Fiction, 2000
Some time ago, my roommate—who loves crime thrillers that talk about race, and murder mysteries—asked me for a book recommendation. She was in the mood for something different than what she usually reads, and in her words, a “literature-student novel that is fun and easy to read.” In the order of her list, this book is 1) A Margaret Atwood Booker Winner 2) Has sections about an old lady, aliens, a love affair, and newspaper clippings. 3) Took me two days to finish because I needed to know what happened.
There are layers of stories within The Blind Assassin. Roughly, we follow Iris Chase in two timelines, one of her growing up, and the second set in the future where she reels from memories of her dead sister and a fractured family tree. Cut in between these sections is a novel about a sordid and dangerous love affair between a writer and a woman. (It is here that we get to read pulp fiction about aliens.)
I know we’re covering a lot of material, and in all honesty, it is confusing at first. But I highly recommend that you stop trying to understand what’s happening and let the story wash over you. In a 600-page novel, I promise that there’s enough time for it to make sense to you. In the end, you’ll be delighted to know that what is being painted is the life of a woman as she navigates guilt, neglect, failing memory, and the question of whether or not women have any choice at all in what they do (or rather, what is done to them).
Song - Goodbye Kiss - Lana Del Rey (the edit I’ve linked is made with clips from Atonement! What a thrilling reveal on this Monday morning.)
Bonus song recommendation by my roommate - Assassin by John Mayer
Film - Atonement (I know this is an adaptation of another novel, but it fits!)
Thank you for this. Great connections you make. Would be fun to see what you’d come up with
for Roberto Bolano’s 2666 or Savage Detectives.