The Blind Assassin
by Margaret Atwood
On This Page
Description
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Handmaid's Tale WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE In The Blind Assassin, Margaret Atwood weaves together strands of gothic suspense, romance, and science fiction into one utterly spellbinding narrative. The novel begins with the mysterious death--a possible suicide--of a young woman named Laura Chase in 1945. Decades later, Laura's sister Iris recounts her memories of their childhood, and of the dramatic deaths that have punctuated their show more wealthy, eccentric family's history. Intertwined with Iris's account are chapters from the scandalous novel that made Laura famous, in which two illicit lovers amuse each other by spinning a tale of a blind killer on a distant planet. These richly layered stories-within-stories gradually illuminate the secrets that have long haunted the Chase family, coming together in a brilliant and astonishing final twist. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
browner56 Two superbly crafted explorations of the cathartic power that comes from the act of writing.
192
djmccord73 family history, secrets
Also recommended by jhedlund
41
KayCliff Laura Chase in The Blind Assassin falls to her death from a bridge over a ravine, just as Stella falls to hers from a roof. The Blind Assassin is concerned with finding out why Laura fell, with newspaper reports given, excerpts from a novel quoted, and passages of
narration from Laura's sister -- all out of chronological sequence; just as the cause of Stella's fall is sought through Ullmann's novel by a variety of narrators, with excerpts from a video, all simililarly out of chronological order. Both Stella and Laura act as nurses, and fall prey to unprincipled men. Both novels include a pair of sisters whose mother dies when they are young, leaving the elder girl to take care of the younger; children with absent or unknown fathers; and someone very old, near to their own death, who loved
Laura/Stella. Laura's sister fancies, `there was no floor to my room: I was suspended in the air, about to plummet. My fall would be endless -- endlessly down'. Stella's daughter tells her sister, `Mama fell off a roof, Mama's falling still. She falls and falls and never hits the ground'.
10
PrincessPaulina Main characters are seniors, reexamining their biographies at the end of their lives.
33
electronicmemory Two books that are slow, close character studies of our protagonists. They both have lovely prose, vivid imagery and nuance.
thea-block Pictures of the whole a woman's life, exploring how early decisions effect the rest of their lives.
11
electronicmemory Historical settings come alive in these novels about the complexities of life among close-knit high society social circles.
34
PghDragonMan Deception is layered on deception until even the truth looks false.
02
Member Reviews
A densely written, multi-layered treatise on (self)love, (self)deception, and (self)betrayal as Iris Chase seeks to understand and avenge her sister's death, looking back at all the events leading up to it and all the subsequent choices she made afterwards. Less didactic than previous works, more stealthy in how the author ponders gender roles, individual responsibility vs societal expectations and our capacity for understanding others. Science fiction novel within the outer novel shows how all our stories are part fantasy, part history, part morality play, no matter what the format or the gilding. Interspersed newspaper accounts provide a false mirror: events are glossed over and presented in a certain light; yet this account *is* what show more really took place in other people's own stories. show less
This is Atwood’s most popular novel and I can finally see why. It’s beautifully written, complex, allegorical and otherworldly. It follows the interior of lives we ourselves cannot imagine living. It’s romantic and horrific at the same time. The events unfold slowly and we have many things to piece together ourselves in order have the full story. The writing is delicate, precise and requires one to pay attention; to turn things over, to muse. I think that’s why I couldn’t finish it when it first came out. One needs to be relaxed with these characters and not expect them to act in ways out of the time, culture and upbringing. A modern woman can fall into a frustrated and impatient trap expecting that (like when young women get show more all mad at Eliza and Jane in P&P, imposing their 21st century wills and attitudes). A reader also has to be relaxed with the story itself and let Atwood play it out. Don’t rush things. Part of the payoff is the atmosphere; the change of narrative lends itself to confusion if things are rushed.
Spoilers start here so if you haven’t read it, do yourself a favor and do that before you continue with this review.
