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speedy_m
= Frankofile =
Canada
3581 Posts |
 Posted - 11/24/2004 : 11:52:36
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| Has anyone read any of her novels? I'm very impressed with her work. I read (and watched) the Handmaid's Tale is school, and thought it was great. Then I read "Life Before Man", and it was quite different (both in style and theme), but still really good. Recently I read "Alias Grace" and thought it was decent, but I'm currently wrapped up in her latest, "Oryx and Crake", and it just really good. I can't put it down. Her eclectic writing reminds me of Frank's genre hopping, and I really respect that in an artist. Any other fans of her work? |
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
Posted - 11/24/2004 : 12:10:43
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Speedy, you are in touch with your feminine side after all! ;-)
I looooooove Peggy Atwood, as my Toronto friend insists she is called up there. You would know, being Canadian yourself.
I'd venture to say that Life Before Man didn't grab you as much as, say, Oryx and Crake (omigod was that good!?) because that she wrote it earlier, when she was still doing the feminist poetess thing, which is fine but not as interesting, to me at least, as her later stuff.
If you liked O+C, you might also enjoy The Blind Assasssin.
You might want to check out:
www.owtoad.com
Astute observation about her and Frank's sharing some traits! I worship them both.
I met her once after a reading and she is my height and dressed, like me, all in black. Afterwards, I found the nearest bathroom and cried, I was so emotional.
 I still believe in the excellent joy of the Frank |
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speedy_m
= Frankofile =
Canada
3581 Posts |
Posted - 11/24/2004 : 12:18:13
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I've only just started O+C, but I can tell I'm going to love it (I already do). Though I must say, if this is my favourite Atwood novel (it's looking that way), Life Before Man is my second favourite. I actually enjoy her "feminist poestess thing" quite a bit. Life Before Man never felt heavy handed to me. Though it's been almost a decade since I read it, I don't remember feeling it was overly feminist. Just a female perspective, which for a teenage male, was very intersting.
I've never heard her called "Peggy", but then I don't live in TO, so I'm out of the loop. Where did you see her read? |
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
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Newo
~ Abstract Brain ~
Spain
2674 Posts |
Posted - 11/24/2004 : 12:34:09
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I have Alias Grace freshly stolen from Toronto City library by a friendofafriend and it's on my soon-to-read list. Yesterday I read an interview she gave on Oryx and Crake, and while writing it she mirrored something huge happened in real-life apparently, scuse for being opaque, I just don't want to spoil it on you Speedym.
--
Moving from the clown to the jester will mean moving from similar to same, from alike to identical, from comparable to analogous. Though applied differently, the colours used on one can be used on another, and a couple of changes of costume will rapidly transform the jester into a clown and the clown into a jester. Strictly speaking, they almost duplicate each other as regards clothes and function, the only difference between them, from a social point of view, is that clowns do not usually visit the palaces of kings. |
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speedy_m
= Frankofile =
Canada
3581 Posts |
Posted - 11/24/2004 : 12:36:08
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| I can't wait to be done O+C so I can discuss it! Then I'll have to read everything else by her I can get my hands on. I thought the ending to Alias Grace didn't really pay off the way I wanted it to, but I still enjoyed the read. |
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n/a
deleted
4894 Posts |
Posted - 11/24/2004 : 15:58:20
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I started reading the blind assasin but I never finished it, it really didn't grab me
Frank Black ate my hamster |
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Dave Noisy
Minister of Chaos
Canada
4496 Posts |
Posted - 11/24/2004 : 22:53:29
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O&C is amazing..really enjoyed it. I've read a few other books, tho i couldn't get very far through Alias Grace (it's the one with the 'psychotic' criminal..?) I found it too confusing..haha
 "Live life like you're gonna die...because you are." - William Shatner, You'll Have Time / Has Been |
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hammerhands
* Dog in the Sand *
Canada
1594 Posts |
Posted - 11/24/2004 : 23:33:48
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An Atwood love-in, heh.
