Blind Assasin thread 2 : Parts IV and V

[Traveller]

Jan wrote: " Maybe, though, it's when she's being confronted by her aged status, whether by inability to do something or by looking in the mirror, that she would remark on it, as otherwise I'd expect her to simply "be."

Hmm, if you are comparing her to yourself, besides that you are obviously younger than Iris, keep in mind that you are a busy person and pretty much involved in your current life as situated in the present. Hopefully you still have loved ones and friends around you and activities that ground you in the present.

But Iris has not much to do, it seems, which concerns the present; she is instead surrounded by memories of the past, and almost lives in the past more than the present, of which the book she is writing seems a concrete embodiment.

I've had a bit of a feeling that Iris sees the past more clearly than the present. She can literally not see well anymore, so her "present" seems a bit of a blur, but not just visually.

In addition, she is very isolated emotionally speaking. People treat her almost more as an object than a real person, and have acquired the habit of speaking about her in the third person even if she she is present - speaking about her as if she is not there.

Sometimes when she walks through her rooms, it's as if there are literally ghosts there, and her 'walks' certainly seem haunted by ghosts of the past.

Iris's present day existence feels to me haunted, to the point that it feels as if she is already a ghost herself.
I guess that is not surprising, since she appears to have outlived most of her contemporaries.

[Cecily]

Oooh (or should that be a ghostly "Whooo"?): some good thoughts there, Trav.

I think Iris has been emotionally isolated all her life, but more so in old age, and I certainly agree about her living in the past to the extent that she's somewhat oblivious to the present. Well, oblivious to the bigger picture; she see the minutiae well enough.

[Derek]

Magdelanye wrote: "So what if I didnt much like the people or the plot..."

Yeah, I really don't understand my own liking for this story. I always hate stories where I can't find any likable characters, and I'm way more plot-oriented than character-oriented. And yet, even though it isn't the murder-mystery it was looking like it would be in the first few pages, it is a mystery. Why did Griffen marry Iris? Who really wrote the Blind Assassin? What is with Winnifred?

I can sort of see the criticism that she seems to be trying to be clever. But that's just Atwood—she is clever.

For the Canadians here: Law and the Order of Canada (for the non-Canadians, it's unlikely to make sense, as you probably don't know who Stuart McLean is).

[Magdelanye]

Derek...have you not yet finished?
I love Stuart mclean

iris n

[Michele]

It's the combo of (this is just my experience) her holding a sign saying "See how clever I am" while being boring at the same time. I understand most people don't experience it like that.

And I completely agree she is clever. In fact, she is a genius. I am a big fan.

I may have to pick it up again and finish it if y'all keep loving on it so much. Sigh. So many books....

[Derek]

Magdelanye wrote: "Derek...have you not yet finished?"

No, though the questions were meant more rhetorically (and spoiler-free) anyway.

[Magdelanye]

not sure I can discuss without some spoiler slipping out, that's why I needed to check.
Michele, if you love her, how can she bore you?

[Michele]

Well, because it's not all or nothing for me. It's ok with me that sometimes I find her writing boring. She has given me a lot of pleasure so far with the books I've read that I thought were great.

[Traveller]

Re ending discussion - this is still only thread 2- let's move on to the later threads for that, shall we?

Thread for parts 6-10 here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Let's put all the spoilers regarding the ending in this thread END SPOILERS

[Traveller]

You know how an artist always "blocks in" his/her painting before s/he starts painting it? You know, first just draws the very rough outlines, and then does the background washes and then starts doing more and more detailed work over that and so on?

This book is like that for me. The fact that it is not linear chronologically speaking, helps with that effect. First you get some rough outlines, some snippets, and then she starts to connect the lines and fills in the details like little pieces of a mosaic or a tapestry.

The newspapers snippets and, for example, the description of the photograph mentioned in part 1. Of course you realize, in part V, that it is the photo taken at the picnic, but you wonder why it was taken not with both girls included - only the hand of one of them is included. Hmm. So she met him this young already....

[Magdelanye]

very nice analogy Trav!

