A brief yet definitive new biography of one of film's greatest legends: perfect for readers who want to know more about the iconic star but who don't want to commit to a...
An engrossing and revolutionary biography of Isabella of Castile, the controversial Queen of Spain who sponsored Christopher Columbus's journey to the New World, established the Spanish Inquisition,...
Is the Book of Mormon the Great American Novel? Decades before Melville and Twain composed their great works, a farmhand and child seer named Joseph Smith unearthed a long-buried book from a haunted hill in western New York State that told of an epic history...
A fascinating fusion of memoir, manners, and cultural history from a successful businesswoman well versed in the unique challenges of working in contemporary China.During...
A collection of highly imaginative short pieces that speak to our times with deadly accuracy. Vintage Atwood creativity, intelligence, and humor: think&Alias Grace.Margaret...
Fiona Maye is a leading High Court judge&who presides over cases in the family court. She is renowned for her fierce intelligence, exactitude, and sensitivity.&But&her...
Rock 'n' roll, revolution, and romance are seductively woven together in this intense and moving novel from the author of Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth&In...
A psychological&thriller in the tradition of Patricia Highsmith about two couples caught in a web of conflicting passions while deep-sea diving off the beautiful Canary IslandsIn...
A collection of unforgettable short stories that explores the wondrous transformation between grief and hope, a journey often marked by moments of unexpected grace.Set...
The recent translation of a Babylonian tablet launches a groundbreaking investigation into one of the most famous stories in the world, challenging the way we look at ancient history....
Set in one day in 1632,&The Anatomy Lesson&is a stunning portrayal of Golden Age Amsterdam and a brilliantly imagined back-story to Rembrandt's first great...
Rapier-sharp, witty, intriguing, and mysterious: a new novel from Peter Ackroyd set in the London of the 1960s.
Three Brothers follows the fortunes...
A captivating, atmospheric return to historical fiction that is every
bit as convincing and engrossing as Martin's landmark Mary Reilly.
In 1872 the American merchant vessel Mary Celeste...
In the vein of Prozac Nation and Girl, Interrupted, an
electrifying memoir about a young woman's promiscuous and
self-destructive spiral after being cast out of her...
A riveting psychological drama that challenges the way we&understand others&and our own sense of selfMia is a schoolteacher in Denmark.&Her husband, Frederik,...
Entertaining, unexpected, and full of charm, the follow-up to Jessica Kerwin Jenkins&s Encyclopedia of the Exquisite presents a miscellany of engaging stories, detailing the intriguing...
In this powerful and intimate memoir, the beloved bestselling author of The Prince of Tides and his father, the inspiration for The Great Santini, find some common ground at long last.Pat...
From the inimitable bestselling author Thomas Cahill, another popular history&this one focusing on how the innovations of the Renaissance and the Reformation changed...
The gripping story of the author&s aunt, a Jewish dance instructor who was betrayed to the Nazis by the two men she loved, yet managed to survive WWII by teaching dance lessons to...
A New York Times Notable BookA Washington Post Notable BookA&Best Book of the Year: The Guardian, NPR, The Christian Science Monitor, The Globe and MailA GoodReads Reader's ChoiceBringing...
A long overdue biography of the power couple that nurtured and influenced the literary world of early twentieth-century England
write primarily to pay homage to a beloved friend, but also...
From the author of Wartime Lies and About Schmidt, an
irresistibly entertaining novel about a man struggling to understand his
friends' seemingly charmed...
We have entered the age of extinction. Soon many of the animal kingdom&s most extraordinary creatures will no longer roman free, hunted and hounded out of existence&including...
From National Book Award winner Deirdre Bair, the definitive biography of Saul Steinberg, one of The New Yorker's most iconic artists.&The issue date was March...
Use of this site indicates your consent to the . Copyright & 1995 - 2014. All rights reserved.The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood | 3 | Paperback | Barnes & Noble
The Blind Assassin
Add to List +
Please enter a list name
You entered an invalid character [!@#$%^&*()_+-{};"]. Please enter a valid alpha numeric character.
Please name your Essential List:
New Essential List
You may add a description of the list:
Please enter a list name
You entered an invalid character [!@#$%^&*()_+-{};"]. Please enter a valid alpha numeric character.
