The ISU experience is never one of my favourites, to be honest. It is a hectic and long process that extends over a long period of time, just irking my natural sense of procrastination. The entire project was plagued with "I'll do it tomorrow's" and "I still have till April's", which made it very difficult to maintain the same focus throughout. Aside from the negative, a few good things did come out of the ISU to my unsuspecting surprise.
For one, I became acquainted with an author I've heard much about. I have been known to take some what of a feminist stance in certain situations, just ask Mrs. McConkey or any one of my friends, it's become one of my dominant traits ...jokingly of course. I've heard people tell me that I should pick up an Atwood book because of her female protagonist specialties and her talent for man-bashing, not that I take interest in that. So witnessing for myself, I payed attention to the careful ways in which she blended feminism into her story, and it wasn't the obtrusive man bashing I thought I'd see. It was very discreet, and I learned the ways in which to convey a strong, and sometimes malignant message, in between the lines, it was fun.
My writing style did not change or improve to the best of my knowledge, for the tone was typically informal and I did not exercise any powerful expressions or new vocabulary into my writing, I suppose I should have. I did not really think of this project as a chance to develop my writing, and honestly I can't tell how blind I was to assume that, every English assignment is a chance to develop your writing, you just have to constantly keep the idea in the back of your head as you write, changing words and forming more sophisticated sentences.
The blog was an interesting twist, it indubitably changed my word choice. Knowing that other's were susceptible to view my work had me monitoring my thoughts, and I probably wrote half of my ideas in edited form, writing the way other's would like to hear it, not myself. This is uncharacteristic of me, I usually write from my heart and say what I need to say, the idea that ANY ONE could read my posts was intimidating, I felt contained, a yucky feeling for writers.
In the initial stages of finding an appropriate book, I suppose I should be honest and say that I really didn't see myself finding an excellent read in the genre of Canadian Literature. Maybe this is because I was extremely hoping that Stephenie Meyer was secretly Canadian, but what ever the reason, and I'm sure that was it, I wasn't looking forward to finding a book. I asked parents to find me one, and I eventually decided that I'd give Atwood a try, I was pleasantly surprised. I truly was very happy to realize that when people think of feminism, they think Margaret Atwood, and in turn, they think Canadian Author. It gave me a huge sense of pride, one that I did not expect.
I have come to realize an important learning style I associate with, and I'm still questioning the possibilities of this style being a good thing. I tend to, in the end of a novel or piece of work, get hit by "the big picture." If I do not understand through out the text, I will undoubtedly be hit by a wave of realization some time after I finish, and this will cause me to look back and wonder how I could have missed a certain point, or strayed in an absent minded wrong direction. It's very strange to think of this as something I often do, but with novel's it seems to be the case. I love to revisit certain parts of novels and understand the story more fully after I'm done, it's a backwards method, and certainly not conventional I would assume, but I do it, and I have realized this in the process of this ISU.
I feel as though I have been welcomed into a cult of literature, a secret, intellectual cult where hooded men sit around scholarly tables and discuss philosophical questions that no one could answer in a million years. It's the same group of people that read anything and everything, the kind of people that I'm not brave enough to be, or open minded enough to have patience for. Reading a piece of Canadian literature gives me the feeling that I'm in on the secret, the heritage of our country spread out in front of me, giving way to hoards of mysterious techniques that only the best of the best can use. Oh, the pride is strong in this one. I now know what I have been missing, the experience of a lifetime revealed in the pages of the goddess of feminist critique and poetic descriptions that Shakespeare himself would gladly starve himself to attain.
But seriously, I did enjoy reading one of our own, it's nice to see that Canadians can produce two of the best things in life, amazing literature and beaver tails.
A unique and enthralling experience, thank you for the opportunity to explore something different.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Works Cited
"Powell's Books - Bodily Harm by Margaret Atwood." Powell's Books - Used, New, and Out of Print - We Buy and Sell. 20 Apr. 2009 .
Holcombe, Garan. "Margaret Atwood." Contemporary Writers in the UK - Contemporary Writers. 2008. 20 Apr. 2009 http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth03C18N390512635243#prizes.
Atwood, Margaret Eleanor. Bodily harm. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1981.
Holcombe, Garan. "Margaret Atwood." Contemporary Writers in the UK - Contemporary Writers. 2008. 20 Apr. 2009 http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth03C18N390512635243#prizes.
Atwood, Margaret Eleanor. Bodily harm. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1981.
Explication
Margaret Atwood's novel "Bodily Harm" has many elements of Polti's 28th dramatic situation, Obstacles to Love. The book portrays "the need for compassion that goes beyond what we ordinarily mean by love"(Back page summary), and the main character Rennie is inexplicably torn by romance and love, leaving her broken and scared, and best representing the heart wrenching obstacles of love.
Rennie Wilford, the main character and journalist, is going through major changes in her life. She is a quiet woman who would rather "[write] things about people...than be the one [that] got written about"(Atwood, 19), and so she doesn't deal with her emotions in conventional ways, she makes them into journal entries and news articles. A few things happen to Rennie to kick start her emotional upheaval, each playing a significant part in her life and affecting her equally. Her Grandmother has passed away, and Rennie loved her Grandmother, she would say "my grandmother is amazing for her age"(Atwood, 123) in admiration, so she feels that an important part of her is missing. She has be diagnosed with breast cancer, and has her left breast taken out to leave her scarred and self-conscious. She has also recently lost her boyfriend, Jake, who leaves without an explanation in the book, but is mentioned in flashbacks and painful or euphoric memories. After her house is broken into, Rennie is scared and alone, and this is just the beginning, or catalyst to her negative state of being.
Rennie is in a troubled state of mind, often referring to herself as "damaged, broken and amputated"(310), reflecting the way many women feel after a surgery. Rennie feels very exposed and vulnerable because of her surgery, she thinks to herself "she is in remission. Remission is the good word, terminal is the bad one. It makes Rennie think of bus stations: the end of the line." This feeling of remission is the leading cause of why Rennie feels the need for a man in her life. She is desperate to find some one who will take care of her; to provide some sort of soothing relief from the reality she doesn't wish to dwell in. She has love affairs with three men in the story - though only two are really significant - each offering her a different type of love, and Rennie offering them the same insecurities.
