The Works of Margaret Atwood

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roisin54 said:

Anyone else like Bodily Harm? It doesn't get mentioned much in discussions and I wonder what other people think about it.

I liked it too. (I had to go look and see which book it was - I read most of her stuff in a binge about 10 years ago, and get confused as to what is what.)

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I first read Handmaid's Tale years ago - it was the first book I read that I couldn't just read straight through - it was that disturbing and depressing to me that I could only handle it in spurts. I agree with you that it is not necessarily anti-Christian. As a Catholic myself, I do not believe that is the ideal way for the sexes to relate and while some of the teachings do get distorted, I don't think that is what the teachings say either. I think the future described in that book should be offensive to ALL people.

My favorite (well, the only other Atwood I've read) was Cat's Eye - I was drawn to it because I have also had very bad experiences with girl friendships and so much of it hit home. I remember this part where she was thinking about what she would do if she encountered Cordelia again - would she run up to her like an old friend, or would she just want to grab her and shake and shake and shake - and I could relate to that so well in terms of some of my high school friends.

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My favourite is also Cat's Eye - it was so spot-on with the relationships with the girls, especially in grade school.

I've heard The Edible Woman referred to as dated and laughable, and I just don't get that. I really liked it.

Handmaid's Tale was incredible, of course, and I also loved The Robber Bride. However, I just couldn't get into Alias, Grace and haven't read anything newer. What are her newer books like?

I didn't know it was uncool to like Atwood's stuff - I thought it was uncool NOT to like it!

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I completely forgot that I've even read Cat's Eye, I had to look it up again. I loved that one.

The Edible Woman just freaked me out when I read it, it also kind of annoyed me a bit. Probably just because I read it in a Woman Writer's course and by then I was just overwhelmed by all the feminism and didn't know how to process it all.

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I also loved Cat's Eye, especially the descriptions of Elaine's paintings. I wished that somebody would actually paint some of those so I could get a look at them.

My favorite is Alias Grace, though. It was one of the few books I've ever read that totally succeeded in bringing me into another world. I was so involved in the story that I was upset when it ended because I wanted to read more about her.

I have tried to read The Blind Assassin several times and I have never been able to get into it. I get frustrated with the story-within-a-story and want to get back to the main plot. I'll probably try it again this summer, because so many people I know rave about how great that book was. If it's uncool to like her, nobody's told us!

[linared]

I love the paintings in Cat's Eye too, I want to see her friend's artwork that she made out of dryer lint. That sounds cool. Cat's Eye and Edible Woman are both books that I have trouble rereading. They are both too sad for me. I hate the part of Cat's Eye when Elaine is a kid being picked on and her mother tells her that she doesn't know what to do. Or later in life when she is depressed and she spends her time lying on the floor in her room.

I always think of that one quote from the book, I'm paraphrasing it but it something like "Little girls are not little girls to other little girls. They are life sized". I remember when I heard her speak she said that she got a lot of shit from other feminists for writing it.

I've never able to finish reading Life Before Man, too depressing. I think the last time I tried reading it was the day before 9/11 and after that happened, I decided that this book wasn't the best reading material for the time. I'll have to try it again some day.

Lady Oracle is another favorite. I like the romance novel within the story.

[sammybee]

I forgot about Lady Oracle, I loved that book. This thread makes me want to go on an Atwood binge and re-read all her books.

[Smilla]

I actually don't like Atwood prose, but I'm a huge fan of her poetry. I think my favorite pieces are from her 1981 collection, True Stories. That one contains the Atwood classics, "A Women's Issue" and "Spelling."

Atwood poetry is good for when you're really not interested in anymore bullshit.

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For some reason, one of the things that really sticks in my head from Cat's Eye was where she is describing sex (I think it might have been with her ex, but it's been awhile since I've read it) and all the imperfections in the human body, etc.

That always kind of stuck with me...because I'm kind of clumsy and have all sorts of various...um...quirks, shall we say, like everybody else. So I'm sure sex is going to be full of lots of awkward moments and things, but overall that's part of its beauty - if you're with somebody that you can just laugh about it and still find the joy in it and just be yourself.

That may not have been her intent in writing the passage but for some reason I always remembered that.

That and the scene where somebody (her brother?) was a hostage on a plane.

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I started flipping through the first few pages of A Handmaid's Tale one day when I was waiting around for my ex-boyfriend to finish his homework. It was just laying on his desk, so I took a look and I couldn't put it down. I love dystopian novels, and this was the first one I ever read that was written from a woman's POV.

I haven't read any other Atwood novels yet. Any reccomendations for what I should read next?