I read various short stories and The Handmaid's Tale for 20th Century Fiction, a scientific dissection of her writing, she's obviously brilliant, one of the greatest.
I would never read her novels for pleasure, I would feel so crappy for being a man. |
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gracie
= Cult of Ray =
United Kingdom
573 Posts |
Posted - 11/25/2004 : 10:25:11
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Alias Grace was fantastic, i really liked The Blind Assassin as well.
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speedy_m
= Frankofile =
Canada
3581 Posts |
Posted - 11/25/2004 : 10:26:45
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| What did you think of the end of Alias Grace, gracie? |
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ramona
"FB Quote Mistress"
USA
3988 Posts |
Posted - 11/25/2004 : 10:49:44
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I've many of her books but not O&C as yet.
Did you read the book or see the movie for The Handmaids Tale? It's pretty good and spooky.
_____________________________________________________________________
If you see me, look surprised
If you don't, then pass me by
And I might even touch your sleeve
Oh, as you turn to leave
________________________________
http://prettycrabby.com |
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Newo
~ Abstract Brain ~
Spain
2674 Posts |
Posted - 11/25/2004 : 12:07:40
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saw it a few years ago, I always associate it with Dead Ringers.
--
Maze rats dreamed of mazes, according to the latest studies. Maze rat scientists dreamed of rats. I was dreaming of cheese. |
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Daisy Girl
~ Abstract Brain ~
Belize
5305 Posts |
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speedy_m
= Frankofile =
Canada
3581 Posts |
Posted - 11/29/2004 : 07:46:38
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| Well, I've finished O+C, it's time for you to spoil away, Ownen! (That was a seriously great novel). |
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gracie
= Cult of Ray =
United Kingdom
573 Posts |
Posted - 11/29/2004 : 08:20:12
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quote:
Originally posted by speedy_m
What did you think of the end of Alias Grace, gracie?
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It wasn't then ending i wanted to be honest. Lazy as i know it is, i just wanted an answer.
I didn't like the fact that it was Jamie she ended up with, i didn't feel that he would have wanted for her for all those years.I tought throughout that she would run off with Jeremiah or maybe doctor Jordan though i suppose that was quite an obivous way to end .
I know that actual ending was out of left field but i really wanted to know whether she had done it.
I realise that the answer is unknown but i felt that she had carried out the murders and i suppose i wanted that idea validated. I don't completely believe McDermott's version of events but i thought them more likely than Grace's.
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speedy_m
= Frankofile =
Canada
3581 Posts |
Posted - 11/29/2004 : 08:27:18
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| It's apparently been far too long sicne I read this book, as I have the vaguest notion of what you're talking about. I remember being dissapointed that after all that build up and mystery, it was a simply case of her other personality having commited the murders. I can see how, in the time of the novel, this would be a very... special thing. I guess in today's world of ficiton (and reality), I need something more shocking. It almost seemed cliched, in a "it was all a dream" sort of way. That being said, I enjoyed reading it. And I must highly recommend Oryx and Crake. HIGHLY. |
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Newo
~ Abstract Brain ~
Spain
2674 Posts |
Posted - 08/25/2005 : 13:22:14
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I read the first chapter of Oryx and Crake a month or two ago and then picked it up again a couple days ago, I can barely put it down. I'm about 100 pages from the end, part Jimmy is seduced by Crake, I'll finish it tonight. This is by a long way the best thing I've read all year.
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If I were a millionaire I'd buy every carthorse in Ireland and wait. The day is coming when a carthorse will be worth more than a Porsche. |
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floop
= Wannabe Volunteer =
Mexico
15297 Posts |
Posted - 08/25/2005 : 13:34:35
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| i prefer Danielle Steel |
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Newo
~ Abstract Brain ~
Spain
2674 Posts |
Posted - 08/25/2005 : 13:47:24
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Tell the truth I'm more of a Noam Chomsky man.
