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A review by neculara
Lady Oracle by Margaret Atwood
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.