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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. ;)
23skidoo_4u_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
rubyouns's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
rb_ravn's review against another edition
dark
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
neculara's review against another edition
4.0
The premise of this book intrigued me: a main character with several identities running from all of them by faking her own death - seems dramatic for an Atwood novel. Did it all get too complicated? Well... yes. Joan Foster is an escape artist, a medium (maybe), wife, lover, fat girl, communist but not really, and authors - two different kinds. In the opening of the book, she has escaped all of this. She's had enough. But it's not easy running from your other selves, and as she sits in her hideout, she thinks back on her life.
We start with her childhood, naturally. This takes up a rather lot of the book, which I liked, I always enjoy reading about childhoods. And this one centers around Joan's difficult relationship with her mother. But soon enough Joan grows up and meets a man, and then another and later on, another. All of them have a different view of who she is. Not because she lies to them - although she does - but mostly because of their own prejudices, their own world views, their backgrounds, their view on women. Sometimes this is annoying, because several of them treats her like a child, telling her how she should live her life (in their kitchen, mostly). And of course, if she protests, it's only because she doesn't know what's good for her and she'll change her mind later.
So the feminist aspect is there, as always, but it's not the crux of the story. Not all the men in the book are like this, and they are certainly very different from each other. The point is rather that everyone Joan at some time feels close to seems to pull their own view of her down over her head, and never sees the "real" Joan, if there even is such a thing.
Although Joan tries to shape some of her identities herself, she can't control or foresee the outcome. Mostly they are a mix of her own view of herself and how others see her. And THAT is the crux of the book. How are identities shaped? Sure, we have somewhat stable personality traits, but identities will always be created, shaped and re-shaped in the meeting point between ourselves and other people. The novel does a great job in exploring how this works, and how it often makes a mess. And although Joan is critical and analyses a lot of what happens to her quite thoroughly, she rarely voices her opinions clearly to the people around her, and even when she tries to take hold of things, she is often just pulled along with everything that happens. And that's real life, I suppose. We are not always in control. There is a bit of farce to this, but tragic farce. Relationships are though.
I liked that the last few chapters were a bit more action filled than usual for Atwood, and more immediate than just looking back on past events, which her main characters does a lot. And her prose is always good. All the characters are very well rounded - they all feel deep and like real individuals - one of the things I love about Atwood. Her characters feel real. And all their personal quirks comes together in the plot, everything plays a part in how it all turns out. A bit complicated, but well put together.
We start with her childhood, naturally. This takes up a rather lot of the book, which I liked, I always enjoy reading about childhoods. And this one centers around Joan's difficult relationship with her mother. But soon enough Joan grows up and meets a man, and then another and later on, another. All of them have a different view of who she is. Not because she lies to them - although she does - but mostly because of their own prejudices, their own world views, their backgrounds, their view on women. Sometimes this is annoying, because several of them treats her like a child, telling her how she should live her life (in their kitchen, mostly). And of course, if she protests, it's only because she doesn't know what's good for her and she'll change her mind later.
So the feminist aspect is there, as always, but it's not the crux of the story. Not all the men in the book are like this, and they are certainly very different from each other. The point is rather that everyone Joan at some time feels close to seems to pull their own view of her down over her head, and never sees the "real" Joan, if there even is such a thing.
Although Joan tries to shape some of her identities herself, she can't control or foresee the outcome. Mostly they are a mix of her own view of herself and how others see her. And THAT is the crux of the book. How are identities shaped? Sure, we have somewhat stable personality traits, but identities will always be created, shaped and re-shaped in the meeting point between ourselves and other people. The novel does a great job in exploring how this works, and how it often makes a mess. And although Joan is critical and analyses a lot of what happens to her quite thoroughly, she rarely voices her opinions clearly to the people around her, and even when she tries to take hold of things, she is often just pulled along with everything that happens. And that's real life, I suppose. We are not always in control. There is a bit of farce to this, but tragic farce. Relationships are though.
I liked that the last few chapters were a bit more action filled than usual for Atwood, and more immediate than just looking back on past events, which her main characters does a lot. And her prose is always good. All the characters are very well rounded - they all feel deep and like real individuals - one of the things I love about Atwood. Her characters feel real. And all their personal quirks comes together in the plot, everything plays a part in how it all turns out. A bit complicated, but well put together.