Jake is the boyfriend who leaves Rennie suddenly, abandoning her with an empty apartment and a new life to adjust to. Rennie's fear of solitude is magnified by the unknown burglary that takes place at her home, and she is constantly afraid of everything. She loved Jake very much, because he was "impossible to put down"(Atwood, 8), and proud of his physique and attributes, everything Rennie wasn't. Jake was not a sweet man, though she may have found ways to make him seem sweet, the flashbacks relating to him made him seem disgusting and pig like; a real jerk. Rennie feels insecure around him, but she preforms sexual favours for him because that is what he wants, never what she wants. She puts on a show for him, making herself believe that she is powerful and in control, when really, he is in complete control of her. When she returns from her surgery, she is in need of support, and the reminder that Rennie is still beautiful. Jake does not offer her this kind of compassion, when they make love Jake refuses to touch her chest, and makes the situation awkward and uncertain, leaving Rennie to feel self-conscious and upset. However, Rennie needs to have a man in her life, to occupy her and make her forget about everything for a while, and Jake seemed to be the detached somebody to keep her mind elsewhere. Rennie wants to be loved and cherished, and Jake can never seem to provide for that request, causing an obstacle in Rennie's relationship with him, and in her love for herself.
The second man Rennie meets is Daniel Luoma, the doctor in which she visits with for post-surgery requirements and check ups. From the moment that Rennie first met Daniel, she says that she "fell in love with him because he was the first thing she saw after her life had been saved"(Atwood, 27). She doesn't know Daniel when she decides that she is in love, but he has provided for her what no man in Rennie's life has ever provided before, a life saving gesture that is for the single benefit of Rennie alone. Daniel, though she knows this not to be entirely true, cares for Rennie enough to make sure that she is happy, a blessing for Rennie. She "imprinted on him"(Atwood, 25), because Daniel is the nicest man in her life, and weeks after the surgery Rennie meets with Daniel and discusses life and insecurities, openly, like Rennie has never done before. But there is a catch, the obstacle to Rennie's perfect love and possibly Daniel's too, the doctor-patient relationship that holds them apart. Daniel also has a wife and children, providing another obstacle between them, but he is also in love with Rennie. They meet secretly to discuss what is to happen, but Daniel is too faithful and a "dutiful husband and father"(Atwood, 139). He is miserable when he tries to explain why he can't go to bed with her, or be with her for that matter, and she is left again with an empty part of her that just wants to be loved, to be taken care of.
Rennie is a broken woman in search of a man who will stitch her up again. On the one hand, there is the devoted but sleazy boyfriend Jake, who will kindly take her mind away from her hardships, if there is a sexual favour involved. And on the other hand, there is the kind and compassionate Daniel, who saves Rennie's life figuratively and literally, and they can never be together. Among the hundreds of other issues surrounding Rennie Wilford, love is the one part of her life that she is missing regretfully, and it is also the one part of her life that could heal her completely. She is grasping for straws throughout the entire novel, falling down a dark hole of despair and clinging to men as rocks to keep herself elevated. Her insecurities and self-doubt make a hard obstacle to maneuver around, for she is never able to fully give herself to the men she wants, regardless of other hardships in the way of that type of commitment. She is the victim of a tragic love triangle, and must over come her dependency on men to fully gain the self confidence she needs. This sense of forbidden, lost, and impossible love gives the story an emotional and dramatic twist, amping up the seduction and adding a more personal element to the novel's political genre. Without the use of Obstacles to Love, Rennie's story would be incomplete and without the intriguing element of romance, a must have in stories with a female protagonist. A wonderful example of a never-attainable-love, and a classic representation of a dramatic situation evoked by heartbreak and romance.
Rennie Wilford, the main character and journalist, is going through major changes in her life. She is a quiet woman who would rather "[write] things about people...than be the one [that] got written about"(Atwood, 19), and so she doesn't deal with her emotions in conventional ways, she makes them into journal entries and news articles. A few things happen to Rennie to kick start her emotional upheaval, each playing a significant part in her life and affecting her equally. Her Grandmother has passed away, and Rennie loved her Grandmother, she would say "my grandmother is amazing for her age"(Atwood, 123) in admiration, so she feels that an important part of her is missing. She has be diagnosed with breast cancer, and has her left breast taken out to leave her scarred and self-conscious. She has also recently lost her boyfriend, Jake, who leaves without an explanation in the book, but is mentioned in flashbacks and painful or euphoric memories. After her house is broken into, Rennie is scared and alone, and this is just the beginning, or catalyst to her negative state of being.
Rennie is in a troubled state of mind, often referring to herself as "damaged, broken and amputated"(310), reflecting the way many women feel after a surgery. Rennie feels very exposed and vulnerable because of her surgery, she thinks to herself "she is in remission. Remission is the good word, terminal is the bad one. It makes Rennie think of bus stations: the end of the line." This feeling of remission is the leading cause of why Rennie feels the need for a man in her life. She is desperate to find some one who will take care of her; to provide some sort of soothing relief from the reality she doesn't wish to dwell in. She has love affairs with three men in the story - though only two are really significant - each offering her a different type of love, and Rennie offering them the same insecurities.
Jake is the boyfriend who leaves Rennie suddenly, abandoning her with an empty apartment and a new life to adjust to. Rennie's fear of solitude is magnified by the unknown burglary that takes place at her home, and she is constantly afraid of everything. She loved Jake very much, because he was "impossible to put down"(Atwood, 8), and proud of his physique and attributes, everything Rennie wasn't. Jake was not a sweet man, though she may have found ways to make him seem sweet, the flashbacks relating to him made him seem disgusting and pig like; a real jerk. Rennie feels insecure around him, but she preforms sexual favours for him because that is what he wants, never what she wants. She puts on a show for him, making herself believe that she is powerful and in control, when really, he is in complete control of her. When she returns from her surgery, she is in need of support, and the reminder that Rennie is still beautiful. Jake does not offer her this kind of compassion, when they make love Jake refuses to touch her chest, and makes the situation awkward and uncertain, leaving Rennie to feel self-conscious and upset. However, Rennie needs to have a man in her life, to occupy her and make her forget about everything for a while, and Jake seemed to be the detached somebody to keep her mind elsewhere. Rennie wants to be loved and cherished, and Jake can never seem to provide for that request, causing an obstacle in Rennie's relationship with him, and in her love for herself.
The second man Rennie meets is Daniel Luoma, the doctor in which she visits with for post-surgery requirements and check ups. From the moment that Rennie first met Daniel, she says that she "fell in love with him because he was the first thing she saw after her life had been saved"(Atwood, 27). She doesn't know Daniel when she decides that she is in love, but he has provided for her what no man in Rennie's life has ever provided before, a life saving gesture that is for the single benefit of Rennie alone. Daniel, though she knows this not to be entirely true, cares for Rennie enough to make sure that she is happy, a blessing for Rennie. She "imprinted on him"(Atwood, 25), because Daniel is the nicest man in her life, and weeks after the surgery Rennie meets with Daniel and discusses life and insecurities, openly, like Rennie has never done before. But there is a catch, the obstacle to Rennie's perfect love and possibly Daniel's too, the doctor-patient relationship that holds them apart. Daniel also has a wife and children, providing another obstacle between them, but he is also in love with Rennie. They meet secretly to discuss what is to happen, but Daniel is too faithful and a "dutiful husband and father"(Atwood, 139). He is miserable when he tries to explain why he can't go to bed with her, or be with her for that matter, and she is left again with an empty part of her that just wants to be loved, to be taken care of.
