Penelopiad
Margaret Atwood and I have a love-hate relationship. Well, no, we have a love-hate-ignore relationship. I love or hate her work; she has no idea who I am.
Loves: Cat’s Eye, The Robber Bride, Good Bones and Simple Murders, The Blind Assassin
Hates: Oryx & Crake, Alias Grace, The Edible Woman
I had no idea she even had a new book out until I saw a side note about it in a newspaper or magazine, and it happened to be in the library so, why not? This is one of my favourite genres, modern retellings of classic tales (any tales — fairy tales, classic literature, mythology, whatever; this is part of why I enjoy Winterson), and one which she is usually very good at. So I was expecting good things.
And I was not disappointed. The book isn’t her greatest ever, don’t get me wrong: I was not overwhelmed by beauty or brilliance. It’s short, it’s much more like her short stories in tone than her books (as I am a big fan of her short stories, more than her novels or poetry, this is a good thing in my world). But still, I am thinking about the book. Penelope is self-aware, though it’s all in retrospect; the chorus of hanged maidens makes the book work as well as it does.
October 28th, 2005 at 4:31 pm
Hmm. I’m intrigued enough to check it out. Thanks.
October 28th, 2005 at 4:33 pm
PS you’re never going to believe this: my local library system (a main library with eleven branches) has it only on cassette and disc.
October 28th, 2005 at 4:58 pm
I may have to read it someday. There are no references to Susannah Moodie, are there? I am still scared by my Intro to Can Lit courses, which is probably the profs’ faults and not Can Lit’s. I’ve been told that Alias Grace is pretty good but that first quote from Susannah Moodie makes my feel faint and I close the book and walk away.
Anywho, even if you met Atwood, she would probably ignore you. My friend lives down the street from her and she is very kind to his dog but acts as though he who holds the other end of the leash isn’t present.
October 28th, 2005 at 5:00 pm
I must say that I wish I could spell. Scarred. I was scarred by Intro to Can Lit.
October 28th, 2005 at 8:30 pm
I also hated Oryx and Crake, but I liked Alias Grace.
October 28th, 2005 at 11:33 pm
Oh, I think you should try to read it, Michelle. I’d also suggest her book(s) of short stories. You do a lot of driving — why not listen to it on the commute?
Zh., why were you so scarred? (I prefer scared anyways. Ack! Atwood! Ondaatje! Cohen! Run away fast!)
I keep planning to try Alias Grace again, she wrote it in a run of books I liked.
October 29th, 2005 at 7:07 pm
Hey, that’s true, I am driving a lot right now, and my new (old) van has a CD player. I’ve always had difficulty comprehending things read aloud — must follow along visually to absorb. But maybe I’ll give it a whirl.
November 2nd, 2005 at 11:40 am
Intro to Can Lit II was one of those classes during which I watched the professor and started a list that I still keep adding to: “What Not to Do when I Am a Professor.” Number 1 at the top of that list was: Do not teach an intro course and expect my 200+ freshmen to already know the entire history of Canadian literature. No 2? Do not ever teach Dionne Brand unless I’m being held at gunpoint.
I also sucked (and now suck a bit less) at general theme-based discussions. “What’s this about?” Ummm…I don’t know but the use of narrative voice was really interesting. And all we did in Can Lit II was discuss things like isolation, distance, Dieppe, exile, immigration, outsiders, otherness, blah blah blah.
It just sucked. And it was my worst grade as an undergrad by like a gazillion.
September 20th, 2006 at 5:17 am
I met Atwood at a reading. I thanked her as I stood outside the door waiting for my classmates. It was one of the most akward moments of my life. She is a very very strange and talented woman and I would most definatly not want to be her neighbour.