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If I were a millionaire I'd buy every carthorse in Ireland and wait. The day is coming when a carthorse will be worth more than a Porsche. |
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speedy_m
= Frankofile =
Canada
3581 Posts |
Posted - 08/25/2005 : 14:09:54
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quote:
Originally posted by Newo
Tell the truth I'm more of a Noam Chomsky man.
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If I were a millionaire I'd buy every carthorse in Ireland and wait. The day is coming when a carthorse will be worth more than a Porsche.
That's awesome.
O & C is really great. I miss reading it.
and you are ill prepared to fight
living in a world of soft and white
in air conditioned battle zones
I pity you!
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Ziggy
* Dog in the Sand *
United Kingdom
2462 Posts |
Posted - 08/26/2005 : 16:11:00
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| I enjoyed it very much. |
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fruitcake
- FB Fan -
Norway
83 Posts |
Posted - 08/27/2005 : 04:04:43
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I LOVE oryx and crake! One of my favourites. Haven't read anything else by her, really. Have you read about what she said about the time, all that happened when she wrote the book? it's on the oryx and crake hompepage. very interesting.
must be a devil between us! |
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Superabounder
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1041 Posts |
Posted - 09/14/2005 : 21:02:43
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I just finished Oryx and Crake last night. I was so excited about this book, and I have told several people at work about how well done it was, but not many of them are big readers. I couldn't sleep after finishing it. I was completely captured by the portions when Jimmy is seduced, and then how the story has to inevitably play out, and how he maintains his loyalty until the end. Very well done. I look forward to some of her other books.
All of the true things I am about to tell you are shameless lies |
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
Posted - 09/15/2005 : 19:25:55
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quote:
Originally posted by Superabounder
I just finished Oryx and Crake last night. I was so excited about this book, and I have told several people at work about how well done it was, but not many of them are big readers. I couldn't sleep after finishing it. I was completely captured by the portions when Jimmy is seduced, and then how the story has to inevitably play out, and how he maintains his loyalty until the end. Very well done. I look forward to some of her other books.
All of the true things I am about to tell you are shameless lies
She rocks! Was it the first Atwood book you read? If so, you might want to read Blind Assassin next. Just a suggestion.
Sometimes, no matter how shitty things get, you have to just do a little dance. - Frank
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Superabounder
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1041 Posts |
Posted - 09/15/2005 : 21:41:53
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It was my first Atwood book. I'm sad it's over. It was soooooo good. I will take your advice and go for Blind Assassin, however I'm going to give Atonement a chance next. Started the first 5 or 10 pages in July, wasn't quite in the right mood, then got off on some other stuff, so now it's waiting for me.
Blind Assassin after that (or maybe I'll cave and just read it next after I buy it this weekend).
By the way, I envy Jimmy's sex life at this time of my life (a little dry spell right now).
All of the true things I am about to tell you are shameless lies |
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VoVat
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
USA
9168 Posts |
Posted - 09/16/2005 : 10:25:55
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It looks like the library has finally gotten this in.
Mind you, I think the British cover is better, but I doubt my library got that one.
Are there any other Pratchett fans on this forum?
I was all out of luck, like a duck that died. I was all out of juice, like a moose denied. |
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
Posted - 09/16/2005 : 10:31:47
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quote:
Originally posted by Superabounder
It was my first Atwood book. I'm sad it's over. It was soooooo good. I will take your advice and go for Blind Assassin, however I'm going to give Atonement a chance next. Started the first 5 or 10 pages in July, wasn't quite in the right mood, then got off on some other stuff, so now it's waiting for me.
Blind Assassin after that (or maybe I'll cave and just read it next after I buy it this weekend).
By the way, I envy Jimmy's sex life at this time of my life (a little dry spell right now).
All of the true things I am about to tell you are shameless lies
Atonement ROCKS. Sorry to oversell it, but it's majestic. He and Atwood are my two contermporary faves. A.S. Byatt completes the trinity. OK. Hurry to that book immediately. Then get back here with a report! You lucky dog.
Sometimes, no matter how shitty things get, you have to just do a little dance. - Frank
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Margaret Atwood