Ok. So it wasn’t a great reveal for me at the end when Iris admits she is the author of The Blind Assassin and not Laura. It is Iris having the illicit romance. I don’t know exactly when I figured it out, but sometime during the first half of the novel. It struck me how Daisy Buchanan-like Iris is in TBA. How she draws attention back to herself always. Little things like asking why her lover wants to see her upset or how he feels about some aspect of her. I’m reminded of the scene where Daisy calls attention to her hurt finger out of the blue. I can imagine Iris’s voice being deliberately low, forcing him to lean into her and pay attention. So very different from the mousy doormat she presents in real life. The sneaking around must be the absolute limit of her bravery and independence because this is the only way she shows any.
The story within the fictional Blind Assassin is a science fiction piece that her lover spins for her; an episode each time they meet. Iris is sometimes offended at what he gives her, but is accepting. At other times she gives him suggestions and wants him to concentrate on the romance angle of the story, which he leaves out when it finally makes it to print. She is dismayed at her gift being so ignored. At times the invented words in the alien’s language were distracting. Snilfard is distinctly Seuss-ian, while oorm and wibular have a Gorey-esque aspect about them. Was it meant to be character revealing? Was Atwood just having a bit of fun? No idea.
Iris is not an entirely likeable character, but I didn’t actively dislike her as much as I must have the first time I attempted to read this (in 2000 or 2001). This time, I didn’t project my 21st century sensibility on her. Instead I just read about her and evaluated what she did by what she had done in the past. I felt sympathy with her plight both in the present time of her story and her flashbacks to her former life. While from the outside it appeared that Iris and Laura had it easy as children, the reality was very far from that. This continued into adulthood for both of them. One thing that bothered me was Iris’s lack of drive when it came to protecting her daughter and granddaughter. Her blasé treatment of them doesn’t check up with the internal anguish she professes. In the end, there was basically no upshot to her having or not having either girl and I would have cut it out if this were my story. Iris’s end-of-life revelations could have as easily been written to posterity as to some estranged granddaughter.
Laura is a bit more of an enigma. I think she was a little slow. The fact that she never went to school until a teenager allowed her the freedom to cocoon herself into a fantasy world that she never left. She had a kind of animal cunning, but I couldn’t see any deliberation or design in anything she did. It was not hard to see that Laura never had the discipline, education or imagination to write a veiled novel like TBA. Atwood fooled me at first, but not for long.
Did Reenie grate on anyone else the way she grated on me? Seriously, this woman was a narrow-minded tyrant, imposing her outdated rhetoric on these two girls who would have been backward and ill-favored even without it. I doubt her good intentions helped their stifled situation and probably set them up as less able to deal with reality when eventually confronted with it. No wonder Iris doesn’t know how to deal with the Winifred situation as it pertains to Richard. Even a strong-minded and self-assured woman would have a hard time cracking and controlling that twisted relationship.
Iris’s husband Richard and father Norval are evil men, but products of their time. They see women as chattel and treat them as such, so it’s no surprise that Iris was basically horse-traded into her marriage. Only later do we see that Laura, too, was part of the bargain and her involuntary committal and true relationship with Richard were easy to spot. The lady doth protest too much and all that.
Despite its somewhat played plot points, The Blind Assassin has enough originality to make it a worthwhile read (the fiction within a fiction within a fiction is interesting). And I can’t fault the writing a single syllable. It’s faultless and has the perfect pitch to convey what it was like to live the strange life Iris had. show less
Spoilers start here so if you haven’t read it, do yourself a favor and do that before you continue with this review.
Ok. So it wasn’t a great reveal for me at the end when Iris admits she is the author of The Blind Assassin and not Laura. It is Iris having the illicit romance. I don’t know exactly when I figured it out, but sometime during the first half of the novel. It struck me how Daisy Buchanan-like Iris is in TBA. How she draws attention back to herself always. Little things like asking why her lover wants to see her upset or how he feels about some aspect of her. I’m reminded of the scene where Daisy calls attention to her hurt finger out of the blue. I can imagine Iris’s voice being deliberately low, forcing him to lean into her and pay attention. So very different from the mousy doormat she presents in real life. The sneaking around must be the absolute limit of her bravery and independence because this is the only way she shows any.
