Reviews

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.

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3.0

3,5/5 ⭐️

"Lady Orakel" war unser April-Read im Juniverse Bookclub und mein erstes Buch von Margaret Atwood – sicherlich nicht das letzte. Atwood beeindruckt mich mit diesem skurrilen Roman aus dem Jahr 1976, der überraschend verspielt und humorvoll ist, ohne dabei an ihrer charakteristischen, intelligenten Auseinandersetzung mit Weiblichkeit, Selbst, Körper und Liebe zu verlieren.

Joan ist unsere Protagonistin, unsere rothaarige Botticelli-Heldin, die das Buch mit der fesselnden Zeile beginnt:

Ich plante meinen Tod mit Bedacht - anders als Leben, das, trotz meiner lahmen Versuche, es unter Kontrolle zu halten, dauernd auf Abwege geriet.

Joan, eine Meisterin der Flucht, hat ihren Tod vorgetäuscht und taucht in einem kleinen italienischen Dorf wieder auf. Sie schreibt Gothic-Romane, lebt unter zwei Identitäten, und das Bild, das sie nach außen hin zeigt, ist nur ein Spiegelbild des Ganzen. Ihre innere Welt ist geheimnisvoll, verborgen, beklemmend. Bald beginnen sich ihre Geheimnisse in einer höchst unpraktischen Weise zu überschneiden.

Atwood beschreibt die Grausamkeiten der Kindheit und die gegensätzlichen Natur von Freiheit und Liebe so überzeugend, dass ich in der Geschichte mitgerissen wurde. Manche Momente waren nachvollziehbar, wie die Komplexität der Mutter-Tochter-Beziehung, herzerwärmend, wie die Figur von Tante Lou, absurd, wie das Königliche Stachelschwein, und beängstigend, wie ein ehemaliger Liebhaber, der zu einem beunruhigenden Stalker wird.

Sie spielt auch mit der literarischen Welt und ihren Konventionen. Als Joan unerwartet als literarische Dichterin veröffentlicht wird, wird sie von einem männlichen Interviewer angegriffen, der versucht, sie in die "Frauenbefreiung" zu drängen – etwas, dem sie entkommt, so wie Atwood es auch tut.

Die Frage, die sich daraus ergibt: Was ist die Wahrheit, wenn so viele Wahrheiten in einer Person existieren? Viele Charaktere in diesem Roman sind zwei Seiten derselben Medaille. Es ist unmöglich, genau so zu sein, wie man sich präsentiert, oder sich genau so zu präsentieren, wie man ist. Ich habe diese Reise von Anfang bis Ende genossen. Ich schätze Joans chaotisches Leben, weil alle Leben chaotisch sind.

Fazit: Alles in allem ist "Lady Orakel" ein interessantes und unterhaltsames Buch. Es hat zwar nicht so einen starken Tiefgang, aber es bietet dennoch genügend Stoff zum Nachdenken und Unterhalten. Ein bisschen straffer im letzten Drittel und es hätte mir noch besser gefallen. 3,5/5 ⭐️

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4.0

this was wild.
strangely relatable for those days when you just want to leave the country, make everyone suffer your loss (you hope) and reflect on the relationships that ruined you (/or you let yourself be ruined by).

i love MA with all my heart and the way she slowly gives away her characters by letting you know only the most random little quirks and details. this is how people work (imho) and i *will* cry about it.