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2000 - 2007 Booker Prize Chunkster

The Blind Assassin – Margaret Atwood

 

‘The Blind Assassin’ won the Booker prize in 2000. It tells the tale of two sisters and the secrets that lead to one of them committing suicide.

 

This is the first book by Margaret Atwood that I have read. Reviews of her books always seem to be very positive, so I was expecting a good book. Unfortunately I was very disappointed. The plot was predictable and uninspiring. The characters had no special qualities, and came across as boring people. The writing was OK, but not particularly atmospheric. I was expecting much more, from a prize winning book by a critically acclaimed author.

 

 

Many reviews state that this is a hard book to get into, and confusing, as it skips around so much. I didn’t find this to be a problem, as there was a good read before the book skipped time frames (although perhaps I’m just comparing it to ‘Beloved’, which I read recently, and is very complicated) I also found it quite easy to get into. The book flowed along well throughout it’s 600+ pages, but at the end I felt let down. I’ll have forgotten about this book in a few days, as there was nothing special about it.

 

Very average.

 

Also reviewed by Belle of the Books, Care’s Online Book Club

9 replies on “The Blind Assassin – Margaret Atwood”

I so glad to see that someone else agrees with me on this book! Very average is a good way to put it.

However, please don’t let this one book keep you from reading more of her books. Over all, she is one of my favorite authors. My all time favorite of her’s is ‘Alias Grace’.

Also good is The Handsmaid Tale and Orx and Crake. These two are furturistic, and Orx and Crake could be classified as sci fi as well, not a genre I usually care for, but this one worked for me.

I really like your reviews, and I’m adding you to my google reader.

Thanks for adding me to your google reader! There aren’t many of us who don’t love this book! A lot of her other books have been shortlisted for the Booker prize, so I will be reading them at some point. Maybe I should edge one further up the reading pile to see if I like any of them!

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