Another Margaret Atwood novel. . . . :) Anyway, I now consider this my favorite Atwood novel, I liked it even more than The Handmaid's Tale. So, this is a pretty happy blog post.
Summary:
Joan Foster is currently dead and living in Rome. Hoping no one will recognize her and realize she faked her death, she dyes her hair an ugly shade of brown and her current name is Louisa K. Delacourt, the name of her aunt. She learns of her feminist poetry collection, Lady Oracle, is selling to the wazoo. She's seeing her dead mother often, beckoning her to die too so they can be together. She does Automatic Writing even more and it getting back to work on her Gothic romances that would make you question her as a feminist. She has an evil shadow, her former self who was fat and refuses to leave her. She has a love triangle going on between a Canadian anti-bomb radical and a Polish count and misses an Italian man who asked to marry her. Her mother was worried about her being with boys, anyway because she thinks they're all pedophiles or rapists (Marilyn French, anyone?). She doesn't know how this could have happened, who would want to marry a mothball (the mothball scene was easily my favorite scene in the book)? She is considered Satan to the towns people because a death cult was made because of her and she's a famous Spiritualist. In other words it was crazy satire.
Reasons why I LOVED this Book with All of My Bleeding Heart:
1. Joan. I could relate to her somehow even though I'm only a teenager and she weighed more than I can imagine myself weighing. She was a very funny character, I'm not used to humor in Atwood's book and I knew from reviews it was funny, but I was scared I wouldn't think they were funny. However, Margaret Atwood did it! I was laughing so hard at Joan's sarcasm and her past events. I also felt bad for her, living a pretty depressing high school life where she's nothing more than a relationship counselor. In the mothball scene I both felt sad for her and yet was laughing like crazy. I thought her melodramatic relationships were pretty cool, too since I've been reading so many lately that they make me want to puke. She makes fun of love at first sight and satires the so called importance of virginity in women ("Oh no man will ever want to marry you!"). She also mocks teenage mothers who marry early because it's easily explained that it won't work out well unless you really put in an effort rather than gender roles which is something every sexually active teen should know, no matter what sexuality. She makes Girl Scouts seem both in the limelight and at the same time in the torture chambers, my views of it are pretty much the exact same (I always wanted to be a Boy Scout, they obviously do better stuff than Girl Scouts, but they won't allow Atheists or gay males to join so I am against it). She even makes fun of the constant warnings of pedophiles which were both funny and serious. She makes fun of the whole "boys ask for sex first, good girls don't have sexual attraction and wait until they're converted into Christianity and get married".
2. Arthur. That man ruled! He was either insane or super epic, I can't tell which. He dreams of exploding the Peace Bridge, he fears the Mounties, and seems to take life casually, in a crazy way. OK, he might be a terrorist in some way, but I still like him.
3. The Royal Porcopine. Another epic dude, I mean he exploded a pond! He was so funny and always finding ways to "recycle" things. Con-create poet rules! And let's not forget, suicide because of love!
4. Aunt Lou. I cried so hard when she died! She was a great character who was really funny, thoughtful, and the crazy aunt of everyone's dreams. She's fine with being fat, something that seems hard for most people to accept. She was my second favorite character. I'll just go sob like those movies she and Joan watched at the theater!
5. Joan and Arthur's Wedding. Traditional marriage my foot!
So, I just have to say it was a brilliant work of satire that hits you hard. I definitely reccomend this and believe you should read it. It was a very quick read and well worth the five stars I gave it! Margaret Atwood went above and beyond.
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