http://www.girldetective.net/?p=1436 Reading, Writing, Movies and Mothering in Minneapolis, Mostly Fri, 15 May 2026 13:40:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 http://www.girldetective.net/?p=1436&cpage=1#comment-12071 girldetective Sun, 11 May 2008 22:09:17 +0000 http://www.girldetective.net/?p=1436#comment-12071 This is my fourth Atwood after Handmaid's Tale, Robber Bride, Alias Grace. I've liked and admired them all. I think my favorite is Alias Grace. You make an excellent point, Steph--her heroines are decidedly flawed and often unsympathetic and the men are even worse. But her writing and storytelling always carry me through. This is my fourth Atwood after Handmaid’s Tale, Robber Bride, Alias Grace. I’ve liked and admired them all. I think my favorite is Alias Grace. You make an excellent point, Steph–her heroines are decidedly flawed and often unsympathetic and the men are even worse. But her writing and storytelling always carry me through.

]]> http://www.girldetective.net/?p=1436&cpage=1#comment-12048 Steph Wed, 07 May 2008 14:35:03 +0000 http://www.girldetective.net/?p=1436#comment-12048 Read this one earlier in the year, and thought it was quite good. I have a love-hate relationship with Atwood, I think largely due to my first exposure to her being in the form of "Lady Oracle" at the age of 15. HATED that book! But "Cat's Eye" I enjoyed much more, because by and large I thought the characters were more authentic and I could actually relate to them (at the not-so-tender age of 24, I found myself dealing with a real-life Cordelia (in her younger days) of my own). Subsequently, I found the childhood portion of the novel most compelling and personally resonant. As the narrator ages, I thought she became less sympathetic (which I think is the point, that she slowly embodies traits of her previous aggressors and turns the tables) and more the typical Atwood female "protagonist", who is as despicable as she is admirable. Something I've never been able to shake since my first Atwood novel (not that I've read that many, mind you) is the sense that the traits Atwood thought made her character "ballsy" are in fact the ones that annoy me the most. As with other early Atwood, the book feels (out)dated to me when it comes to women's issues, and I feel that Atwood's voice is one that does not represent me as a woman... but she nailed childhood dead on. I guess that nasty little girl relationship is something that really is timeless. Read this one earlier in the year, and thought it was quite good. I have a love-hate relationship with Atwood, I think largely due to my first exposure to her being in the form of “Lady Oracle” at the age of 15. HATED that book! But “Cat’s Eye” I enjoyed much more, because by and large I thought the characters were more authentic and I could actually relate to them (at the not-so-tender age of 24, I found myself dealing with a real-life Cordelia (in her younger days) of my own). Subsequently, I found the childhood portion of the novel most compelling and personally resonant. As the narrator ages, I thought she became less sympathetic (which I think is the point, that she slowly embodies traits of her previous aggressors and turns the tables) and more the typical Atwood female “protagonist”, who is as despicable as she is admirable. Something I’ve never been able to shake since my first Atwood novel (not that I’ve read that many, mind you) is the sense that the traits Atwood thought made her character “ballsy” are in fact the ones that annoy me the most. As with other early Atwood, the book feels (out)dated to me when it comes to women’s issues, and I feel that Atwood’s voice is one that does not represent me as a woman… but she nailed childhood dead on. I guess that nasty little girl relationship is something that really is timeless.

]]> http://www.girldetective.net/?p=1436&cpage=1#comment-12041 Amy Tue, 06 May 2008 22:27:41 +0000 http://www.girldetective.net/?p=1436#comment-12041 Cat's Eye is one of my favorite Atwoods, or even one of my favorite books of all. Excellent, and yes, frightening. Cat’s Eye is one of my favorite Atwoods, or even one of my favorite books of all. Excellent, and yes, frightening.

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