[.ca] The Blind Assassin (ISBN 0864924011)

From Amazon.com:
The Blind Assassin is a tale of two sisters, one of whom dies under ambiguous circumstances in the opening pages. The survivor, Iris Chase Griffen, initially seems a little cold-blooded about this death in the family. But as Margaret Atwood's most ambitious work unfolds--a tricky process, in fact, with several nested narratives and even an entire novel-within-a-novel--we're reminded of just how complicated the familial game of hide-and-seek can be: What had she been thinking of as the car sailed off the bridge, then hung suspended in the afternoon sunlight, glinting like a dragonfly, for that one instant of held breath before the plummet? Of Alex, of Richard, of bad faith, of our father and his wreckage; of God, perhaps, and her fatal, triangular bargain. Meanwhile, Atwood immediately launches into an excerpt from Laura Chase's novel, The Blind Assassin, posthumously published in 1947. In this double-decker concoction, a wealthy woman dabbles in blue-collar passion, even as her lover regales her with a series of science-fictional parables. Complicated? You bet. But the author puts all this variegation to good use, taking expert measure of our capacity for self-delusion and complicity, not to mention desolation. Almost everybody in her sprawling narrative manages to--or prefers to--overlook what's in plain sight. And memory isn't much of a salve either, as Iris points out: "Nothing is more difficult than to understand the dead, I've found; but nothing is more dangerous than to ignore them." Yet Atwood never succumbs to postmodern cynicism, or modish contempt for her characters. On the contrary, she's capable of great tenderness, and as we immerse ourselves in Iris's spliced-in memoir, it's clear that this buttoned-up socialite has been anything but blind to the chaos surrounding her. --Darya Silver

complex masterpiece:
No book was ever more deserving of the Booker Prize, but one must be willing to put up with the unfolding of the plot which is something of a Chinese puzzle box. It is also a bit better than the more recent "Oryx and Crake" though that, too, is very much worth reading. "Blind Assassin" is narrated by an elderly dowager Iris Chase Griffen and it is, most broadly, a reminiscence of her complicated life as the daughter of a Canadian industrialist--a button manufacturer. A great deal of time is devoted to her and her younger sister Laura's life as a child on the estate Avilion in Port Ticonderoga, Ontario. The real world is present in the form of World War I and attempted union strikes, in this earlier age when capitalism was largely unchallenged by unions or environmentalism. Many of these events, and others of a more familial nature, are encapsulated in newspaper articles which are included in the text. But the bigger "intrusion" in the broad narrative is a science fiction story, in alternating chapters, which we are led to believe until the end was written by Iris' sister Laura. A great deal, intentionally or otherwise, is made of the sibling rivalry between Iris and Laura. Iris is presented as the more level-headed, she marries "well" (at least it seemed a good choice at the time); Laura is more impulsive, flighty, more given to go off on a wild tangent, more artistic (she learns how to tint or colorize photographs from a part-time job as a journalist) and she ultimately dies a tragic death early in the novel. Much of the novel is devoted to attempting to understand the reasons for Laura's tragic demise. So the time frame of this novel is a series of elaborate flashbacks interspersed with the science fiction story which, in notable contrast to Avilion, takes place in seedy apartment building in the course of a "lover's tryst"--but we don't learn the lovers' identities until near the end. In fact, there is a great deal we don't learn until the novel's final 50 pages--but it all works very well in the end. And anyone who is paying attention will learn quite a lot of history, too.

