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raru's review against another edition
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
champers4days's review against another edition
4.0
I'm still not sure whether or not I liked the ending - Lady Oracle has a very Atwood-esque, 'did that just happen?' finale - but I know I very much liked this book. For me, Lady Oracle examined the life of a woman who adopted a different persona for each of the central figures in her life: mother, boyfriend, husband, lover; and as the story progresses, the consequences of adopting these different personas are reaped.
kelly_jeanne's review against another edition
3.0
Not my favorite Atwood, but I liked it pretty well. It’s well-crafted and interesting, quirky and fun...but not as gripping as some others.
agonz60's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
kisulino's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
raeee93's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
harpercawley's review against another edition
4.5
soo meta
incredible prose but a frustrating ending as always
incredible prose but a frustrating ending as always
diana_skelton's review against another edition
4.0
"I spent a certain amount of time worrying about the Spiritualist doctrines. If The Other Side was so wonderful, why did the spirits devote most of their messages to warnings? Instead of telling their loved ones to avoid slippery stairs and unsafe cars and starchy foods, they should have been luring them over cliffs and bridges and into lakes, spurring them on to greater feats of intemperance and gluttony, in order to hasten their passage to the brighter shore."
"I myself once wished to be a writer, I wished to be like Tolstoy, you understand; but now I am exiled from my own language, and this one is fit for nothing but to make hoardings with. It has no music, it does not sing, it is always trying to sell you something."
"Details would distract me, the candle stubs and bones of those who had gone before; in any labyrinth, I would have let go of the thread to follow a wandering light, a fleeting voice. In a fairy tale, I would be one of the two stupid sisters who open the forbidden door and are shocked by the murdered wives, not the third clever one who keeps to the essentials: presence of mind, foresight, the telling of watertight lies. I told lies, but they were not watertight."
"I located the equivalent of a drugstore and spent some time going through the rinses, tints, washes and colourings. I finally settled for Lady Janine's 'Carissima,' a soft, glowing chestnut, autumn-kissed, laced with sunlight and sprinkled with sparkling highlights. I liked a lot of adjectives on my cosmetic boxes; I felt cheated if there were only a few."
"The other wives [...] wanted men in mysterious cloaks who would rescue them from balconies, but they also wanted meaningful relationships and total openness. [...] They wanted the earth to move, but they also wanted help with the dishes. [...] Cloaked strangers didn't leave their socks on the floor or gargle in the mornings to kill germs."
"Love was the pursuit of shadows, and I was a shadow for Paul, doomed to flee before him, evanescent as a cloud. Some cloud, I thought, already my feet hurt. He probably didn't want me at all, he wanted the adventure of kidnapping me from what he imagined to be a den of fanged and dangerous Communists, armed to the teeth with brain-suction devices and slaughterous rhetoric, I in their midst bound hand and foot by jargon."
"I myself once wished to be a writer, I wished to be like Tolstoy, you understand; but now I am exiled from my own language, and this one is fit for nothing but to make hoardings with. It has no music, it does not sing, it is always trying to sell you something."
"Details would distract me, the candle stubs and bones of those who had gone before; in any labyrinth, I would have let go of the thread to follow a wandering light, a fleeting voice. In a fairy tale, I would be one of the two stupid sisters who open the forbidden door and are shocked by the murdered wives, not the third clever one who keeps to the essentials: presence of mind, foresight, the telling of watertight lies. I told lies, but they were not watertight."
"I located the equivalent of a drugstore and spent some time going through the rinses, tints, washes and colourings. I finally settled for Lady Janine's 'Carissima,' a soft, glowing chestnut, autumn-kissed, laced with sunlight and sprinkled with sparkling highlights. I liked a lot of adjectives on my cosmetic boxes; I felt cheated if there were only a few."
"The other wives [...] wanted men in mysterious cloaks who would rescue them from balconies, but they also wanted meaningful relationships and total openness. [...] They wanted the earth to move, but they also wanted help with the dishes. [...] Cloaked strangers didn't leave their socks on the floor or gargle in the mornings to kill germs."
"Love was the pursuit of shadows, and I was a shadow for Paul, doomed to flee before him, evanescent as a cloud. Some cloud, I thought, already my feet hurt. He probably didn't want me at all, he wanted the adventure of kidnapping me from what he imagined to be a den of fanged and dangerous Communists, armed to the teeth with brain-suction devices and slaughterous rhetoric, I in their midst bound hand and foot by jargon."
bibliotequeish's review against another edition
3.0
While not my favorite Atwood book I found this to be an enjoyable and cleaver read.
Witty and fast moving this is the kind of book you can get through in one or two sittings.
Following Joan a Naïve writer and her relationships from mother to husband.
Witty and fast moving this is the kind of book you can get through in one or two sittings.
Following Joan a Naïve writer and her relationships from mother to husband.
anaurrutia's review against another edition
4.0
Está buena la parodia y toca temas que me interesan sobre el escribir y las diferentes máscaras que uno se pone ante una u otra circunstancia/tipo/asunto. Sí, seguiré leyendo a Atwood, sí y sí conecto. ;)