The story within the fictional Blind Assassin is a science fiction piece that her lover spins for her; an episode each time they meet. Iris is sometimes offended at what he gives her, but is accepting. At other times she gives him suggestions and wants him to concentrate on the romance angle of the story, which he leaves out when it finally makes it to print. She is dismayed at her gift being so ignored. At times the invented words in the alien’s language were distracting. Snilfard is distinctly Seuss-ian, while oorm and wibular have a Gorey-esque aspect about them. Was it meant to be character revealing? Was Atwood just having a bit of fun? No idea.
Iris is not an entirely likeable character, but I didn’t actively dislike her as much as I must have the first time I attempted to read this (in 2000 or 2001). This time, I didn’t project my 21st century sensibility on her. Instead I just read about her and evaluated what she did by what she had done in the past. I felt sympathy with her plight both in the present time of her story and her flashbacks to her former life. While from the outside it appeared that Iris and Laura had it easy as children, the reality was very far from that. This continued into adulthood for both of them. One thing that bothered me was Iris’s lack of drive when it came to protecting her daughter and granddaughter. Her blasé treatment of them doesn’t check up with the internal anguish she professes. In the end, there was basically no upshot to her having or not having either girl and I would have cut it out if this were my story. Iris’s end-of-life revelations could have as easily been written to posterity as to some estranged granddaughter.
Laura is a bit more of an enigma. I think she was a little slow. The fact that she never went to school until a teenager allowed her the freedom to cocoon herself into a fantasy world that she never left. She had a kind of animal cunning, but I couldn’t see any deliberation or design in anything she did. It was not hard to see that Laura never had the discipline, education or imagination to write a veiled novel like TBA. Atwood fooled me at first, but not for long.
Did Reenie grate on anyone else the way she grated on me? Seriously, this woman was a narrow-minded tyrant, imposing her outdated rhetoric on these two girls who would have been backward and ill-favored even without it. I doubt her good intentions helped their stifled situation and probably set them up as less able to deal with reality when eventually confronted with it. No wonder Iris doesn’t know how to deal with the Winifred situation as it pertains to Richard. Even a strong-minded and self-assured woman would have a hard time cracking and controlling that twisted relationship.
Iris’s husband Richard and father Norval are evil men, but products of their time. They see women as chattel and treat them as such, so it’s no surprise that Iris was basically horse-traded into her marriage. Only later do we see that Laura, too, was part of the bargain and her involuntary committal and true relationship with Richard were easy to spot. The lady doth protest too much and all that.
Despite its somewhat played plot points, The Blind Assassin has enough originality to make it a worthwhile read (the fiction within a fiction within a fiction is interesting). And I can’t fault the writing a single syllable. It’s faultless and has the perfect pitch to convey what it was like to live the strange life Iris had. show less
Margaret Atwood knows how to get me interested in a novel. With characters that jump off the page she makes unlikely things happen to unlikeable people and I do not mind at all. Here she has a cool, reserved Iris and her hot-blooded sister Laura growing up wealthy and privileged in a chilly Canadian town. But when the family fortune falters in the Depression, Iris is married off to a cruel industrialist, and Laura drives her car off a bridge, leaving behind a pulpy science fiction novel (presented in parallel to the primary plot) that seems to contain a coded, masked guide to the secrets that ruled her life and brought about her early death. All this is told in the brittle, acerbic voice of the elderly Iris, who is left behind to decode show more Laura's legacy. In addition to wonderful characters, The Blind Assassin is also a tour-de-force of nested narratives, subtle reveals and buried memories. show less
I'm reading all the Booker Prize winners. Follow me at www.methodtohermadness.com.
Two young women, raised in relative isolation, meet an attractive, mysterious young man. What happens next involves sex, secrets, and sacrifice. In The Blind Assassin, Margaret Atwood weaves together multiple story strands as skillfully as A.S. Byatt does in Possession: the view from the present and the vintage love story are interspersed with news articles about war in Europe and local tragedy that enhance the threatening mood.
