All About Atwood

My favorite author is Jane Austen. My favorite living author, however, is Margaret Atwood. While on the surface that might appear odd, but I think they have more in common than you would think. Plus I like to read a variety of things.

To me Jane Austen was a great observer of human nature. She had a keen eye for the everyday foibles of the average person. Margaret Atwood is also a keen observer of human nature in all its frailties. The big difference is that Jane Austen's protagonists almost always have a happily-ever-after ending; Margaret Atwood's characters are not always so lucky.

I first read one of her novels over 15 years ago and have been hooked ever since. She is an incredibly prolific writer having published over 50 books which include novels, poetry, non-fiction, short fiction and children's books over more than 40 years. She has been short-listed for the Man Booker Prize on numerous occasions and won it in for The Blind Assassin in 2000, which just happens to be my favorite Atwood book.

If you are interested in reading any of her novels, you might want to check one or more of these:

The Handmaid's Tale (1986)

I first read this about 10 years after it was published and really had no idea what I was getting into! This was one of those moments of serendipity while browsing at my local library at the time. To this day I'm not sure what drew me to this title or how I stumbled upon. Maybe I had heard something about it at some point and it stuck in my head. No matter what lead me to it, it turned out to be unlike anything I had ever read before. The story is set in the near future of Gilead (the fomer U.S.) after a monotheatic government has taken over and forced women into becoming "breeders". Women no longer have their own name, they take the name of their husband. The main character is Offred ("Of Fred"). She tells us how this new Republic came to be and the life she had before which included a husband and child. This is a powerful statement by Atwood regarding the Moral Majority of the 1980s and the backlash against feminists of that time period.

This was also made into a major motion picture in 1990 starring Natasha Richardson and Aidan Quinn.

Alias Grace (1996)

This was the 2nd Margaret Atwood book I read, which was about 5 years after the first. I found this while living in Germany (where the English language section at the Essen Public Library saved me!). This is a rare attempt by Atwood into historical fiction. It is also another examination of the status of women by Ms. Atwood. The story is based on the 1843 murder of Canadian Thomas Kinnear and his housekeeper and lover, Nancy Montgomery. Grace Marks, 16, who worked for Mr. Kinnear, was convicted of the crimes. Her death sentence was commuted to life in prison. Ms. Marks claims to have no memory of the murders. Ms. Atwood explores the relationship that develops between Grace and an American "mind doctor", Simon Jordan, who is intent on clearing Grace's name. We learn of Grace's life through her talks with Dr. Jordan, but we never know what exactly to believe from Grace. She seems to only tell Dr. Jordan what she wants him to know. Did she or didn't she do it? You'll have to read it for yourself to find out!

The Blind Assassin (2000)

As much as I loved the first 2 Atwood books I read, they lost their place as soon as I finished reading The Blind Assassin. In my humble opinion, I think it is Ms. Atwood's finest work of fiction, if not one of the best novels I have ever read. She is once again exploring the history of Canada, but this time it is entirely fictional. The Blind Assassin is also a book within a book and it's very important to not skip that "other" book because by the end it's hard to know where the one story ends and the other begins. The book opens with the death of Toronto socialite Laura Chase in 1945. How this relates to her sister Iris, Iris' husband, a young man named Alex Thomas and science fiction book written by Laura is the roller coaster ride you will be on if you read The Blind Assassin.


Oryx And Crake (2003) and The Year of the Flood (2009)

I'm going to address these together because, although The Year of the Flood is not a sequel to Oryx and Crake, they are intertwined in so many ways. In these two books, Atwood returns to the dystopian subject she loves so well, this time involving the near destruction of the environment. The environment is very important to Ms. Atwood and it shows in these stories. From a young age she was exposed to the wilderness of her native Quebec. These family trips obviously left a lasting impression on her.

Oryx and Crake is a dark look into what could be our future on this planet. The main character, Jimmy, recalls the life he knew before the ecological disaster that befell Earth. While he struggles to survive amongst genetically altered "humans", he remembers his friends Crake and Oryx. Crake (a.k.a Glenn) was a childhood friend and Oryx was a young, Asian girl sold to a sex-seller. Life before the disaster was not a pretty one and it's a future that Atwood posits could be ours if we don't come to our senses.

In The Year of the Flood, we are introduced to another side of Jimmy's story. This time we see the destruction of the ecological plague through the eyes of Toby and Ren. They are both members of a Christian environmental group called God's Gardeners. After the waterless flood hits, they both struggle to survive. Their story, especially Ren's, is intertwined with Jimmy's. By the end, Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood will intersect. This is continues the same theme as the previous novel - the near ecological destruction of the our world at the hands of powerful corporations.

If you've already read The Year of The Flood or after you do read it, you might want to check out an interesting DVD called In The Wake of The Flood. Filmmaker Ronn Mann follows Margaret Atwood on her tour of Great Britain and North America as she promotes her book by staging theatrical versions of the book, instead of a traditional book tour with readings and autographs. The DVD includes one of these productions.

-- Post by Tracy