"The Blind Assassin" is another great novel by Margaret Atwood, a novel that mixes reality and fiction (within its world) to weave a story of sadness, love, betrayal that will stay with the reader after they turn its last page.
The story centers on sisters Iris and Laura. At the beginning of the novel we learn of Laura's death (probably a suicide). Her older sister, Iris, is the one that tells the story, one that starts before both sisters were born and that develops little by little, letting us know why each of them got the point where they are at the beginning of the novel. While telling her story, Iris takes us down a path of darkness, family betrayals, money problems and desperation, with the Second World War as its background.
It is a beautiful novel, that starts amazingly and has a great ending, and where Atwood does a great job in mixing styles and timelines. We get the past, the present and the 'parallel world', a place where two characters develop sci-fi/fantasy stories, a world that we will discover little by little how it relates to the rest of the story (even if at the beginning it may be a little bit jumpy, the cuts from one story-line to another, as the novel advances it all becomes fluid and relatable). And if the plot is really interesting, with all its twists and creaks, the characters are also really interesting, Atwood creating a couple of sisters that will enrapture and delight the reader, getting all their attention in the process. Laura is a more black/white character, but still, Atwood does a great job in that department too.
The writing style is also amazing, Atwood a master in the use of English to tell the story. Some images are so beautiful/sad/disturbing (etc.) that you feel like bowing to her constantly. In a second, in a paragraph, there is she, creating a beautiful world with a great use of vocabulary and sentence construction. It is a work of art.
Really interesting, with great characters and an engaging story-line, "The Blind Assassin" is another treat from a great author.
The Best: The use of English (language and sentence construction), Iris as a character, the sci-fi/fantasy stories, the look into what makes us 'human beings', Atwood doing a great job in creating believable characters.
The Worst: After a great beginning the story feels a little bit on a shaky ground for the first 100 pages, difficult to see/follow with all the jumps and changes in characters/plot/story-lines. A couple of slow moments close to the end.
Read More: Well, you have "The Handmaid's Tale", of course, by the same Margaret Atwood (which I feel it is a more well rounded novel). Stories with females characters there are many, as "姉妹" (ok, if you read Japanese), or "Sense and Sensibility" (quite different world, though). If you feel in the need for good sci-fi, "Dune" is an option (the greatest option) or "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch" by Philip K. Dick. And "Infinite Jest", always "Infinite Jest".
8/10
(Read in English)
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