Fans of the author of The Handmaid's Tale will recognize recurring motifs: Atwood's cunningly analytical take on language; religious delusions; the ways society exploits women; and the ways women resist. Her science fiction also show more makes an appearance in the pulp stories penned by the mysterious young man.
This is a masterful novel, with a reveal as slow and enticing as a skillful burlesque show. I am so grateful this project required me to reread it. I hope that Atwood wins the Nobel Prize in literature soon, as the most recent winner Kazuo Ishiguro said she should have. show less
Two young women, raised in relative isolation, meet an attractive, mysterious young man. What happens next involves sex, secrets, and sacrifice. In The Blind Assassin, Margaret Atwood weaves together multiple story strands as skillfully as A.S. Byatt does in Possession: the view from the present and the vintage love story are interspersed with news articles about war in Europe and local tragedy that enhance the threatening mood.
Fans of the author of The Handmaid's Tale will recognize recurring motifs: Atwood's cunningly analytical take on language; religious delusions; the ways society exploits women; and the ways women resist. Her science fiction also show more makes an appearance in the pulp stories penned by the mysterious young man.
This is a masterful novel, with a reveal as slow and enticing as a skillful burlesque show. I am so grateful this project required me to reread it. I hope that Atwood wins the Nobel Prize in literature soon, as the most recent winner Kazuo Ishiguro said she should have. show less
The unfolding of this story reminded me of a matryoshka doll. Newspaper clippings tell of momentous events in the lives of Iris and Laura Chase, their father, Capt. Norval Chase and then later, Richard Griffen. A society woman's affair with a fugitive takes place in dingy rooms, but the grime, squalor and noise fade into the background as he weaves a science-fiction fantasy that progresses each time they meet. And in the midst of this, the lives of the two sisters evolve through distinct time periods.
Iris's philosophy of living her life as a duty is brilliantly contrasted with Laura's uncanny observations of life's purpose and God. The narrative conceals as it exposes, and the reader is kept guessing until the very end.
Iris's philosophy of living her life as a duty is brilliantly contrasted with Laura's uncanny observations of life's purpose and God. The narrative conceals as it exposes, and the reader is kept guessing until the very end.
The Blind Assassin is, quite simply, one of the best books I have ever read. It is a matryoshka doll of stories. At first, I was wondering what the stories had to do with one another, but it soon becomes obvious that they are multi-layered and interrelated.
Protagonist Iris is writing her memoir in 1999, looking back on events that took place during the 1930’s and 1940’s. News articles are inserted periodically to provide an exterior perspective. It is a story of Iris and her younger sister, Laura, who grow up in a privileged family. The patriarch experiences setbacks due to the Great Depression, and needs an infusion of cash, so he arranges a marriage between Iris and a wealthy industrialist. The sisters meet a working-class labor show more activist, who is blamed for an incendiary incident.
A science fiction story, told by a man to his lover, is interwoven into the memoir, along with a narrative of what is going on in Iris’s life in the present. The narrative requires the reader’s active engagement, constantly thinking and evaluating, fitting the puzzle pieces together, until the full picture emerges at the end.
Though a structural device is employed, there are multiple strong storylines supporting it. Atwood does not just add an artificial structure for its own sake. As the story progresses, various clues are revealed. The reader’s interpretation of these clues changes the meaning of events that came before. It is Margaret Atwood at her finest. Just brilliant! show less
Protagonist Iris is writing her memoir in 1999, looking back on events that took place during the 1930’s and 1940’s. News articles are inserted periodically to provide an exterior perspective. It is a story of Iris and her younger sister, Laura, who grow up in a privileged family. The patriarch experiences setbacks due to the Great Depression, and needs an infusion of cash, so he arranges a marriage between Iris and a wealthy industrialist. The sisters meet a working-class labor show more activist, who is blamed for an incendiary incident.