Rennie is a broken woman in search of a man who will stitch her up again. On the one hand, there is the devoted but sleazy boyfriend Jake, who will kindly take her mind away from her hardships, if there is a sexual favour involved. And on the other hand, there is the kind and compassionate Daniel, who saves Rennie's life figuratively and literally, and they can never be together. Among the hundreds of other issues surrounding Rennie Wilford, love is the one part of her life that she is missing regretfully, and it is also the one part of her life that could heal her completely. She is grasping for straws throughout the entire novel, falling down a dark hole of despair and clinging to men as rocks to keep herself elevated. Her insecurities and self-doubt make a hard obstacle to maneuver around, for she is never able to fully give herself to the men she wants, regardless of other hardships in the way of that type of commitment. She is the victim of a tragic love triangle, and must over come her dependency on men to fully gain the self confidence she needs. This sense of forbidden, lost, and impossible love gives the story an emotional and dramatic twist, amping up the seduction and adding a more personal element to the novel's political genre. Without the use of Obstacles to Love, Rennie's story would be incomplete and without the intriguing element of romance, a must have in stories with a female protagonist. A wonderful example of a never-attainable-love, and a classic representation of a dramatic situation evoked by heartbreak and romance.
Apologia
I had never considered delving into the world of Canadian Literature before, to be perfectly honest. However, there is one particular area of literature which sparks my interest, and I looked for a Canadian author who is best known for this area. "Does feminist mean large unpleasant person who'll shout at you or someone who believes women are human beings. To me it's the latter, so I sign up.” A quote by Margaret Atwood, and most definitely the defining reason why I chose to read her works. Feminism is one of the many themes to which Atwood bases her brilliant novels around, and she skillfully creates the strong female protagonist character with an uncanny talent.
Bodily Harm, by Margaret Atwood was not as I expected it to be. I spent the majority of the book wishing for a climax, or a thrilling point in the story to which the action would speed up and I would be enthralled by a chase, or by murder, or by something. However, I was never to land upon such an occurrence. The plot has all of the elements to a good thriller, the mysterious opening of the rope coiled on the unsuspecting and fragile Rennie's bed, the drama of the vile ex boyfriend, the vacation to a shabby hotel on some unknown island of the Caribbean, weird characters with secrets, and what I think was some sort of political time of hardship for the people of St Antoine and Ste Agathe. It sets the stage perfectly for something to happen, but I was later to discover the truth behind the novel. Atwood wrote in one of her interviews, "I wish to write a novel that is anti-thrilling," and she did just that. How different, this anti-thriller was, for it was unique and completely stunning. "The novel was sophisticated, [and] superbly orchestrated"(Saturday Review), for every part of the book was laid out in a mixed up series of events, leading you from the past to the present, and keeping you on the edge of understanding and questioning. Bodily Harm was very "skillfully written"(London Free Press), and Atwood does an incredible job of reflecting the same mutual feelings that every woman has in this one character, outstanding. The way Atwood makes her story special is by putting the average character through hardships only the strongest of women can face, and that average quality helps the readers to connect, and sympathize. This is the classic story of female struggles, with herself and with the others around her, embodied in a normal woman who represents them all. She did a fabulous job of creating Rennie, she is not fantastic or unrealistic, and she is not super human in strength, she is like every one. Every woman in the world has been like Rennie at some point, and this story is the struggle to mentally over come doubt and fear. She even reaches the point in the novel where she clearly states that women don't need men to survive through there suffering, for when Daniel, the doctor lover, wouldn't go to bed with her, she thinks "(I) no longer expected Daniel to save (my) life... maybe that was the right way to do it, to never expect anything."(Atwood, Margaret)
The ability to make Rennie into an astounding female protagonist is what makes this novel one of the best in Canadian literature. This was not a novel of self-esteem motivation, or cheesy quotations aiming to inspire women in desperate situations, it was a brilliantly written master piece involving so much more than a classic female heroine. "Margaret Atwood seems to be able to do just about everything [in this novel,] people, places, problems, a perfect ear, an exactly the right voice"(New York Times). Atwood combines political issues, (which are well understood and portray the exact mentality of a small town in dire straights), love, lust, history and location.
Another point that makes this novel so intriguing is Atwood's ability to describe any location, her words are "infused with intelligence and insight"(Vancouver Sun). She historically develops a believable hometown for Rennie, correct in every account of a small, Christian community, and I could definitely relate to that small town life. The novel is an important asset to Canadian literature because of Rennie's hometown, Griswold, and every Canadian reader's ability to relate to the small town life, and connect with average goings-on without the place actually existing. Though the town may seem boring and dull, most Canadians recognize the point in which life in a small town becomes unbearable, but still feel the strong connection to the community as a base, as home.
She also has an incredible ability to describe setting and plot, using words that almost seem like poetry, the way they weave together to create a perfect image. This description of a restaurant the main character is seated in is a great representation of her writing, humor and relevant information, "The decor is non-descript, resembling nothing so much as an English provincial hotel, with flowered wallpaper and a few prints of hunting and shooting. The ceiling fans add a pleasant touch. We began with the local bread, and butter of perhaps a questionable freshness"(Atwood, 35). Reflected
"Bodily Harm" involves so many different sub-stories that it makes for a unique collection view points. Every new paragraph introduces a different point in time, allowing you to better understand the female protagonist's situation, past and present. She is able to keep the story flowing amazingly while developing the character, without having to pause and spend pages describing the initial story.
Margaret Atwood is one of the top Canadian Authors to ever exist, receiving the Governor Generals' award in 1966, and "33 prizes and awards in total"(Holcombe, Garan) for various pieces of work. Her talent for writing is radically displayed in the novel "Bodily Harm," sealing her gift for creating the Female Protagonist. Her feminist styles have made a mark on Canadian Literature, but never limiting Atwood to that genre alone. This novel was beautifully written, providing a different style of suspense and reading that one should experience at least once in their life time. Though it was tediously slow in some areas, the full affect of the novel hits hard after the last page, sitting with you long after you are finished. I believe this novel is one of the greats in Canadian literature simply because of the author, Margaret Atwood, and the perfect embodiment of all of her talent's in this one, powerful novel. As an asset to Canadian Literature, Atwood has perfected a popular type of writing, Feminist Criticism, and with that perfection comes the glory of recognition. When people think of feminist writers with extraordinary gifts, they will always think Margaret Atwood, followed by, "hey, she's Canadian."