Please name your Wish List:
New Wish List
You may add a description of the list:
(Save 23%)$16.00 List Price
Add to Bag
Pick Up In Store
Reserve and pick up in 60 minutes at your local store
Find In-store
Enter your zip code
Other sellers (Paperback)
Used (312)
Available on NOOK devices and apps
NOOK Devices
Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK 7.0
Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK 10.1
NOOK HD Tablet
NOOK HD+ Tablet
NOOK eReaders
NOOK Color
NOOK Tablet
Tablet/Phone
NOOK for Windows 8 Tablet
NOOK for iOS
NOOK for Android
NOOK Kids for iPad
NOOK for Windows 8
NOOK for PC
NOOK for Mac
NOOK for Web
Want a NOOK?
All Available Formats & Editions
NOOK Book (1)
Paperback (4)
Hardcover (5)
Audiobook (5)
Margaret Atwood takes the art of storytelling to new heights in a dazzling new novel that unfolds layer by astonishing layer and concludes in a brilliant and wonderfully satisfying twist.
For the past twenty-five years, Margaret Atwood has written works of striking originality and imagination. In The Blind Assassin, she stretches the limits of her accomplishments as never before, creating a novel that is entertaining and profoundly serious.
The novel opens with these simple, resonant words: "Ten days after the war ended, my sister drove a car off the bridge." They are spoken by Iris, whose terse account of her sister Laura's death in 1945 is followed by an inquest report proclaiming the death accidental. But just as the reader expects to settle into Laura's story, Atwood introduces a novel-within-a- novel. Entitled The Blind Assassin, it is a science fiction story told by two unnamed lovers who meet in dingy backstreet rooms. When we return to Iris, it is through a 1947 newspaper article announcing the discovery of a sailboat carrying the dead body of her husband, a distinguished industrialist.
Told in a style that magnificently captures the colloquialisms and clichés of the 1930s and 1940s, The Blind Assassin is a richly layered and uniquely rewarding experience. The novel has many threads and a series of events that follow one another at a breathtaking pace. As everything comes together, readers will discover that the story Atwood is telling is not only what it seems to be--but, in fact, much more.
The Blind Assassin proves once again that Atwood is one of the most talented, daring, and exciting writers of our time. Like The Handmaid's Tale, it is destined to become a classic.
Winner of the 2000 Booker Prize
Margaret Atwood is the author of more than twenty-five books, including fiction, poetry, and essays. Her most recent work includes the novels Alias Grace and The Robber Bride and the collections Wilderness Tips and Good Bones and Simple Murders. She lives in Toronto.
When Margaret Atwood announced to her friends that she wanted to be a writer, she was only 16 years old. It was Canada. It was the 1950s. No one knew what to think. Nonetheless, Atwood began her writing career as a poet. Published In 1964 while she was still a student at Harvard, her second poetry anthology, The Circle Game, was awarded the Governor General's Award, one of Canada's most esteemed literary prizes. Since then, Atwood has gone on to publish many more volumes of poetry (as well as literary criticism, essays, and short stories), but it is her novels for which she is best known.
Atwood's first foray into fiction was 1966's The Edible Woman, an arresting story about a woman who stops eating because she feels her life is consuming her. Grabbing the attention of critics, who applauded its startlingly original premise, the novel explored feminist themes Atwood has revisited time and time again during her long, prolific literary career. She is famous for strong, compelling female protagonists -- from the breast cancer survivor in Bodily Harm to the rueful artist in Cat's Eye to the fatefully intertwined sisters in her Booker Prize-winning novel The Blind Asassin.
Perhaps Atwood's most legendary character is Offred, the tragic
in what is arguably her most famous book, 1985's The Handmaid's Tale. Part fable, part science fiction, and part dystopian nightmare, this novel presented a harrowing vision of women's lives in an oppressive futuristic society. The Washington Post compared it (favorably) to George Orwell's iconic 1984.
As if her status as a multi-award-winning, triple-threat writer (fiction, poetry, and essays) were not enough, Atwood has also produced several children's books, including Princess Prunella and the Purple Peanut (1995) and Rude Ramsay and the Roaring Radishes (2003) -- delicious alliterative delights that introduce a wealth of new vocabulary to young readers.