A science fiction story, told by a man to his lover, is interwoven into the memoir, along with a narrative of what is going on in Iris’s life in the present. The narrative requires the reader’s active engagement, constantly thinking and evaluating, fitting the puzzle pieces together, until the full picture emerges at the end.
Though a structural device is employed, there are multiple strong storylines supporting it. Atwood does not just add an artificial structure for its own sake. As the story progresses, various clues are revealed. The reader’s interpretation of these clues changes the meaning of events that came before. It is Margaret Atwood at her finest. Just brilliant! show less
The Blind Assassin – Margaret Atwood
5 stars
The aged, dying Iris Chase Griffen is writing a rambling memoir for her absent granddaughter. Her narrative is broken up with excerpts from a novel called The Blind Assassin, newspaper clippings and the occasional private letter. Gradually, all of these bits and pieces tell the squalid, tragic history of the Chase sisters. Very, very gradually; this is a slow moving story.
Iris was born before the end of world War One. In the course of her story, she relates how the great events of the 20th century affected the economy of her Canadian home town, and how those economic changes further restricted the future available to her. The excerpted novel is the story of an illicit love affair which itself show more includes the elaborate development of a pulp sci-fi novel. None of the details in any of these bits and pieces is accidental. Buried in the lurid descriptions of the crass sci-fi thriller are the roots of two ruined lives.
I’m very impressed with the complexity of Atwood’s writing. I feel that my brain has been well exercised. On the other hand, I feel a bit as if I’ve been hit over the head too many times. I get it, I get it! Women had few choices. Their lives were restricted. They were used and abused. It’s a very grim story. It’s satisfying that Iris finds a voice and to a certain degree gets her revenge. Although, Iris doesn’t seem to take any great satisfaction in this triumph. For me the best parts of the book were Iris’ pithy, apt commentary on aging and contemporary culture. show less
5 stars
The aged, dying Iris Chase Griffen is writing a rambling memoir for her absent granddaughter. Her narrative is broken up with excerpts from a novel called The Blind Assassin, newspaper clippings and the occasional private letter. Gradually, all of these bits and pieces tell the squalid, tragic history of the Chase sisters. Very, very gradually; this is a slow moving story.
Iris was born before the end of world War One. In the course of her story, she relates how the great events of the 20th century affected the economy of her Canadian home town, and how those economic changes further restricted the future available to her. The excerpted novel is the story of an illicit love affair which itself show more includes the elaborate development of a pulp sci-fi novel. None of the details in any of these bits and pieces is accidental. Buried in the lurid descriptions of the crass sci-fi thriller are the roots of two ruined lives.
I’m very impressed with the complexity of Atwood’s writing. I feel that my brain has been well exercised. On the other hand, I feel a bit as if I’ve been hit over the head too many times. I get it, I get it! Women had few choices. Their lives were restricted. They were used and abused. It’s a very grim story. It’s satisfying that Iris finds a voice and to a certain degree gets her revenge. Although, Iris doesn’t seem to take any great satisfaction in this triumph. For me the best parts of the book were Iris’ pithy, apt commentary on aging and contemporary culture. show less
Members
- Recently Added By
Published Reviews
ThingScore 82
Die Lebensgeschichte der Iris hebt sich wohltuend von jenen Romanen ab, die junge Frauen der 'besseren' Gesellschaft nach einer privilegierten Kindheit in ein Erwachsenendasein ohne Brüche und Krisen führen. Dennoch ist es schade, dass Margaret Atwood ihrer Heldin letztlich so wenig 'Mumm' mitgibt - es müssen dreißig Jahre von Iris' Leben vergehen, bis sie zum ersten Mal show more aufbegehrt.