Bodily Harm, by Margaret Atwood was not as I expected it to be. I spent the majority of the book wishing for a climax, or a thrilling point in the story to which the action would speed up and I would be enthralled by a chase, or by murder, or by something. However, I was never to land upon such an occurrence. The plot has all of the elements to a good thriller, the mysterious opening of the rope coiled on the unsuspecting and fragile Rennie's bed, the drama of the vile ex boyfriend, the vacation to a shabby hotel on some unknown island of the Caribbean, weird characters with secrets, and what I think was some sort of political time of hardship for the people of St Antoine and Ste Agathe. It sets the stage perfectly for something to happen, but I was later to discover the truth behind the novel. Atwood wrote in one of her interviews, "I wish to write a novel that is anti-thrilling," and she did just that. How different, this anti-thriller was, for it was unique and completely stunning. "The novel was sophisticated, [and] superbly orchestrated"(Saturday Review), for every part of the book was laid out in a mixed up series of events, leading you from the past to the present, and keeping you on the edge of understanding and questioning. Bodily Harm was very "skillfully written"(London Free Press), and Atwood does an incredible job of reflecting the same mutual feelings that every woman has in this one character, outstanding. The way Atwood makes her story special is by putting the average character through hardships only the strongest of women can face, and that average quality helps the readers to connect, and sympathize. This is the classic story of female struggles, with herself and with the others around her, embodied in a normal woman who represents them all. She did a fabulous job of creating Rennie, she is not fantastic or unrealistic, and she is not super human in strength, she is like every one. Every woman in the world has been like Rennie at some point, and this story is the struggle to mentally over come doubt and fear. She even reaches the point in the novel where she clearly states that women don't need men to survive through there suffering, for when Daniel, the doctor lover, wouldn't go to bed with her, she thinks "(I) no longer expected Daniel to save (my) life... maybe that was the right way to do it, to never expect anything."(Atwood, Margaret)
The ability to make Rennie into an astounding female protagonist is what makes this novel one of the best in Canadian literature. This was not a novel of self-esteem motivation, or cheesy quotations aiming to inspire women in desperate situations, it was a brilliantly written master piece involving so much more than a classic female heroine. "Margaret Atwood seems to be able to do just about everything [in this novel,] people, places, problems, a perfect ear, an exactly the right voice"(New York Times). Atwood combines political issues, (which are well understood and portray the exact mentality of a small town in dire straights), love, lust, history and location.
Another point that makes this novel so intriguing is Atwood's ability to describe any location, her words are "infused with intelligence and insight"(Vancouver Sun). She historically develops a believable hometown for Rennie, correct in every account of a small, Christian community, and I could definitely relate to that small town life. The novel is an important asset to Canadian literature because of Rennie's hometown, Griswold, and every Canadian reader's ability to relate to the small town life, and connect with average goings-on without the place actually existing. Though the town may seem boring and dull, most Canadians recognize the point in which life in a small town becomes unbearable, but still feel the strong connection to the community as a base, as home.
She also has an incredible ability to describe setting and plot, using words that almost seem like poetry, the way they weave together to create a perfect image. This description of a restaurant the main character is seated in is a great representation of her writing, humor and relevant information, "The decor is non-descript, resembling nothing so much as an English provincial hotel, with flowered wallpaper and a few prints of hunting and shooting. The ceiling fans add a pleasant touch. We began with the local bread, and butter of perhaps a questionable freshness"(Atwood, 35). Reflected
"Bodily Harm" involves so many different sub-stories that it makes for a unique collection view points. Every new paragraph introduces a different point in time, allowing you to better understand the female protagonist's situation, past and present. She is able to keep the story flowing amazingly while developing the character, without having to pause and spend pages describing the initial story.
Margaret Atwood is one of the top Canadian Authors to ever exist, receiving the Governor Generals' award in 1966, and "33 prizes and awards in total"(Holcombe, Garan) for various pieces of work. Her talent for writing is radically displayed in the novel "Bodily Harm," sealing her gift for creating the Female Protagonist. Her feminist styles have made a mark on Canadian Literature, but never limiting Atwood to that genre alone. This novel was beautifully written, providing a different style of suspense and reading that one should experience at least once in their life time. Though it was tediously slow in some areas, the full affect of the novel hits hard after the last page, sitting with you long after you are finished. I believe this novel is one of the greats in Canadian literature simply because of the author, Margaret Atwood, and the perfect embodiment of all of her talent's in this one, powerful novel. As an asset to Canadian Literature, Atwood has perfected a popular type of writing, Feminist Criticism, and with that perfection comes the glory of recognition. When people think of feminist writers with extraordinary gifts, they will always think Margaret Atwood, followed by, "hey, she's Canadian."
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Response #4 "Bodily Harm."
I... am... stupid.
Wow, I really had myself going. And my other blog posts about this book seem very dumb to me now, as I was looking so hard for that thrilling part of the book, or that physical moment when something big would happen and make it awesome and exciting, but it never came, and was never going to come in the first place. I read in a mini biography of Atwood that she wanted to write a novel that was anti thrilling, and I think I picked up that book.
The plot has all of the elements to a good thriller, the mysterious opening of the rope coiled on the unsuspecting and fragile Rennie's bed, the drama of the vile ex boyfriend, the vacation to a shabby hotel on some unknown island of the Caribbean, weird characters with secrets, and what I think was some sort of political time of hardship for the people of St Antoine and Ste Agathe. It sets the stage perfectly for something to happen, and though there are some chases with Paul and Rennie, and there is blood and murder in the secret basements of the Island, it's not about the thrills. This novel is purely about the mental struggles of one female, and her challenges to over come life's difficulties, like any female can. I see now how Atwood displays her radical feminism, and she does a good job of it, but that doesn't mean I liked the novel.
Every character Atwood used was like a stretch of the average human nature, real men aren't all sneaky and deceiving pigs like in the novel, and the only two types of men on this planet are not at polar ends of the decency spectrum, perfect and trash. She must use the characters as a way of progressing her point about the way females have to live, and over come men as a daily problem too.
