Review: The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

A novel within a novel within a novel, and not one of them is worth reading.

Most of this book seems to be:

1. Lengthy, flowery, descriptive prose.
2. Snippets from a cheesy novel-within-a-novel (which has another novel within it) that takes place on a planet called Zycron that features alien invaders with laser guns, sacrificial maidens, and blind children assassins.
3. An old woman complaining about being old.

Somewhere in between, there is a mildly interesting story about two sisters growing up in a male dominated society in 1930s Toronto. They suffer many injustices, there is some drama, and there are some (fairly predictable) plot twists. But even this story falls flat because every single character is one-sided (e.g., evil husband is evil) and unchanging (e.g., nursemaid who says silly adages on page 1 is still saying them on page 300). As I read, I found that I didn’t care how things turned out for any of them.

Overall, the high ratings for this book confuse me. Yes, there is some good social commentary sprinkled here and there, especially on the way women are treated in society. But these highlights are few and far in between, and the rest of this book, and the book within it, and the book within that, are just not worth reading.

Rating: 2 stars