The Blind Assassin: A Novel
The bestselling author of The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments weaves together strands of gothic suspense, romance, and science fiction into one utterly spellbinding narrative, beginning with the mysterious death 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 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.
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
If storytelling was an Olympic event, Margaret Atwood would be at the forefront of contenders for gold—not that she needs it. She has a panoply of merit-based accolades and achievements already. I’d always wanted to read Atwood, especially after I had seen her popping up on a plethora of “must-read” lists. I needed something to balance the 1000+ page, interminable, windy road that played home to Don Quixote’s exploits, and while Atwood herself, at certain parts seemed to expatiate, she satiated my taste for a complicated, continuous narrative with an opposing style (no offense to Señor Cervantes). The Blind Assassin (2000) was my first foray into her amazingly well-crafted world, and I rather enjoyed the experience.
The novel contains several different plot-lines, with a story within a story within a story. The tiered system is amazingly constructed and moves along, albeit slow at times, with a wonderful narrator, Iris Chase, who recounts the present day as an elderly woman (who retains a wonderful perspicacity) and also, her past amidst personal and global turmoil. Interspersed within this main narrative is the plot of the eponymous fictional novel attributed to being written by Iris’s sister, Laura which contains scraps of yet another narrative with a science-fiction tinge to it being recounted by one of the main characters in that book. Another dimension to the novel is the third-eye perspective offered from the press clippings detailing the superficial outings and scandals of high-society related to the Chases’ lives as well as prominent world events around them. The subject-matter reminded me much of another Man Booker prize winner, Ian McEwan and his work Atonement (2001) where the purpose for writing a book was much more salient than the book itself.
With the layers upon layers that Atwood so artfully forms, you often times wonder where the hell Atwood is going with so many loose ends. However, as so many lose sight of the forest for the trees, Atwood, with deft maneuvers, pushes you back to catch sight of the bigger picture as adroitly as she pulls you into the story and its characters. Atwood embodies and accurately personifies all of the characters amazingly well. There’s no questioning whether we’re supposed to despise Iris’s sister-in-law, Winifred, as much as we do or appreciate Reenie and chuckle at her life lessons or be intrigued with the inhabitants of Sakiel-Norn. However, the narrator, Iris, is the one person who is more ambiguously characterized than anyone else (at least in her past), more so because she has no identity of her own and is forced to become what others around her need her to be: guardian of Laura, financial savior of the Chase family, and doting, dutiful wife of an aspirational husband. Nevertheless, Atwood creates a suspenseful saga with characters that you will love to love and love to hate and endless imagination in between.
The novel contains several different plot-lines, with a story within a story within a story. The tiered system is amazingly constructed and moves along, albeit slow at times, with a wonderful narrator, Iris Chase, who recounts the present day as an elderly woman (who retains a wonderful perspicacity) and also, her past amidst personal and global turmoil. Interspersed within this main narrative is the plot of the eponymous fictional novel attributed to being written by Iris’s sister, Laura which contains scraps of yet another narrative with a science-fiction tinge to it being recounted by one of the main characters in that book. Another dimension to the novel is the third-eye perspective offered from the press clippings detailing the superficial outings and scandals of high-society related to the Chases’ lives as well as prominent world events around them. The subject-matter reminded me much of another Man Booker prize winner, Ian McEwan and his work Atonement (2001) where the purpose for writing a book was much more salient than the book itself.
With the layers upon layers that Atwood so artfully forms, you often times wonder where the hell Atwood is going with so many loose ends. However, as so many lose sight of the forest for the trees, Atwood, with deft maneuvers, pushes you back to catch sight of the bigger picture as adroitly as she pulls you into the story and its characters. Atwood embodies and accurately personifies all of the characters amazingly well. There’s no questioning whether we’re supposed to despise Iris’s sister-in-law, Winifred, as much as we do or appreciate Reenie and chuckle at her life lessons or be intrigued with the inhabitants of Sakiel-Norn. However, the narrator, Iris, is the one person who is more ambiguously characterized than anyone else (at least in her past), more so because she has no identity of her own and is forced to become what others around her need her to be: guardian of Laura, financial savior of the Chase family, and doting, dutiful wife of an aspirational husband. Nevertheless, Atwood creates a suspenseful saga with characters that you will love to love and love to hate and endless imagination in between.
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.