Rennie Wilford is like any normal woman, perfectly average, and used to deal with life in a normal way. The way Atwood makes her story special is by putting the average character through hardships only the strongest of women can face, and that average quality helps the readers to connect, and sympathize. Rennie, before her surgery, was a normal journalist who covered average stories, and loved men and physical relationships. She has a boyfriend who admires her body and uses her for it, and she is proud of her appearances, she relies on them for a security blanket because she is shy and passive. Coming from her past, the little town of Griswold, every girl is Christian and bears little skin, and they live by a moral code. Rennie had lived like that for a long time, taking on the traits of her mother and grandmother before her, but then Rennie had her pride. Jake, her boyfriend, helped that pig along in piggish ways, and that was why she loved him so much. Then, it all went downhill, Rennie gets breast cancer, Jake leaves her, she becomes insecure about her body because of the surgical differences, and now she is alone and broken, in mental distress.
Though many women have felt at times in their lives like they aren't worth it, or that they aren't beautiful, Atwood shows us through Rennie that even the most dire situations in life can be mental, and they are certainly worth over coming. This is the classic story of female struggles, with herself and with the others around her, embodied in a normal woman who represents them all. She did a fabulous job of creating Rennie, she is not fantastic or unrealistic, and she is not super human in strength, she is like every one. Every woman in the world has been like Rennie at some point, and this story is the struggle to mentally over come doubt and fear. She even reaches the point in the novel where she clearly states that women don't need men to survive, for when Daniel, he doctor lover, wouldn't go to bed with her, she thinks "(I) no longer expected Daniel to save (my) life... maybe that was the right way to do it, to never expect anything."
The way Rennie always describes herself, as "damaged, broken and amputated," reflects the way many women feel after a surgery, a break up, and job loss, anything. Atwood does an amazing, and I mean AMAZING job of reflecting the same mutual feelings every woman has in this one character, outstanding.
It is also apparent that Atwood views on sexual activity states that men shouldn't touch females, and females should want to touch the men that they want most. Rennie writes a review on this concept, called "creative celibacy," I had to laugh at that.
Near the end, one of the girls from Ste. Agathe island, Elva, is beaten and bleeding from a revolution fight in the town, and Rennie and Lora clean her up and talk to her to calm her down. This point happens after some long decision making Rennie had had about not needed men, and maybe this point in the story was trying to say that your girlfriends are the ones to help you through, not the men.... maybe, that's what I got from it. Men seem all the same in this novel, and Rennie makes that perfectly clear. She asks every man she sleeps with, Daniel, Paul and Jake, what they dream about, and each answer with the same boring statement, to which she counters, "and then what?" and they all answer, and then I wake up.
This happens a lot in the book, small instances, like the dreams and the meetings with Paul and Daniel, and even the sexual evenings with Jake, all of the men speak with the same voices, except for Daniel, who is good.
At the end of the novel, I was not wowed, and in reality I did spend the first 210 pages of the novel wondering and wishing for the thrills that were never to come. I don't even think that had I knew the real message behind the plot, I would have enjoyed it. I respect Margaret Atwood's style of writing, and her way of fitting different pieces to the puzzle together with hidden meanings and a writer's deception, but it was a bit of a dry read. It felt more like a documentary of a sad female to be honest, without the adventure and glory ending where everything suddenly comes together and the sun shines from behind the storm clouds. I value the message that every female has the strength to over come life's worst challenges, but I would have preferred a bit more action and thrills to fill in the bare spots, and make the book that much better.
Wow, I really had myself going. And my other blog posts about this book seem very dumb to me now, as I was looking so hard for that thrilling part of the book, or that physical moment when something big would happen and make it awesome and exciting, but it never came, and was never going to come in the first place. I read in a mini biography of Atwood that she wanted to write a novel that was anti thrilling, and I think I picked up that book.
The plot has all of the elements to a good thriller, the mysterious opening of the rope coiled on the unsuspecting and fragile Rennie's bed, the drama of the vile ex boyfriend, the vacation to a shabby hotel on some unknown island of the Caribbean, weird characters with secrets, and what I think was some sort of political time of hardship for the people of St Antoine and Ste Agathe. It sets the stage perfectly for something to happen, and though there are some chases with Paul and Rennie, and there is blood and murder in the secret basements of the Island, it's not about the thrills. This novel is purely about the mental struggles of one female, and her challenges to over come life's difficulties, like any female can. I see now how Atwood displays her radical feminism, and she does a good job of it, but that doesn't mean I liked the novel.
Every character Atwood used was like a stretch of the average human nature, real men aren't all sneaky and deceiving pigs like in the novel, and the only two types of men on this planet are not at polar ends of the decency spectrum, perfect and trash. She must use the characters as a way of progressing her point about the way females have to live, and over come men as a daily problem too.
Rennie Wilford is like any normal woman, perfectly average, and used to deal with life in a normal way. The way Atwood makes her story special is by putting the average character through hardships only the strongest of women can face, and that average quality helps the readers to connect, and sympathize. Rennie, before her surgery, was a normal journalist who covered average stories, and loved men and physical relationships. She has a boyfriend who admires her body and uses her for it, and she is proud of her appearances, she relies on them for a security blanket because she is shy and passive. Coming from her past, the little town of Griswold, every girl is Christian and bears little skin, and they live by a moral code. Rennie had lived like that for a long time, taking on the traits of her mother and grandmother before her, but then Rennie had her pride. Jake, her boyfriend, helped that pig along in piggish ways, and that was why she loved him so much. Then, it all went downhill, Rennie gets breast cancer, Jake leaves her, she becomes insecure about her body because of the surgical differences, and now she is alone and broken, in mental distress.
Though many women have felt at times in their lives like they aren't worth it, or that they aren't beautiful, Atwood shows us through Rennie that even the most dire situations in life can be mental, and they are certainly worth over coming. This is the classic story of female struggles, with herself and with the others around her, embodied in a normal woman who represents them all. She did a fabulous job of creating Rennie, she is not fantastic or unrealistic, and she is not super human in strength, she is like every one. Every woman in the world has been like Rennie at some point, and this story is the struggle to mentally over come doubt and fear. She even reaches the point in the novel where she clearly states that women don't need men to survive, for when Daniel, he doctor lover, wouldn't go to bed with her, she thinks "(I) no longer expected Daniel to save (my) life... maybe that was the right way to do it, to never expect anything."
The way Rennie always describes herself, as "damaged, broken and amputated," reflects the way many women feel after a surgery, a break up, and job loss, anything. Atwood does an amazing, and I mean AMAZING job of reflecting the same mutual feelings every woman has in this one character, outstanding.
It is also apparent that Atwood views on sexual activity states that men shouldn't touch females, and females should want to touch the men that they want most. Rennie writes a review on this concept, called "creative celibacy," I had to laugh at that.
