If you've been paying attention, you probably already know my undying love for Margaret Atwood, but The Blind Assassin nearly changed this for me until the end, dubbing this book definitely worth the read, but my least favorite of hers that I've read.
This book has a frame narrative, which I love. Here are the parts:
1. Iris Chase tells the story of her life and the life of her sister Laura Chase.
2. A book by Laura Chase called "The Blind Assassin"
3. Within "The Blind Assassin", the two characters are telling another story to one another. It's a sci-fi story about these children who are blinded and brought up to be brutal... assassins.
4. Newspaper articles are also intersperced between the "chapters" of "The Blind Assassin" to remind you of Iris and Laura's life.
Ok, so all of this is very cool. I love frame narratives and I love the way that the narration of "The Blind Assassin" is different from Iris' narration when she's telling her life story. BUT, I did not enjoy "The Blind Assassin" (not to be confused with The Blind Assassin, are you following me here?). I didn't find the characters in the novel within the novel likable at all. The main story was a love story (in the novel within the novel) and I felt like I was just reading garbage for about half of it.
About 350 pages into the book, however, I realized that the novel and Iris' story were connected! I had been waiting for it to make sense this entire time and it was finally starting to, but the best thing about this was that I thought I had it all figured out, but in about the last 30 pages of the book every plot is revealed and I was completely floored and upset with myself for not seeing it sooner. The end totally makes up for any doubts I had while reading.
It is really difficult to give Margaret Atwood anything less than a 4, but it must be done. 3.9/5
This book has a frame narrative, which I love. Here are the parts:
1. Iris Chase tells the story of her life and the life of her sister Laura Chase.
2. A book by Laura Chase called "The Blind Assassin"
3. Within "The Blind Assassin", the two characters are telling another story to one another. It's a sci-fi story about these children who are blinded and brought up to be brutal... assassins.
4. Newspaper articles are also intersperced between the "chapters" of "The Blind Assassin" to remind you of Iris and Laura's life.
Ok, so all of this is very cool. I love frame narratives and I love the way that the narration of "The Blind Assassin" is different from Iris' narration when she's telling her life story. BUT, I did not enjoy "The Blind Assassin" (not to be confused with The Blind Assassin, are you following me here?). I didn't find the characters in the novel within the novel likable at all. The main story was a love story (in the novel within the novel) and I felt like I was just reading garbage for about half of it.
About 350 pages into the book, however, I realized that the novel and Iris' story were connected! I had been waiting for it to make sense this entire time and it was finally starting to, but the best thing about this was that I thought I had it all figured out, but in about the last 30 pages of the book every plot is revealed and I was completely floored and upset with myself for not seeing it sooner. The end totally makes up for any doubts I had while reading.
It is really difficult to give Margaret Atwood anything less than a 4, but it must be done. 3.9/5
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