Helpful Score: 6
I just loved this book. There were times when it seemed it might get a little hard to follow, since, as many of the reviewers have noted, it really is (at least) 3 stories wound together. At first it may not seem clear what Atwood is getting at by intertwining these very different stories, particularly the science fiction-y one, but eventually I came to understand that each of the disparate pieces shed light on each other, and especially on the narrator. Without giving too much away - since part of what made the book so spellbinding was the various twists and revelations - I would say this is a classic example of an "unreliable narrator" story. The narrator is initially pretty unlikable, but as the story unfolds, you become aware of the events that have shaped her into what she is. I think I remember that the book started out a bit slow, but by the end, I was eating it up and trying hard to resist flipping to the last page. A wonderful book, beautifully written, and very unique. I would highly recommend it to book clubs, too, as I think people could have many different takes on what happens, and what they think of the various characters. I could see how some people might lose patience with it, but for me, it ended up being one of the best books I've read in awhile.
Helpful Score: 5
In The Blind Assassin, Margaret Atwood presents her readers with a novel-within-a-novelor, more accurately, a story told within a novel within a novel. This complex interweaving of multiple narratives draws the reader forward through a dramatic and turbulent tale of love, betrayal, and death, while simultaneously using its structural puzzles to reconsider the act of storytelling itself. The effect is mesmerizing.
Helpful Score: 4
This novel is considered Atwood's strongest and most profoundly entertaining work, in which three wonderfully rich stories weave together, gradually revealing through their interplay the secrets surrounding the entire Chase family -- and most particularly the fascinating and tangled lives of the two sisters. The Blind Assassin is a brilliant and enthralling book by a writer at the top of her form.
Helpful Score: 4
This is a very unusual book. It is 3 plot lines woven into a single story. Plus there is a science fiction story to boot. It kept switching between modern times and the 30's and 40's. You would think it would get tiresome but it really was easy to stay attached. I really enjoyed the mystery of it. You really weren't sure of the outcome until right up to the very end. Hints were dropped throughout the book. But you still weren't sure. She was very good at weaving history into it too. It was a nice relaxing read.
Helpful Score: 3
Excellent book! Little slow in the middle but keep reading, it's worth it. The prose is beautiful.