Toronto, Ontario
Date of Birth:
Sat Nov 18 00:00:00 EST 1939
Place of Birth:
Ottawa, Ontario
Education:
B.A., University of Toronto, 1961; M.A. Radcliffe, 1962; Ph.D., Harvard University, 1967
Average Rating 4
Beguiling to the last sentence
This book sat on my shelf for several months before I had the courage to read Atwood's best work. Blind Assassin is for the serious or the literary reader. And, very quickly we are thrown into a novel w/in the novel. The name? Blind Assassin written by Laura chase and published posthumously after her death in 1945 by her sister, Iris.
Iris discovers: &Nothing is more difficult than to understand the dead, I' but nothing is more dangerous than to ignore them.&
Did Laura purposely drive off that bridge? Do Iris' relationships to her father, much older husband, Alex, and even to Laura die in that car as well. Which sister is Laura writing about in her novel? And whom is the male lover in Blind Assassin that tells fantastical Sci Fi stories. Are they actually parables lifted from Laura and Iris' life to explain or justify each girl's choices? Or they something else, still yet defining Laura and Iris?
Atwood never yields to cynicism, or contempt for her characters. T a rich world of layered truths and lies of Laura and Iris. Atwood uses Iris to tell their story, define their relationships-all of them-to understand the dead and finally lay them to Rest in Peace. Thus Iris is revealed, and finally at peace with her life-warts and all, in the Autumn of her own life.
This book deserves more stars than this rating and the time it takes to read this wonderful story. I was very dissapointed that I had come to the last word. This marvelous book is a gem of an addition to my book collection and hopefully to yours.
8 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? & Thank you for your feedback.
Thank you, this review has been flagged.
Award-winning tedium
My colleagues in public libraries often write emphatic articles about the importance of getting the public to read Serious Modern Fiction (SMF).
I envision some of them marching people to the shelves at gunpoint.
Never having been a big fan of SMF, for the last few years, I have been attending library book clubs and independently pursuing a program of reading classics.
Blind Assassin, the fourth and worst Margaret Atwood novel that I have read has convinced me that I have been wasting my time.
From now on I&m sticking to my usual nonfiction with a leavening of mysteries and fantasies.
Genre fiction is often decried as being &formulaic&.
And Blind Assassin isn&t?
The little motherless mites with the faithful maid an the nasty upper-class husband vs the lower- the hollow propriet the tackiness of modern life, etc.
Of course, Atwood has a gimmick that apparently dazzled the critics.
You&ve heard of the story-within-a-story, and you&ve heard of the alternating narratives & well this baby has TWO stories-within-stories as alternating narratives!!!
But, wait!
There&s more & a third narrative consisting mostly of newspapers clippings that parallels one of the narratives!!!
Wow, how could you dare to ask for an interesting plot or well-developed characters?!
These kind of narrative tricks are marvelous if they create an effect that can&t be handled in a straightforward narrative, but otherwise it&s like the competition to write the longest sentence in English: sure it takes some cleverness to think up an additional clause that hasn&t been used, but is the result worth reading?
In my opinion, a novel is either an involving narrative that creates a world that&s completely real as long as one is reading & or the author should do nonfiction.
The book could have been vastly improved by eliminating about 190 of the first 200 pages.
The narrative, which is supposed to be a memoir, contains enti it reminds me of a total stranger latching onto someone in a public place to drone on about themselves.
Worse, all the detail is lavished upon insignificant things like ambient dog feces or styrofoam cups.
The engine of much of the plot is the strong feelings that Alex Thomas inspires in the Chase sisters, but he&s a such a shadowy figure that I can&t imagine what they see in him nor do I have any feeling for him (or any other character).
We know that he was a war orphan raised by a Presbyterian minister, he&s a leftist of some sort, he writes science-fiction short stories, he fought in the Spanish Civil War and died in World War II.
What little we experience of his personality, which is recounted by a sexual partner (lover would be too euphemistic and sentimental), seems pretty abrasive and obnoxious.
I can&t imagine that Iris& memoir would have much effect on her long-estranged granddaughter, assuming Sabrina had the patience to plow through it: Sabrina and her mother rank well below bathroom grafitti in importance.
