Dec. 4: Book review

OK, I said I would post my review of The Blind Assassin once I finished it, and I finished it almost two weeks ago. Before I completely forget what it was about, I’m writing this up. For you. Because I care. And I love you. You’re welcome.

I mentioned earlier that I had a hard time getting into the book, and an even harder time keeping track of the narrator, era, characters, etc. There are a lot of levels to the story in The Blind Assassin. Besides there being at least four separate types of storytelling in the book—news accounts; the narration of Iris, the main character, in present day and also in recalling her past; the story-in-a-story of The Blind Assassin; and the science fiction story-in-a-story-in-a-story—there are hints along the way of some things being more than what they are. And by the last third of the book I was starting to see those levels, the storytelling was less confusing, and I was drawn in by the mystery. I never got to the point where I couldn’t put it down—this was a book I could definitely put down—but I began, finally, to care about the characters and I wanted to see how things ended for all of them.

Iris was forced into a marriage that was then completely controlled by her husband’s sister. In her place, I could not have tolerated a woman like that; I would have told her exactly what I thought of her and maybe even punched her in the teeth a time or two. Because of Iris’ refusal (or inability) to stand up for herself, I found some elements of the story frustrating. Reading about her past made it easy to see how she had been shaped by it, but it also seemed like she was blaming everyone else that she aged into a not-very-nice person. The parts of her character that were fully revealed were not all that likeable in the first place and I found it very difficult to feel sympathetic toward her character. I recognize that this is probably because I have always lived in a time where women are encouraged not to put up with being mistreated. I had to keep reminding myself that it was a very different era. However, Iris did make some sly choices that I admired. Heh heh heh...

Now that I’m done with the book, I have to say that overall I thought it was good. Maybe even excellent. I liked the last third, especially, and how the very subtle clues to what was really going on pulled me in. The writing was smart—I admit to needing my dictionary a time or two—and that helped make this slow-moving story much more tolerable. For several days after I finished reading, the story was still on my mind—I had several moments of “Now that makes more sense...” and “Oh, THAT’S what was happening there!” I would definitely recommend the book, but with this caveat: extreme patience is required.

So although I’m glad I stuck with the book and enjoyed the ending very much, I think it’ll be a while before I read another book by Margaret Atwood. I hope it won’t be a while before I read another book by anyone. I spent less time reading than I expected to while on vacation last week, and still haven’t immersed myself fully in another book. And now, between recovering from vacation and diving right into the holiday season, I think maybe my mind is just too busy to be riveted otherwise. (Let’s say it’s that, alright? It sounds so much better than “The Blind Assassin made me stupid!”)