Margaret Atwood erzählt Iris' und Lauras Geschichte auf drei Ebenen: anhand von Iris' Rückblick, Lauras Manuskript und diversen Zeitungsausschnitten. Atwood hat mit "Der blinde Mörder" nicht nur die Geschichte eines Frauenlebens geschrieben, sondern auch einen historischen Roman, eine Liebesgeschichte, eine Sciencefiction-Story und die Geschichte zweier Schwestern. Sie belohnt das Interesse des Lesers mit einer Geschichte von außergewöhnlicher Dichte, der es gelingt, die sozialen, industriellen und politischen Ereignisse in einer kanadischen Kleinstadt nachzuzeichnen und eine Chronik des 20. Jahrhunderts darzustellen. show less
Margaret Atwood erzählt Iris' und Lauras Geschichte auf drei Ebenen: anhand von Iris' Rückblick, Lauras Manuskript und diversen Zeitungsausschnitten. Atwood hat mit "Der blinde Mörder" nicht nur die Geschichte eines Frauenlebens geschrieben, sondern auch einen historischen Roman, eine Liebesgeschichte, eine Sciencefiction-Story und die Geschichte zweier Schwestern. Sie belohnt das Interesse des Lesers mit einer Geschichte von außergewöhnlicher Dichte, der es gelingt, die sozialen, industriellen und politischen Ereignisse in einer kanadischen Kleinstadt nachzuzeichnen und eine Chronik des 20. Jahrhunderts darzustellen. show less
added by Indy133
Margaret Atwood poses a provocative question in her new novel, "The Blind Assassin." How much are the bad turns of one's life determined by things beyond our control, like sex and class, and how much by personal responsibility? Unlike most folks who raise this question so that they can wag their finger -- she's made her bed, and so on -- Atwood's foray into this moral terrain is complex and show more surprising. Far from preaching to the converted, Atwood's cunning tale assumes a like-minded reader only so that she can argue, quite persuasively, from the other side. show less
added by stephmo
In her tenth novel, Margaret Atwood again demonstrates that she has mastered the art of creating dense, complex fictions from carefully layered narratives, making use of an array of literary devices - flashbacks, multiple time schemes, ambiguous, indeterminate plots - and that she can hook her readers by virtue of her exceptional story-telling skills. The Blind Assassin is not a book that can show more easily be put to one side, in spite of its length and the fact that its twists and turns occasionally try the patience; yet it falls short of making the emotional impact that its suggestive and slippery plot at times promises. show less
added by stephmo
Lists
The Guardian's 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read
1,005 works; 547 members
1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
1,448 works; 1,134 members
Best Historical Fiction
620 works; 257 members
Best Contemporary Literary Fiction (Around the Last 30 Years)
388 works; 124 members
Favourite Women's Prize for Fiction, Orange & Bailey's Prize contenders
132 works; 52 members
Best 21st Century Books (So Far)
670 works; 86 members
The Best of Canadian Literature
235 works; 33 members
Booker Prize
491 works; 62 members
20th Century Literature
1,161 works; 54 members
Favourite Booker Prize contenders
73 works; 21 members
Unread books
1,063 works; 87 members
Historical Fiction
889 works; 89 members
Top Five Books of 2013
1,562 works; 715 members
Female Author
1,235 works; 65 members
Recommend the 20 best books you've read in the last five years
2,168 works; 606 members
Books Set in Canada
80 works; 16 members
Slipstream or Interstitial Fiction
160 works; 19 members
Best Feminist Literature
188 works; 26 members
Best Psychological Fiction
81 works; 16 members
Metafiction
84 works; 21 members
Female Protagonist
1,056 works; 57 members
Best Books With Sisters
130 works; 30 members
Fiction Featuring Cranky, Eccentric Old Folks
80 works; 35 members
Favourite Books
1,819 works; 316 members
Unreliable Narrators
170 works; 43 members
Women's Stories
88 works; 13 members
501 Must-Read Books
529 works; 72 members
Favorite Science Fiction by Women Authors
737 works; 202 members
Time Magazine's "All-Time 100"
113 works; 15 members
Favorite Literary Love Stories
182 works; 101 members
Best books about books
209 works; 106 members
Best Family Stories
241 works; 22 members
Speculative Fiction: Slipstream Literature
166 works; 16 members
Best family sagas
244 works; 32 members