Near the end, one of the girls from Ste. Agathe island, Elva, is beaten and bleeding from a revolution fight in the town, and Rennie and Lora clean her up and talk to her to calm her down. This point happens after some long decision making Rennie had had about not needed men, and maybe this point in the story was trying to say that your girlfriends are the ones to help you through, not the men.... maybe, that's what I got from it. Men seem all the same in this novel, and Rennie makes that perfectly clear. She asks every man she sleeps with, Daniel, Paul and Jake, what they dream about, and each answer with the same boring statement, to which she counters, "and then what?" and they all answer, and then I wake up.
This happens a lot in the book, small instances, like the dreams and the meetings with Paul and Daniel, and even the sexual evenings with Jake, all of the men speak with the same voices, except for Daniel, who is good.
At the end of the novel, I was not wowed, and in reality I did spend the first 210 pages of the novel wondering and wishing for the thrills that were never to come. I don't even think that had I knew the real message behind the plot, I would have enjoyed it. I respect Margaret Atwood's style of writing, and her way of fitting different pieces to the puzzle together with hidden meanings and a writer's deception, but it was a bit of a dry read. It felt more like a documentary of a sad female to be honest, without the adventure and glory ending where everything suddenly comes together and the sun shines from behind the storm clouds. I value the message that every female has the strength to over come life's worst challenges, but I would have preferred a bit more action and thrills to fill in the bare spots, and make the book that much better.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Response # 3 "Bodily Harm"
I have realized a very cool thing about Atwood's style of writing, in this book any way. When Rennie has flash backs of her family, especially her mom and grandmother, they have quirky sayings that make them unique, like, "it drives you bats, and then they put you in the loony bin". As it flashes back to reality, or the currant issue, Rennie uses those sayings more often, and you notice the true underlying relationships between and Rennie and her family.Atwood also balances her writing out very nicely. She will introduce a new, dark plot twist or upsetting historic fact, and then balance it with something about hopefulness.
When Rennie's friend Lora is telling her her life story, or a bit of it, she talks about depressing living conditions and abusive step fathers with disgusting cats, which made me feel uncomfortable. Then she counters it with a sweet quote from some one insightful, or hopeful and wise, in this case it's Lora's mother who says,"where there's life there's hope." Daniel the doctor uses inspiring quotes like these, to help her through her battle with breast cancer, and cope with the stress, and though there often cheesy, like "you have a blank sheet now, your free to write the life you want to live," this is also a bad pun, because she's a journalist. Sometimes its nice to hear cheesy inspirational quotes, they lighten a situation very quickly, and help the reader, myself, not feel to down about the frightening thoughts that Rennie has about dying and becoming too much like her sick dead grandmother... heavy eh? yeah.
Atwood has incorporated many aspects to the story, and the themes range from politics, romance, to suspense, it's very cool. However one might not expect to find politics and romance merged into one successfully, and I can't tell if Atwood is doing it well or not. Well, i suppose she is, because magically she seems to make the politics in St. Agathe affect Rennie's personal love life, all the themes are intricately woven and sometimes it's hard to follow. Maybe I'm not mature enough to read of a political romance, and I'm sure that's the case because I don't understand it, but for an older audience the story may be great. Sometimes she plays heavily on Rennie's love life, incorporating three men into that life; Jake, Paul and Daniel, and each has a very unique background that adds depth to Rennie's circumstances.
Right now i am waiting for something to happen, Rennie, Paul and Lara have been touring the city for pages, and I keep expecting a plot twist or maybe even the man from Rennie's room to come back but nothing happens! She keeps waking up, eating bad food, travelling, wondering about male possibilities, come on already! around 230 pages in, Rennie picks up a package for a lady on the island with heart problems. She brings it home, opens it, and finds the pieces to a machine gun, this could have been a very interesting happenstance, but the incident just disappears. It's like Atwood is the most teasing, cynical person ever! She gives you a juicy incident, then moves on, then gives you a new lead, and gives some history. At some point in this novel, it had better come together, or I will not be impressed. Maybe if I had the patience to read through the miles of description and sub stories, I would be OK, but apparently I don't.
Atwood's description is highly superb though I must say, for the large amount, it is all very good. The way she describes Rennie's hotel food actually makes you nauseated, like her desert that was supposed to be pudding, but looked like "a chalky residue on top, and mold had developed from the inside infecting the food in dangerous ways," yuck. Not only the food, but some of her descriptions can just make you gag, she's very good at that, like this description of a woman's washroom, "there is a strong smell in the woman's washroom, tepid flesh, face powder, and ammonia," you can practically smell the awfulness.
So in total so far, I think the story has gone far enough without something making perfect sense, or something radical happening, or maybe I'm missing the bigger picture... I'm going to go with missing the bigger picture, and hope that the last hundred pages pull together the last threads of plot for me.
When Rennie's friend Lora is telling her her life story, or a bit of it, she talks about depressing living conditions and abusive step fathers with disgusting cats, which made me feel uncomfortable. Then she counters it with a sweet quote from some one insightful, or hopeful and wise, in this case it's Lora's mother who says,"where there's life there's hope." Daniel the doctor uses inspiring quotes like these, to help her through her battle with breast cancer, and cope with the stress, and though there often cheesy, like "you have a blank sheet now, your free to write the life you want to live," this is also a bad pun, because she's a journalist. Sometimes its nice to hear cheesy inspirational quotes, they lighten a situation very quickly, and help the reader, myself, not feel to down about the frightening thoughts that Rennie has about dying and becoming too much like her sick dead grandmother... heavy eh? yeah.
Atwood has incorporated many aspects to the story, and the themes range from politics, romance, to suspense, it's very cool. However one might not expect to find politics and romance merged into one successfully, and I can't tell if Atwood is doing it well or not. Well, i suppose she is, because magically she seems to make the politics in St. Agathe affect Rennie's personal love life, all the themes are intricately woven and sometimes it's hard to follow. Maybe I'm not mature enough to read of a political romance, and I'm sure that's the case because I don't understand it, but for an older audience the story may be great. Sometimes she plays heavily on Rennie's love life, incorporating three men into that life; Jake, Paul and Daniel, and each has a very unique background that adds depth to Rennie's circumstances.
Right now i am waiting for something to happen, Rennie, Paul and Lara have been touring the city for pages, and I keep expecting a plot twist or maybe even the man from Rennie's room to come back but nothing happens! She keeps waking up, eating bad food, travelling, wondering about male possibilities, come on already! around 230 pages in, Rennie picks up a package for a lady on the island with heart problems. She brings it home, opens it, and finds the pieces to a machine gun, this could have been a very interesting happenstance, but the incident just disappears. It's like Atwood is the most teasing, cynical person ever! She gives you a juicy incident, then moves on, then gives you a new lead, and gives some history. At some point in this novel, it had better come together, or I will not be impressed. Maybe if I had the patience to read through the miles of description and sub stories, I would be OK, but apparently I don't.