Atwood attempts to pour on the pathos in the last couple of pages, but since Iris doesn&t appear to have noticed her daughter between her birth and the age of eight, bathos is more like it.
6 out of 14 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? & Thank you for your feedback.
Thank you, this review has been flagged.
A complex masterpiece!
I thought that challenging reading was for school... the boring stuff. But Margaret Atwood's &The Blind Assassin& was a twisted, complex novel that features a story within a story that requires your undivided attention!
The first line of the book is &On the day after the war ended, my sister drove her car off a bridge.& That caught my attention for sure! The narrator, Iris Chase Griffen, narrates the story, telling the tale of her life currently, as well as recounting her early childhood and all of its trials. That's only 2 parts of the story to follow. The 3rd part, which is perhaps the hardest to grasp, is a story that the narrator's sister, Laura Chase (the one the first sentence refers to) has supposedly written before her early death and has been published posthumously by Iris called &The Blind Assassin&. The 3 stories weave together in an intricately complex, but rewarding way. Every three or four chapters, the story will switch from Iris's narrative to &The Blind Assassin.& Carefully attention is needed to see how small details relate between the two settings, because therein lies the beauty and uniqueness of this work of art.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a challenge and is sick of the same ol' same ol' story. But make sure you are ready to think, think, think!
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? & Thank you for your feedback.
Thank you, this review has been flagged.
A True Literarily Marvel
The Blind Assasin was a unique experience of alternating atmospheres, impeccible detail, and insightful perspective from the accounts of the main character, Iris, and her take on everyone, and everything, around her.
From the blend of cynisism to the intermixed events of a capricic life, Iris' memoirs, which compose the story, are a force to be reckoned with. Her story is most notable in that it is definitely one with regret and revenge, and an undeniable thirst for change. Meanwhile, the task of unconvering the identity behind the mysterious man and woman in &The Blind Assasin& chapters leaves you speculating til the very end.
I honestly can say I've never read anything like this before. Atwood's style and composition is anomalous, and utterly unmatchable. She brings a new flavor to the realms of the literary world, and has done justice in her experimentation with the conventional novel.
Moreso than her style, the turn of events in Iris' story two suicides, marriage into a twisted family and the loss of one's true identity make this a heartfelt read. I was transplanted into the setting of each memory as it was being written down by Iris, and felt and saw every blinding detail, the prescence the type of man Richard was, and how supressed I eye awakening to say the least.
When she recounts her sister Laura, a whole other level of complexity and understanding is added to the novel--bringing her full, enigmatic, unconventional personality and its influence--to the story. Yet overall, the best part was not unconvering the mysterious identities and coming to the definitely unexpected conclustion so much as it was growing and empathyzing with each of the characters along the way. It unreal how many questions one's memories can evoke in a person, causing them to question their society and everyone around them.
I would most definitely reccomend this book for anyone up for a twisted, enconventional journey of living vicariously through someone else, and anyone looking to be humored by the highly descriptive, sometimes nonsensical, abstract details and opinions of the Author via the main character of the book.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? & Thank you for your feedback.
Thank you, this review has been flagged.
I've never read anything like this.
This book is so very different. It's got 3 stories going on all at once. It kept me wanting to find out what happens next. My first read by Margaret Atwood. This was excellent, I'll have to check out her other books.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? & Thank you for your feedback.
Thank you, this review has been flagged.
Unique and Gripping Story, Never Finished a Book Faster
One of my favorite books of all time. The mystery of the plot is revealed in the unraveling of the past as the main character transforms from a young girl floating through life to a strong woman in firm possession of her identity. This novel is about the heartache and culpability of our inaction when the things we are not strong enough to see or realize are suddenly as stark as the death of a loved one. The heroine is anything but perfect. She makes mistakes that ultimately lead to unhappiness but in owning up to them and fighting, the reader both forgives and admires her. This story is unique, fast paced and well-written. Even if the plot doesn't strike you as something you would be interested in, I recommend it for sheer literary value.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? & Thank you for your feedback.
Thank you, this review has been flagged.