2000s (the decade, not the century)
184 works; 11 members
Books I've Read More Than Once
602 works; 49 members
Booker Prize Shortlist: Titles Read
103 works; 10 members
Love and Marriage
93 works; 10 members
Crime and Mysteries to Read
746 works; 31 members
Significant works of postmodern fiction
86 works; 25 members
Blue Pyramid 1,276 Best Books of All Time
1,248 works; 32 members
LibraryThingers' 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
442 works; 30 members
Story Within a Story
65 works; 17 members
International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
179 works; 6 members
Top Five Books of 2015
811 works; 241 members
Experimental Literature
141 works; 18 members
Novels featuring siblings
133 works; 8 members
Survey of Science Fiction and Fantasy
101 works; 13 members
Literature About Women and Girls
394 works; 39 members
Top Five Books of 2022
736 works; 272 members
Top Five Books of 2014
1,064 works; 397 members
Love Triangles in Literature
108 works; 15 members
Writers as Characters in Fiction
120 works; 19 members
Time's All-Time 100 Novels
100 works; 27 members
Elena Ferrante's 40 favourite books by female authors
40 works; 10 members
Books Read in 2023
5,547 works; 145 members
Five star books
1,755 works; 107 members
Man Booker Prize Longlist 2000
6 works; 2 members
Recommended Speculative Fiction by Women and People of Color
298 works; 45 members
2000s decade
85 works; 7 members
Best Domestic Fiction
77 works; 6 members
Books tagged favorites
390 works; 30 members
Shannon's Read-Alikes List
71 works; 8 members
My E-Book Collection - Opinions Welcome
92 works; 10 members
Canada
42 works; 3 members
Retrospective of Historical Fiction
48 works; 7 members
Most Popular Books Tagged Ontario
35 works; 2 members
SHOULD Read Books!
354 works; 9 members
Speculative Fiction to Read
706 works; 32 members
Books Read in 2015
3,299 works; 126 members
Book-Themed Mysteries
21 works; 5 members
Secrets Books
94 works; 3 members
Books Read in 2008
335 works; 8 members
Books About Older People
50 works; 11 members
Most Popular Books Tagged Canada
34 works; 1 member
My Favourite Books
86 works; 5 members
Speculative Fiction: The Award Winners
27 works; 6 members
Women Writers
16 works; 2 members
BingoDOG - Genre Benders
74 works; 14 members
Books We Couldn't Put Down
443 works; 197 members
living room bookshelf
150 works; 1 member
Florida
366 works; 3 members
Books With the Most Memorable Titles
478 works; 158 members
AP Lit
363 works; 6 members
Canadian Historical Fiction 🇨🇦
157 works; 8 members
Books Read in 2013
1,630 works; 51 members
Books Read in 2021
5,361 works; 114 members
Literature About Suicide
24 works; 4 members
Around the World in 80 Books
79 works; 4 members
To Read
617 works; 7 members
Books Tagged Abuse
152 works; 4 members
Protagonists - Women
29 works; 2 members
Speculative Fiction
40 works; 2 members
Allie's Wishlist
217 works; 2 members
You Couldn't Pay Me to Read That (Take 2)
203 works; 82 members
Talk Discussions
Past Discussions
Group Read: The Blind Assassin in 1001 Books to read before you die (February 2011)
Author Information
Margaret Atwood was born on November 18, 1939 in Ottawa, Canada. She received a B.A. from Victoria College, University of Toronto in 1961 and an M.A. from Radcliff College in 1962. Her first book of verse, Double Persephone, was published in 1961 and was awarded the E. J. Pratt Medal. She has published numerous books of poetry, novels, story show more collections, critical work, juvenile work, and radio and teleplays. Her works include The Journals of Susanna Moodie, Power Politics, Cat's Eye, The Robber Bride, Morning in the Buried House, the MaddAdam trilogy, and The Heart Goes Last. She has won numerous awards including the Prince of Asturias Award for Literature, the Booker Prize in 2000 for The Blind Assassin, the Giller Prize and the Premio Mondello for Alias Grace, and the Governor General's Award in 1966 for The Circle Game and in 1986 for The Handmaid's Tale, which also won the very first Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1987. She won the PEN Pinter prize in 2016 for her political activism. She was awarded the 2016 PEN Pinter Prize for the outstanding literary merit of her body of work. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Awards
Distinctions
Notable Lists
