HANDMAID'S TALE
PAT read 132 pages but could not read anymore. It was not her kind of book. It was only her writing that kept her going, not the story. She picked up another one of her books and only read 50 pages.
PRUE agreed with Pat and didn't like premise at all. It was a dystopian novel about a different society where women were maintained entirely to propagate. She didn't enjoy it but was intrigued. There was food rationing. Women were strongly portrayed but the men seemed weak. The descriptions were a bit cut-throat but the book was well written.
JUDY (4) loved it as much as she did the first time she read it. She likes Margaret Atwood's writing. She thought the premise was very clever and she loved the ending.
BLIND ASSASSIN
JO read 33 pages. She didn't like it at all.
WENDY (2) said it was unusual. She liked her style and was going to try to finish the book. The story is set between World War I and World War II. Iris, the narrator is looking back on her life after her sister dies. Interwoven with this is a fantasy story. Wendy wondered why it was there and found that part difficult.
CHARIS couldn't get interested in the story. She felt pathos at the end. Iris, the narrator is writing for her granddaughter Sabrina but we haven't seen her in the story. Iris is examining herself and her life. Charis said she was a good writer but she did not enjoy this book.
KRIS initially found the book difficult to get in to and a bit confusing. Iris, the narrator and her sister Laura grew up well off and motherless in a small town in Canada. When their father dies Laura feels forced into an awful marriage with a prominent and wealthy businessman but has a clandestine affair with a young man she met on a picnic before her marriage. It all seemed seedy and horrible. They read out chapters of a novel called the Blind Assassin (a novel within the novel) but she had to skip those parts altogether because she found the story weird and horrible. Kris enjoyed it more after that as she thought Margaret Atwood was a good writer and storyteller.
JOAN finished it finally. She said she was pleased to be exposed to these different books and authors. It was published in 2000 and won the Booker prize. Iris the protagonist hopes writing will lead to a reconciliation with her granddaughter Sabrina. Interwoven in this is the science fiction fantasy story, bordering on pulp fiction. Joan also skipped those parts. The book tried her patience as it was too long and morphing into the melodramatic. The interaction of Iris and Laura as children, after their mother's death, was the only part she enjoyed.
CAT'S EYE
CONNIE found it fairly dull. It took Connie ages to read the book but she persevered. The story takes place in Toronto, Canada. It is written in the first person. It is about a child who was mentally
bullied in school. As an adult she becomes an artist. She becomes a decent artist. She gets pregnant and marries but then she gets divorced. She then remarries and has a second daughter. She goes back to Toronto for a one woman art show and stays with her ex husband. Connie said there is no joy in the book.
JUDY (3) found it interesting how the psychological bullying happened. She said the part where she grew up and became an artist was strange and a bit convoluted. Judy liked the way it was written.
TAM said a lot of it was dealing with the protagonist reliving her childhood and buried memories. Everything in life has been affected by this bullying. Tam said she writes cleverly about the girl's feelings. The Cat's Eye is something to do with a marble. The child feels the marble protects her like a lucky talisman.Tam said the author can dig right into things.
ALIAS GRACE
WENDY (1) was absent but emailed her opinion of this book. The book is set in 1843 and is based on the true story of a woman convicted of murder but is Margaret Atwood's retelling of this event. Wendy struggled with it. She started it twice. It's told in interviews with Grace and Dr. Jordan who is a doctor of mental health. The narrative got a bit clouded by Dr. Jordan's relationship with his mother and other colleagues.
THE PENELOPIAD
PRUE hadn't read Margaret Atwood before. The story is a contemporary twist to an ancient story, The Odyssey. It is told from Penelope's point of view today as in the afterlife. Penelope was the wife of Odysseus and cousin of Helen of Troy. This story is Penelope relating what happened to her during the twenty years Odysseus was away. When he came back he hung 12 of her handmaidens. Prue said it was easy to read and creatively written.
TENT
JULIA read the front of the book and thought it would be good. It's a collection of short stories. She said the stories were bizarre and weird and she couldn't work out anything.
STONE MATTRESSES
BEV read one story from this collection of short stories. It was about an old lady who was recently widowed. She writes fantasy stories while talking to her dead husband. She recites some of these stories to her husband. Bev didn't really like her.
THE HEART GOES LAST
ED was absent so emailed her opinion. She thought it was like reading George Orwell's 1984 and wondered if all Margaret Atwood's books were dystopian. She enjoyed it and found some parts funny. She commented what a terrible job the character Charmaine had in giving people a needle to end their life.
CLAURENE read to page 71. She also read Handmaiden. She didn't like either book.
DIANE read to page 58 and had to give up reading anymore. When she first started she quite enjoyed it but found it reminded her too much of 1984 by George Orwell. Even though she couldn't ready anymore of the story she liked her writing. She said it was very realistic.
DIANN read 20 pages. She put it away and then read another 30 pages and gave up. It's a dystopian novel about what happens to the world after the global financial crisis. The story is about a homeless couple. There is a lot of swearing and no real character definition.
ROSEMARIE said it was not her sort of book but was intrigued to find out what happened.
THE HAG SEED
PAMELA said it was a hard book to talk about because it is a rewrite of Shakespeare's Tempest. Pamela thought it was very well done but wouldn't be as good if you had not read the Tempest. It is a play within a play within a novel. It has some very funny parts. The main character Felix is deposed as artistic director. He has been exiled for 12 years to a basic hovel with his fantasy daughter, Miranda who died 12 years ago. In the 9th year of his exile he sees an advertisement for someone to teach literacy through theatre to prisoners. He gets the job in the correctional centre. The themes are the same as that of the Tempest i.e. caring for yourself more than others and obsession with getting revenge. Pamela said it was a really good book.
JUDY 4 said this book was part of the Hogarth series where best selling novelists of today retell a Shakespeare story. This novel illuminates the story of the Tempest. Judy said the author has a sharp wit and it's very funny. She found it thoroughly enjoyable and more positive than the other books.