[Jan]

Some more thoughts came to me today re the age thing: re Iris constantly--or, rather, frequently--writing about her age issues, primarily in terms of drying up, at least per what sticks in my mind. In the book I just finished, The Meursault Investigation, the main character, who is in his late 70s at the time of the writing, never refers to his age until halfway through the book. Granted he's a little younger, but I was already contrasting that with Iris' character when I was reading that.

I remember that at a certain point when my father was a little older than I am now, he saw a man in his 80s, all bent over, and voiced that's where he was headed. I now think that revealed a sense of depression or regret, and certainly sensed it at the time but not able to talk about it with him.

A glass half full position is usually better if and when I can achieve it, which was brought home to me in a powerful way by the sudden death in a car wreck of a friend two years younger than I am, back in April. So now when the unavoidable issues arise, it occurs to me what a privilege to be here and have those complaints, as she never will.

I think this also brings home what some of you have said about Iris' being lonely and cut off and not much thinking of others--not that we're going to a lot of the time, but her persona as the author has written her isn't much leavened by attention to others (even though we've known from the first line of the book that her sister is dead and she isn't).

[Magdelanye]

so sorry about your friend Jan. I think that even more disquieting than the physical evidence of aging, the insidious diminishments, is the sudden loss of those family and friends who are part of our lives.
iris pushed away from closeness. even with Laura, she was weary of her role and occasionally reveals her malicious side in the course of her care.

[Jan]

Magdelanye wrote: "so sorry about your friend Jan. I think that even more disquieting than the phys.... iris pushed away from closeness. even with Laura, she was weary of her role and occasionally reveals her malicious side in the course of her care."

Thanks so much, Magdelanye.
Re Iris, then immediately as you say that, I find myself wanting to exude sympathy toward her, for surely she was one unhappy person! Of course that's easy for me to say, since I only know her through a book. If I had to live with her in real life, I might not feel that way. In that case, the goal would be to handle unfinished business while one can. Don't let it fester.

[Derek]

Jan wrote: "Some more thoughts came to me today re the age thing: re Iris constantly--or, rather, frequently--writing about her age issues, primarily in terms of drying up, at least per what sticks in my mind. "

I think you have to realize that this is not just someone who is getting old. Iris is near-death. I don't think it's at all unreasonable to reflect on what you've lost and what you've missed at that point.

[Lisa]

Iris appears to have accepted many of the limitations brought about by age, but I like that she is feisty about some of them. She wants to be independent, yet needs others, and tortures them a little bit for it--but I think she is genuinely grateful. She is clearly aware of her own mortality, yet she has something unfinished, and a regret centered around her grand-daughter. This part develops slowly, in the back of her mind.

[Jan]

Derek (Guilty of thoughtcrime) wrote: "Jan wrote: "Some more thoughts came to me today re the age thing: re Iris constantly--or, rather, frequently--writing about her age issues, primarily in terms of drying up, at least per what sticks..."

Oh, darn. Can't reply here as it's a spoiler. Will try to find the last thread and post it there, Derek.

[Derek]

I have a whole lot to post over there, tonight...

[Jan]

:)

[Traveller]

Chance wrote: "She is clearly aware of her own mortality, yet she has something unfinished, and a regret centered around her grand-daughter. This part develops slowly, in the back of her mind."

Derek (Guilty of thoughtcrime) wrote: " Iris is near-death..."

Yes, I think these are pertinent observations regarding why BA even bothers to linger on Iris's age: She has her heart condition hovering like a sword over her head, and she has these regrets, in particular with regard to Sabrina, which is often brought to our attention by the way that Iris keeps thinking (wishful thinking) that she sees Sabrina.

She has realized that, after all, there -is- a way that she can reach out to Sabrina (by writing a book, since letters would not reach Sabrina), and she is now engaged in a race against time to get the book done before her mortality takes her.

[Jan]

"Having long ago whispered I want to die, I now realize that this wish will indeed be fulfilled, and sooner rather than later. No matter that I've changed my mind about it.”