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
TEAdue [TEA] (1113)
Otavan kirjasto (142)
A tot vent (499)
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Blind Assassin
- Original title
- The Blind Assassin
- Alternate titles
- The Blind Assassin: A Novel (cover/spine titles) (cover/spine titles)
- Original publication date
- 2000
- People/Characters
- Iris Chase; Laura Chase; Richard Griffen; Alex Thomas; Winifred Prior; Aimee Griffen (show all 9); Sabrina Griffen; Reenie; Myra Hincks
- Important places
- Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Port Ticonderoga, Ontario, Canada (fictional place); Ontario, Canada; Canada; Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; The Planet Zycron (fictional place)
- Important events
- World War II; Spanish Civil War; Great Depression; World War I; On-to-Ottawa Trek
- Related movies
- The Blind Assassin (2022 | IMDb)
- Epigraph
- Imagine the monarch Agha Mohammad Khan, who orders the entire population of the city of Kerman murdered or blinded — no exceptions. His praetorians set energetically to work. They line up the inhabitants, slice off the head... (show all)s of the adults, gouge out the eyes of the children. . . . Later, processions of blinded children leave the city. Some, wandering around in the countryside, lose their way in the desert and die of thirst. Other groups reach inhabited settlements . . . singing songs about the extermination of the citizens of Kerman. . . .
— Ryszard Kapuściński
I swam, the sea was boundless, I saw no shore.
Tanit was merciless, my prayers were answered.
O you who drown in love, remember me.
— Inscription on a Carthaginian Funerary Urn
The word is a flame burning in a dark glass.
— Sheila Watson - First words
- Ten days after the war ended, my sister Laura drove a car off a bridge.
- Quotations
- Farewells can be shattering, but returns are surely worse. Solid flesh can never live up the bright shadow cast by its absence.
What virtue was once attached to this notion—of going beyond your strength, of not sparing yourself, of ruining your health! Nobody is born with that kind of selflessness: it can be acquired only by the most relentless disc... (show all)ipline, a crushing-out of natural inclination, and by my time the knack or secret of it must have been lost.
I'm sorry, I'm just not interested.
Or perhaps she's just softening me up: she's a Baptist, she'd like me to find Jesus, or vice versa, before it's too late. That kind of thing doesn't run in her family: her mother Reenie never went in much for God. There was m... (show all)utual respect, and if you were in trouble, naturally you'd call on him, as with lawyers, but as with lawyers, it would have to be bad trouble. Otherwise it didn't pay to get too mixed up with him.
She knew the family histories, or at least something about them. What she would tell me varied in relation to my age, and also in relation to how distracted she was at the time. Nevertheless, in this way I collected enough fr... (show all)agments of the past to make a reconstruction of it, which must have borne as much relation to the real thing as a mosaic portrait would to the original. I didn't want realism anyway: I wanted things to be highly coloured, simple in outline, without ambiguity, which is what most children want when it comes to the stories of their parents. They want a postcard. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)By the time you read this last page, that—if anywhere—is the only place I will be.
- Blurbers
- Updike, John; Gussow, Mel; Passaro, Vince
- Original language
- British English
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 813.54
- Canonical LCC
- PR9199.A8 B55
Classifications
- Genres
- General Fiction, Fiction and Literature, Science Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery
- DDC/MDS
- 813.54 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American fiction in English 1900-1999 1945-1999
- LCC
- PR9199 .A8 .B55 — Language and Literature English English Literature English literature: Provincial, local, etc.
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 17,770
- Popularity
- 366
- Reviews
- 391
- Rating
- (3.93)
- Languages
- 22 — Catalan, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian (Bokmål), Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 112
- UPCs
- 1
- ASINs
- 42