Big time disappointed
After reading Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale' which I thought was a masterpiece, I was really looking forward to this one. I was greatly disappointed. I found the' novel within a novel' to be really just a gimic and unnecessary to move the story along. The 'mystery' wasn't much of one at all ( I figured it out early on in the book ). Atwood is still a great writer and I hope she rebounds from this effort. If you haven't read 'The Handmaid's Tale' do yourself a favor and read it. Now that was a great book!
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? & Thank you for your feedback.
Thank you, this review has been flagged.
the book by margaret atwood is a splendid creation of fiction an
the book by margaret atwood is a splendid creation of fiction and the imagination that people can conjure up in their minds.........the book is relly an interesting book and teaches us alot of messages and advices that we can learn from...........................................
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? & Thank you for your feedback.
Thank you, this review has been flagged.
Not having read one of Margaret Atwood's books before, I was not sure what to expect. What a rich and textured story awaited me. A novel within a novel within a mystery within a love story. Once I got the rhythm of the story, I was hooked.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? & Thank you for your feedback.
Thank you, this review has been flagged.
Highly Recommend
What a wonderful surprise this book was to me. It was quite a feat by the author to weave so many types of writing into one novel. Historical fiction, prose, poetry and science fiction. Sometimes, I found it challenging to realize whose story was being told. This book had so many fascinating layers.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? & Thank you for your feedback.
Thank you, this review has been flagged.
It?s hard to summarize such a long and complex book, but the sho
It&s hard to summarize such a long and complex book, but the short version is that it&s actually three stories in one. The first is about a woman named Iris who, in present day, looks back on her life, including her marriage to wealthy man and her complicated relationship with her sister, who died as a young woman. The second is the vivid recreation of Iris&s past, itself. The third is a book written by Iris&s tragically misunderstood sister who&s death serves as an unspoken catalyst for the entire story.If I thought summarizing the book up was hard, I can say that telling you why I loved this book is equally difficult. It&s no secret that Atwood has a way with words and is able to weave a complex story with complete ease, but she is also able to foster empathy for misunderstood characters. Atwood manages to recreate a world where the suppression of women is commonplace, but not evil, while at the same time punctuating the story with little rebellions by strong women. Feminism in the 1930&s was of a very different variety than today and Atwood&s ability to capture both the the reality of the times and the subtle ways women rebelled is nothing short of stunning.Allison @ The Book Wheel
Was this review helpful? & Thank you for your feedback.
Thank you, this review has been flagged.
Loved it!!
Such a great book!!! So raw and beautifully written. An attention grabber and instant modern classic.
Was this review helpful? & Thank you for your feedback.
Thank you, this review has been flagged.
I enjoyed this story.
Never read a Margaret Atwood book and this was a good place to start.
Was this review helpful? & Thank you for your feedback.
Thank you, this review has been flagged.
My all-time favorite
Was this review helpful? & Thank you for your feedback.
Thank you, this review has been flagged.
Love Margaret Atwood.
Love Margaret Atwood.
Was this review helpful? & Thank you for your feedback.
Thank you, this review has been flagged.
A favorite
This is one of my favorite books of all time. Reality and sci fi both in one book, and full of great characters.
Was this review helpful? & Thank you for your feedback.
Thank you, this review has been flagged.
My favorite Atwood novel.
Was this review helpful? & Thank you for your feedback.
Thank you, this review has been flagged.
This is an engrossing read...
Margaret Atwood composes a skillfully layered narrative that leaps back and forth through time.
The protagonist gradually and poignantly reveals herself as she reconstructs her family and personal history through flashback.
The larger narrative employs several consistent and entertaining devices to help the protagonist along, and by the end you feel as though you've glimpsed an entire life.
Was this review helpful? & Thank you for your feedback.
Thank you, this review has been flagged.
Beautiful, brilliant writing. Storytelling at its most magical.
Was this review helpful? & Thank you for your feedback.
Thank you, this review has been flagged.
Best of Atwood...
Engaging read...loved it!
Was this review helpful? & Thank you for your feedback.
Thank you, this review has been flagged.
If you find inappropriate content, please report it to
Publisher doesn't hold rights to book
Publisher doesn't hold rights to cover image
Inaccurate description
Objectionable content
Please enter a valid email address. Thank you. A welcome email has been sent.
Visit NOOK in:
B&N Services
Shipping & Delivery
Quick Help