Atwood's description is highly superb though I must say, for the large amount, it is all very good. The way she describes Rennie's hotel food actually makes you nauseated, like her desert that was supposed to be pudding, but looked like "a chalky residue on top, and mold had developed from the inside infecting the food in dangerous ways," yuck. Not only the food, but some of her descriptions can just make you gag, she's very good at that, like this description of a woman's washroom, "there is a strong smell in the woman's washroom, tepid flesh, face powder, and ammonia," you can practically smell the awfulness.
So in total so far, I think the story has gone far enough without something making perfect sense, or something radical happening, or maybe I'm missing the bigger picture... I'm going to go with missing the bigger picture, and hope that the last hundred pages pull together the last threads of plot for me.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Response # 2 "Bodily harm"
Alas, I can relate to dear Rennie. Part two of my novel begins with a lovely introduction about the closeness between Rennie and her grandparents, both of whom have a wonderful history of interesting background. The grandmother adores the Grandfather, and I feel very warmed by this fact because my grandparents are like this, they respect each other and love each other. Rennie respects her grandmother, and says that "my grandmother is an amazing woman for her age," and I like this new aspect to Rennie, it seems that she is the keeper of family history, just like me.
I have also found another similarity between Rennie and myself that I have found comforting, we both want to get out of our home towns, due to depressing history or just merely the craving of new adventures and new life.
I have also figured out Atwood's method of story telling. Each flowery thing is a time portal, or so I'm calling it. She cleverly writes a short body of words, that has to do with the present situation, and then puts a flower, and writes another body of history, introducing more and more information and background having to do with Rennie. My thoughts are that each historic reference is going to become more relevant to her currant situation before the end just magically comes together, so that has me excited.
Atwood uses a lot of really good metaphors, and this is especially effective for Rennie. She had recently underwent surgery to remove cancer in her left breast, and the experience has her petrified. She describes her fear very well in one line that had my attention and sympathy, it was very strong... "She is in remission. Remission is the good word, terminal is the bad one. It makes Rennie think of bus stations: the end of the line." This even scared me, and Rennie uses frequent metaphors like this to describe her ending, that she hopes won't come soon. She doesn't want to know if she's dying, so she doesn't ask her doctor Daniel, but underneath it all she's dying to know if she's terminal or not, and her constant reference to this ordeal has gotten me all worked up, just tell her already!
I must say I do not enjoy her flashbacks to previous journalism experiences, for they are rather dry. There are just a lot of stories mentioned, like articles in Pandora called "women of achievement" and other boring non-related stories. Sure, it furthers Rennie's character that she is brutally honest and a good writer, but it's just not an interesting part of the story.
I have also realized what I think is one of Margaret Atwood's classic trademarks, or so I hear, she makes the brutal ex boyfriend of Rennie into a perverted, terrible man with no sense of respect. I hate Jake, I hate everything about him because every piece of information given about Jake says that he is a scumbag, who uses foul language and calls women and Christians c***s. I reeeeaaallllyyy don't like him, he makes me want to hit the next man I see. Is this her goal? Maybe, but there has been on decent man that has come out of this, the doctor Daniel, and I like him for being the only normal, respectable man in this entire novel.
My favourite part so far, is the one part that made me laugh. Rennie was running through the streets of the town she is vacationing in, and a man is following her with an outstretched hand. Suddenly, her male friend Paul grabs her arm and tells her to stop and face the man following her, and he says, " he's just deaf and dumb, he only wants to shake your hand, he thinks it's good luck." I had to laugh, not only because the situation itself was funny, but because of the irony; Rennie is anything but lucky. I'm also getting very giddy, Daniel finds Rennie interesting, and this is the first clue that he's starting to like her! yay for Rennie!
Rennie wants desperatly for someone to take of her, she keeps meeting man after man... Daniel, Paul, Dr. Minnow... and just wants protection, and so far Daniel is the only one capable of that. She reminds me often of my mother, and her search for love and comfort in many men after the first one let her down, it gives me a better respect for Rennie, she's not in an easy place.
I have also found another similarity between Rennie and myself that I have found comforting, we both want to get out of our home towns, due to depressing history or just merely the craving of new adventures and new life.
I have also figured out Atwood's method of story telling. Each flowery thing is a time portal, or so I'm calling it. She cleverly writes a short body of words, that has to do with the present situation, and then puts a flower, and writes another body of history, introducing more and more information and background having to do with Rennie. My thoughts are that each historic reference is going to become more relevant to her currant situation before the end just magically comes together, so that has me excited.
Atwood uses a lot of really good metaphors, and this is especially effective for Rennie. She had recently underwent surgery to remove cancer in her left breast, and the experience has her petrified. She describes her fear very well in one line that had my attention and sympathy, it was very strong... "She is in remission. Remission is the good word, terminal is the bad one. It makes Rennie think of bus stations: the end of the line." This even scared me, and Rennie uses frequent metaphors like this to describe her ending, that she hopes won't come soon. She doesn't want to know if she's dying, so she doesn't ask her doctor Daniel, but underneath it all she's dying to know if she's terminal or not, and her constant reference to this ordeal has gotten me all worked up, just tell her already!
I must say I do not enjoy her flashbacks to previous journalism experiences, for they are rather dry. There are just a lot of stories mentioned, like articles in Pandora called "women of achievement" and other boring non-related stories. Sure, it furthers Rennie's character that she is brutally honest and a good writer, but it's just not an interesting part of the story.
I have also realized what I think is one of Margaret Atwood's classic trademarks, or so I hear, she makes the brutal ex boyfriend of Rennie into a perverted, terrible man with no sense of respect. I hate Jake, I hate everything about him because every piece of information given about Jake says that he is a scumbag, who uses foul language and calls women and Christians c***s. I reeeeaaallllyyy don't like him, he makes me want to hit the next man I see. Is this her goal? Maybe, but there has been on decent man that has come out of this, the doctor Daniel, and I like him for being the only normal, respectable man in this entire novel.
My favourite part so far, is the one part that made me laugh. Rennie was running through the streets of the town she is vacationing in, and a man is following her with an outstretched hand. Suddenly, her male friend Paul grabs her arm and tells her to stop and face the man following her, and he says, " he's just deaf and dumb, he only wants to shake your hand, he thinks it's good luck." I had to laugh, not only because the situation itself was funny, but because of the irony; Rennie is anything but lucky. I'm also getting very giddy, Daniel finds Rennie interesting, and this is the first clue that he's starting to like her! yay for Rennie!