social history of the early 20th Century:
"The Blind Assassin" is a social history of the early 20th Century from the viewpoint of Iris Chase, the daughter of a prominent Canadian industrialist. It is a portrait of a simpler capitalist age, before domination by unions or environmental regulation. Hence it is a "period piece" and also a long reminiscence by Iris, which largely focuses on the wealthier elements of society, sort of a literary "Titanic." It is an extremely detailed account of the upbringing of Iris and Laura Chase, and the impact of world events--World War I and II--on their lives, and of the attempted sympathetic response of their father to unionization. Much of the early action takes place on the Chase estate Avilion in Port Ticonderoga, Ontario, which is described in some detail. We are introduced to the Chase sisters' grandparents, their mother and father, housekeeper, and their instructors. All of these people have a significant role to play in the novel. Considerable attention is paid to sibling rivalry between Iris and Laura, and this rivalry contributes significantly to the plot and to the novel's outcome, which is somewhat unbelievable. The older Iris tends to dominate this rivalry. The outsider in all this is Alex Thomas, a drifter and union organizer, who ultimately becomes one of the book's main characters. Again, the similarities to "Titanic" should be noted. Alex is the author of the somewhat confusing science fiction story whose chapters alternate with the other history. He is the underdog whom both sisters protect from the rapacious capitalists' prosecution. They are both in love with him, equally. Iris' husband Richard Griffen, another industrialist, turns out to be the novel's main villain, just as Alex turns out to be its most unlikely hero.

complex sci-fi and historical novel:
This is a complex work of fiction composed of 3 sections woven together like the parts of an Oriental rug: 1)The first, and the main, section is a historic reminiscence narrated by Iris Chase Griffen, daughter of a Canadin button manufacturer. Her upbringing in Port Ticonderoga, Ontario at the Avilion estate is portrayed in rich detail in a series of flashbacks, including her relationship with all members of her family and in particular, with her younger sister Laura. We are given a great deal of historic detail about this period, particularly about World War I and attempts at unionization of the button factory, and we are given details about several generations of Iris's family; in addition, both Iris and Laura's personalities are described in some detail and there are significant differences between them. 2)The second section is an elaborately detailed science fiction story which is woven between the chapters of the main narrative and is narrated by an unknown author to his unknown lover in a series of seedy apartment buildings, contrasting sharply with the opulence of Avilion. We do not understand the connection until the end. The science fiction story itself also contrasts for the most part significantly with the somewhat halcyon life at Avilion, since it includes a great deal of gratuitous violence and appears to be about some sci-fi tribe out of the Dark Ages. 3) The third section is a series of "newspaper articles" of familial or newsworthy interest which are interwoven between the other two stories. Through them, we learn more about World War I, about attempts at unionization of the button factory, about deaths in the family, and about social events significant to the family. Two of the most important deaths--Laura's and Iris's husband Richard's--are apparent suicides, and Iris's daughter Aimee also meets a violent end. All three strands are tied together in the last 50 pages with some surprising twists in the plot in the end; the whole narrative works quite well and there are no loose ends. Two of the other well- developed characters are Richard's rather assertive and colorfully-attired sister, who defends her brother at all costs, and the sculptress Callista Fitzimmons. Still I am rather hesitant to call this great literature, since parts of it are quite "salty" and remind me a bit of Stephen King in their detail: for example, Iris describes and interprets, several times, the graffitti inscriptions on rest room walls at a local donut shop. In this and in other respects she is throwing "everything including the kitchen sink" into her narrative and one might not be totally off the mark to call the whole thing somewhat ridiculous despite its considerable historical detail.

Plot Unfolds Layer by Layer:
Highly recommend! This has moved to the top of my list as best book read this year. Wonderful story. At first it seemed simple and I thought it was good but why did it win an award, I wasn't sure it really deserved it but by about page 250 I realized just how much depth this book had. This is a book within a book within a book within a book and the plot unfolds layer by layer. At first the story appears to be the memoirs of an elderly woman who is nearing the end of her life. The memoir is two-fold recalling events of the past within her daily life of the present. But woven between the pages of this memoir is the text of the book "The Blind Assassin" written by her sister in the early 1940's. "The Blind Assassin" itself is a book within a book which switches between a clandestine love affair and a science fiction novella. All four stories gradually merge together and the ending is fabulous. I really enjoyed this book!

Not for me:
This novel is hard to follow, just as you settle into the story the author introduces a novel within the novel, plus a science fiction story and newspaper articles. I found too many layers in this book to have kept me interested, it keeps rambling on with no apparent link at times. I really didn't like it , my mind kept on wandering I couldn't finished it fast enough.