Reviews

Dancing Girls, by Margaret Atwood

yourfriendtorie's review

3.0

I have suspected for quite a while that Margaret Atwood's short stories are surprisingly unsatisfying compared to her masterful novels. Her writing really shines here, in this early collection, only when she delves into that absurd black humor of hers. Like always, though, she really gets into the meaty, complicated aspects of a woman's psyche, even when the narrator is a man. I may not read any more of her short story collections, if only to preserve her standing as completely untouchable in my pantheon of modern writers.

janwe's review

challenging lighthearted reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

I LOVE Margaret Atwood's novels... Unfortunately, I am not a huge fan of her short stories. I don't think it is particularly her fault - I just don't like this kind of slice-of-life narratives. When it comes to short stories, I prefer sci-fi and horror - basically anything with a weird twist to it.
TRIGGER WARNING: some stories explore (every day) racism 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Stalking, and Sexism

snowbenton's review

2.0

The only story I actually liked was "Hair Jewellery." The first part is just not good. It picks up with "Hair Jewellery" (thought this spelling makes my eye twitch) and is decent enough to the end, but none of the stories are very memorable. I read most of this collection in college and even with my silly annotations I didn't have one spark of recollection on any of the stories.

sarahexe's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

katymitchell's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

carmuchisp's review against another edition

4.0

No siendo fan de libros de cuentos este es uno que sin duda vale la pena leer ya que me atrapó más de una vez. Me quedó con: "Betty, Cuando sucede, y el resplandeciente quetzal" .

bookworm_prodigy's review against another edition

5.0

i literally have no words. 

luxxybee97's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 4 stars 

 

tl;dr – I’d love to have a drink with Louise tbh she sounds like a barrel of laughs 

 

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   Margaret Atwood is such a captivating writer. I literally say it in every single review, I know, but she genuinely hooks me in a way that no other writer does. The more I read of her, the more I’m fascinated by how easily, how deftly, she transforms ordinary and everyday life into something else. I also feel like I say this in every review, but it does bear repeating because every time, it blows my mind. Like how does she see the world like that! Where does it come from! And it’s even more impressive because she’s writing short stories that basically tell the same stories again and again, just from different angles, places, perspectives, yet it never feels like she’s rehashing the same ideas over and over again. Does that make sense, or, like so many of her characters, is it a complete contradiction? Perhaps it’s both, which I think is fine. Nothing about human beings really makes sense anyway. 

 

   Can I pick out one story in particular? Not hugely, although I liked Training’s weird schaden-Freudian, neurotic self-loathing, and I thought Giving Birth was a delightfully meta note on which to end the collection. Atwood’s characters are never shy of psychological drama, whether they acknowledge it or not, and even if she weren’t as half a good a technical writer as she is, her understanding of relationships and how people slide imperfectly together is honestly one of the keenest I think I’ve ever seen from any author. Often, it does feel like her stories are more meditations than actually anything ‘happening’ – no one writes women sitting around and remembering things like her, after all – though it can sometimes be…hard, I guess, to pinpoint exactly what the message of some of the stories are, apart from just general observations on relationships. But hey, even if I don’t always get it on the first try, like I say, it’s always a pleasure to read. 

ireanna's review against another edition

5.0

This was actually my first Atwood read (except for one poem). It was a random pick too - I was picking up poetry books from the library and this was propped up in the next shelf and I couldn't resist. Apparently this is an old edition that doesn't have all the short stories that later ones do, which is a shame. But I still enjoyed this a lot. The writing reminded me of Alice Munro, who is perhaps my favourite author. But then they are both Canadian female short story writers and apparently friends, too. There was that same kind of subtlety, where you get a glimpse into quite average people's mundane lives, loves, joys and struggles. They may not seem remarkable, yet they are in their own ways. I especially liked the stories Hair Jewellery and Lives of the Poets.

rebeccafromflorida's review

4.0

When I picked it up, I had no idea that Dancing Girls by Margaret Atwood was a book of short stories. I’m usually not a short story fan overall, but was excited to read Atwood’s take, since I’m a big fan of her.

I’m still working on my Margaret Atwood Challenge, reading one of her novels per month, basically in order of publication, so this is my December book.

While a few of the stories in Dancing Girls had endings that left me stumped, I still enjoyed reading them. But for the most part, they kept me very entertained.

For instance, The War in the Bathroom was told over the course of a week, where a woman feels like her living space is being invaded daily by an elderly man whose bathroom habits can be clearly heard from her room.

Then in The Man from Mars, a strange little foreign man begins to stalk Christine. . .

Rape Fantasies has a dark name, but is a witty story about one woman’s ridiculous rape fantasies that somehow turn into love.

Atwood’s Dancing Girls has a common theme of obsession with a hint of crazy that touches almost every story in the collection. And of course, you know I’m loving the obsessive/crazy theme with my psychological thriller kick!

If you enjoy Margaret Atwood or enjoy reading short stories, these are some great ones to get into!

Speaking of obsession, what is something you are a little obsessed with?

Thanks for reading,

Rebecca @ Love at First Book