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The Blind Assassin (Random House Large Print)
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Binding: Hardcover
Edition: Largeprint
Format: Bargain Price
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 832
Publication Date: September 05, 2000
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Editorial Review:
The Blind Assassin is a tale of two sisters, one of whom dies under ambiguous circumstances in the opening pages. The survivor, Iris Chase Griffen, initially seems a little cold-blooded about this death in the family. But as Margaret Atwood's most ambitious work unfolds--a tricky process, in fact, with several nested narratives and even an entire novel-within-a-novel--we're reminded of just how complicated the familial game of hide-and-seek can be: What had she been thinking of as the car sailed off the bridge, then hung suspended in the afternoon sunlight, glinting like a dragonfly, for that one instant of held breath before the plummet? Of Alex, of Richard, of bad faith, of our father and his wreckage; of God, perhaps, and her fatal, triangular bargain. Meanwhile, Atwood immediately launches into an excerpt from Laura Chase's novel, The Blind Assassin, posthumously published in 1947. In this double-decker concoction, a wealthy woman dabbles in blue-collar passion, even as her lover regales her with a series of science-fictional parables. Complicated? You bet. But the author puts all this variegation to good use, taking expert measure of our capacity for self-delusion and complicity, not to mention desolation. Almost everybody in her sprawling narrative manages to--or prefers to--overlook what's in plain sight. And memory isn't much of a salve either, as Iris points out: "Nothing is more difficult than to understand the dead, I've found; but nothing is more dangerous than to ignore them." Yet Atwood never succumbs to postmodern cynicism, or modish contempt for her characters. On the contrary, she's capable of great tenderness, and as we immerse ourselves in Iris's spliced-in memoir, it's clear that this buttoned-up socialite has been anything but blind to the chaos surrounding her. --Darya Silver
Margaret Atwood takes the art of storytelling to new heights in a dazzling new novel that unfolds layer by astonishing layer and concludes in a brilliant and wonderfully satisfying twist.For the past twenty-five years, Margaret Atwood has written works of striking originality and imagination. In The Blind Assassin, she stretches the limits of her accomplishments as never before, creating a novel that is entertaining and profoundly serious.The novel opens with these simple, resonant words: "Ten days after the war ended, my sister drove a car off the bridge." They are spoken by Iris, whose terse account of her sister Laura'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 told 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.Told in a style that magnificently captures the colloquialisms and clichés of the 1930s and 1940s, The Blind Assassin is a richly layered and uniquely rewarding experience. The novel has many threads and a series of events that follow one another at a breathtaking pace. As everything comes together, readers will discover that the story Atwood is telling is not only what it seems to be--but, in fact, much more.The Blind Assassin proves once again that Atwood is one of the most talented, daring, and exciting writers of our time. Like The Handmaid's Tale, it is destined to become a classic.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Atwood Astounds Me
Atwood is incredible. I'm astounded by the way she continues to explore women's issues, forever teasing apart the complexities of our conditioning and our impulses. This book, which has a novel embedded within the primary story, is quite remarkable in the way two stories are interwoven--scary fantasy and fiction blended with uncanny precision and mind-boggling effect. It's the kind of book I finish and turn back to re-read the opening chapters, wanting to feel my way deeper into the multiple layers ... Read More
Rating: - "Blind but sure-footed, we step forward as if into a remembered dance."
"The Blind Assassin" is a novel that weaves together three related stories involving a prominent button manufacturing family from Port Ticonderoga, Canada. The first story is that of Iris Chase Griffen, the granddaugther of the founder of the factory. Iris is now an "older" woman in her eighties dealing with heart trouble, and has started writing and reflecting about her life. Her memoir is the second story and is multi-generational. The focus of this story is the complex relationship between Iris ... Read More
Rating: - Absolutely loved it!
All I need to say is I loved this book. I haven't read any of Atwood's other books but soon will. This was a book club choice and I read it over a weekend. I loved the intricate timelines, plot and suspense of it. Great book that I have since reccomended to friends.
Rating: - Great read
Hands down, this is my favorite Margaret Atwood book. I was skeptical when confronted with the story-within-story thingy----hated, at first, to be dragged off into some other world----but it works. Beyond the structure, the prose is so good, the writing so crisp and ironic, that there is a treasure on every page.
A favorite, at the beginning, when our POV learns that her sister has committed suicide:
"I was furious with Linda for what she'd done, but also with the policeman ... Read More
Rating: - One of Atwood's best
Before reading this I had read "Alias Grace" and half of "Handmaid's Tale," neither one did anything for me. Though the writing style was intricate and held depth I just couldn't find anything in the stories that I connected to. I thought that I would just never become a fan of Atwood's style or stories.
This changed, however, when I read "The Blind Assassin." It had been on my bookshelf for years but when I finally picked it up I discovered that the tale was inventive, complex, and ... Read More
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