The setup and setting are promising enough. In ''The Blind Assassin,'' overlong and badly written, our first impressions of the dramatis personae prove not so much lasting as total. If we apply the old Forsterian standard that roundĬharacters are ones ''capable of surprising in a convincing way,'' Atwood's new novel, for all its multilayered story-within-a-story-within-a-story construction, must be judged flat as a pancake. So, 4 stars Ms Atwood.Margaret Atwood has written a novel-within-a-novel that involves watery death and a science fiction best seller.Įarly 20 years ago, in speaking of her craft, the novelist Margaret Atwood observed that ''a character in a book who is consistently wellīehaved probably spells disaster for the book.'' She might have asserted the more general principle that consistent anything in a character can prove tedious. However, a book that you can’t wait to be done with, can’t be rated on par with books that you never want to end. The dry, sarcastic humour and wit are so sharp that they can give you paper cuts. Despite the challenging plot, the writing really is marvellous, and it kept me coming back. In the beginning, the two storylines don’t seem to connect at all, but eventually, with a lot of perseverance, things start connecting somewhat. The other is a science fiction story called ‘The Blind Assasin’ written by her sister Laura which gets published after Laura dies. One is about Iris, who is writing a manuscript about her life and relationships. The book has two storylines from two different time periods. Slipping in and out of multiple layers and keeping track of everything happening in the story does need focus, so it’s not an easy read by any means.

Every page packs a punch, and the story has so many layers and nuances that I wanted to bury my head in sand and forget that I ever started reading it. So much so that your mind gets tired and needs a visor for a respite from all the brilliance, but none comes along. The numerous awards that she has won, including the Booker Prize for this book, attest to her incredible mastery over words. Margaret Atwood does as she preaches in the quote above. You must see the writing as emerging like a long scroll of ink from the index finger of your right hand you must see your left hand erasing it.“ – Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin, Not by any other person, and not even by yourself at some later date.

“The only way you can write the truth is to assume that what you set down will never be read.

The blind assassin review