Rennie wants desperatly for someone to take of her, she keeps meeting man after man... Daniel, Paul, Dr. Minnow... and just wants protection, and so far Daniel is the only one capable of that. She reminds me often of my mother, and her search for love and comfort in many men after the first one let her down, it gives me a better respect for Rennie, she's not in an easy place.
Response #1 "Bodily Harm"
I have chosen to read the novel "Bodily Harm" by Margaret Atwood. I have never read any material by Atwood before, and this novel I'm sure was not a splendid choice to become familiar with her work. Oh...my...grapic! Within the first 20 pages I became extremely uncomfortable and unsettled by some of her descriptions, characters, and plot lines.
The story has yet to make complete sense, for there are no chapters, only little flower symbols that separate large chunks of story. Also... each chunk of story is different, never following the same plot line. There are so many things happening at once, to one character. I would be o.k. if different scenario's were happening at once, and there were different people involved, but this is not the case. Each bit about the main character Rennie is revealed backwards, even scrambled a little bit, as each new section is a small chunk out of a different part of her life. When you blend them together, though you don't quite know what's happening currently, you get a good description of Rennie's character and who she is and has been. She is a journalist, who is very self preserving and awkward, and I cannot quite relate to her at all, so that's difficult.
The beginning of the novel was very good, giving a good start to a mystery, Rennie comes home to find a rope lying on her bed and police in her kitchen, ready to tell her that some one has broken in to her house. This was interesting, and had my attention immediately, but then she wrecked my intrigue. She strayed so far off the initial plot, into Rennie's history and jobs and friends, that I have no idea what became of the situation, though I will invariably find out, it.s frustrating! I don't want to know about the article she wrote for Owl magazine about a shabby restaurant, or how her friend makes necklaces out of drain chain's, I want to know who was in her room! bah!
Another disapointing aspect to this story, is the way Rennie puts down her home Canadian town, Griswold. She makes it seem like the most boring, dreadful place in all of Canada. A highly religious town of boring people, like the joke Rennie tells her friends, " How many people from Griswold does it take to change a lightbulb? None, if the light goes out, it is the will of God, and who are you to complain?" Griswold is a place where every one where's polyester knits and nothing offensive, so why would I be interested in a place to boring? It makes me feel all weird inside, undercomfortable because I have yet to relate to any aspect of this book.
But the scariest part of this novel so far? The use of third person! Already, the plot has established that some one has been watching Rennie, her abusive, vulgar ex boyfriend is still creeping her, and something bad is going to happen while she's away on her trip. The use of third person, like... "Rennie closed the curtains and began to take off her clothes.." makes me feel like a stalker! Like I am the one watching her, it's so creepy. Not only do the terribley vulgar explainations of strange sex scenes scare me, but I feel like I'm watching from the shadows, its too weird.
The language isn't overly formal, but is still delicate and elegant. She uses no words twice, no expression too often, and I learn a new word probably every few pages or so. I also had to get used to the fact that she used no quotation marks around dialogue, at times it becomes very difficult to pick out speech, especially since the dialogue could start of with "Rennie says..." and then never mention who the other character is that she is speaking with.
I have a feeling that even if there is a huge plot twist, or I finally find out who was in her room and if she will ever get together with her doctor Daniel, I still will not be able to completely submerse myself in the novel, because it makes me uncomfortable. I wish I could relate to at least ONE instance, but I can't. Or maybe... I'm just not trying hard enough to become involved in the story, and maybe I've given up on it already, hmm. I hope not, we'll have to see if the next bit gets me more excited. Good start :)
The story has yet to make complete sense, for there are no chapters, only little flower symbols that separate large chunks of story. Also... each chunk of story is different, never following the same plot line. There are so many things happening at once, to one character. I would be o.k. if different scenario's were happening at once, and there were different people involved, but this is not the case. Each bit about the main character Rennie is revealed backwards, even scrambled a little bit, as each new section is a small chunk out of a different part of her life. When you blend them together, though you don't quite know what's happening currently, you get a good description of Rennie's character and who she is and has been. She is a journalist, who is very self preserving and awkward, and I cannot quite relate to her at all, so that's difficult.
The beginning of the novel was very good, giving a good start to a mystery, Rennie comes home to find a rope lying on her bed and police in her kitchen, ready to tell her that some one has broken in to her house. This was interesting, and had my attention immediately, but then she wrecked my intrigue. She strayed so far off the initial plot, into Rennie's history and jobs and friends, that I have no idea what became of the situation, though I will invariably find out, it.s frustrating! I don't want to know about the article she wrote for Owl magazine about a shabby restaurant, or how her friend makes necklaces out of drain chain's, I want to know who was in her room! bah!
Another disapointing aspect to this story, is the way Rennie puts down her home Canadian town, Griswold. She makes it seem like the most boring, dreadful place in all of Canada. A highly religious town of boring people, like the joke Rennie tells her friends, " How many people from Griswold does it take to change a lightbulb? None, if the light goes out, it is the will of God, and who are you to complain?" Griswold is a place where every one where's polyester knits and nothing offensive, so why would I be interested in a place to boring? It makes me feel all weird inside, undercomfortable because I have yet to relate to any aspect of this book.
But the scariest part of this novel so far? The use of third person! Already, the plot has established that some one has been watching Rennie, her abusive, vulgar ex boyfriend is still creeping her, and something bad is going to happen while she's away on her trip. The use of third person, like... "Rennie closed the curtains and began to take off her clothes.." makes me feel like a stalker! Like I am the one watching her, it's so creepy. Not only do the terribley vulgar explainations of strange sex scenes scare me, but I feel like I'm watching from the shadows, its too weird.
The language isn't overly formal, but is still delicate and elegant. She uses no words twice, no expression too often, and I learn a new word probably every few pages or so. I also had to get used to the fact that she used no quotation marks around dialogue, at times it becomes very difficult to pick out speech, especially since the dialogue could start of with "Rennie says..." and then never mention who the other character is that she is speaking with.
I have a feeling that even if there is a huge plot twist, or I finally find out who was in her room and if she will ever get together with her doctor Daniel, I still will not be able to completely submerse myself in the novel, because it makes me uncomfortable. I wish I could relate to at least ONE instance, but I can't. Or maybe... I'm just not trying hard enough to become involved in the story, and maybe I've given up on it already, hmm. I hope not, we'll have to see if the next bit gets me more excited. Good start :)
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