm the incomparable Margaret Atwood- a novel that combines elements of gothic drama, romantic suspense, and science fiction fantasy in a spellbinding narrative.
"The Blind Assassin" opens with these simple, resonant words: "Ten days after the war ended, my sister Laura drove a car off a bridge." They are spoken by Iris Chase Griffin, sole surviving descendant of a once rich and influential Ontario family, whose terse account of her sister's death in 1945 is followed by an inquest report proclaiming the death accidental. But just as the reader expects to settle into Laura's story, Atwood introduces a novel-within-a-novel. Entitled "The Blind Assassin", it is a science fiction story improvised by two unnamed lovers who meet in dingy backstreet rooms. When we return to Iris, it is through a 1947 newspaper article announcing the discovery of a sailboat carrying the dead body of her husband, a distinguished industrialist.
What makes this novel Margaret Atwood's strongest and most profoundly entertaining is the way in which the three wonderfully rich stories weave together, gradually revealing through their interplay the secrets surrounding the entire Chase family- and most particularly the fascinating and tangled lives of the two sisters. "The Blind Assassin" is a brilliant and enthralling book by a writer at the top of her form.
So there you have it. I haven't finished it yet, but so far it is a completely brilliant and original work, and is my recommendation for the week.
Now that I work at the bookstore, I plan on making some good book recommendations. We can call it "Ana's Book Club" ::laughs::
Imagine my surprise to find a fantastical Sci-Fi story contained within! I'm about 70 pages in, and it's absolutely wonderful so far. Atwood is, in my opinion, one of the few great modern authors.
For those interested, here's the summary on the back:
The Booker Prize-winning sensation frm the incomparable Margaret Atwood- a novel that combines elements of gothic drama, romantic suspense, and science fiction fantasy in a spellbinding narrative.
"The Blind Assassin" opens with these simple, resonant words: "Ten days after the war ended, my sister Laura drove a car off a bridge." They are spoken by Iris Chase Griffin, sole surviving descendant of a once rich and influential Ontario family, whose terse account of her sister's death in 1945 is followed by an inquest report proclaiming the death accidental. But just as the reader expects to settle into Laura's story, Atwood introduces a novel-within-a-novel. Entitled "The Blind Assassin", it is a science fiction story improvised by two unnamed lovers who meet in dingy backstreet rooms. When we return to Iris, it is through a 1947 newspaper article announcing the discovery of a sailboat carrying the dead body of her husband, a distinguished industrialist.
What makes this novel Margaret Atwood's strongest and most profoundly entertaining is the way in which the three wonderfully rich stories weave together, gradually revealing through their interplay the secrets surrounding the entire Chase family- and most particularly the fascinating and tangled lives of the two sisters. "The Blind Assassin" is a brilliant and enthralling book by a writer at the top of her form.
So there you have it. I haven't finished it yet, but so far it is a completely brilliant and original work, and is my recommendation for the week.
Now that I work at the bookstore, I plan on making some good book recommendations. We can call it "Ana's Book Club" ::laughs::