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Other Margaret Atwood books - not the Handmaid's Tale / Testaments

24 replies

perplexedagain · 12/09/2019 17:09

OK I have read quite a lot of Atwood - not everything though. I'm holding off from starting the Testaments as I quite fancy trying something else first to get me in the zone ...

So I loved - Hag-Seed, Handmaid's Tale, Oryx and Crake, and Cat's Eye
I quite liked The Robber Bride , the Blind Assassin, Alias Grace and the Heart Goes Last (but not as much as my absolute favourites)
I was indifferent to The Penolopaid
I really really disliked Moral Disorder (and was hugely disappointed)

So is there anything else I should read / would enjoy?

What's your favourite Atwood? And why??

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forkfun · 12/09/2019 17:15

I really enjoyed her collection of short stories Stone Mattress.

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FreeButtonBee · 12/09/2019 17:17

have you read the sequels to Oryx and Crke (Year of the Flood and MadAdam)? Just finished YOTF which was pretty good (some of the same characters and a different angle to how the world got where it got to)

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BaconAndAvocado · 12/09/2019 19:47

Cat's Eye was excellent.

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mamaduckbone · 12/09/2019 21:24

I was also going to suggest the Oryx and Crake sequels - I really enjoyed them - The Year of the Flood and Madaddam.

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Sooverthemill · 12/09/2019 21:33

I have read
The Edible Woman
Surfacing
Lady Oracle
Life Before Man
Bodily Harm
Cat's Eye
Blind Assasin
Alias Grace
The handmaids tale
And then I gave up half way through Oryx and Crake

Early work was good, the later stuff I find tedious and preachy. We studied her first 3 as part of my feminist literature module for my degree.

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Frangible · 14/09/2019 07:30

The Robber’s Bride is by far my favourite. I don’t care for anything after Oryx and Crake.

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CaptainNelson · 14/09/2019 21:47

Another vote for The Edible Woman
Agree about Penelopeaid

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TonTonMacoute · 15/09/2019 10:56

I think Cats Eye is my favourite, but enjoyed most of her books.

Didn't like Handmaids Tale and I remember being a bit underwhelmed at Alias Grace.

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BlueBilledBeatboxingBird · 15/09/2019 12:51

TBH I would just jump straight in and read The Testaments. Having read most of her prose it is the least Atwoody Atwood I can remember reading. It’s much lighter and less complex than many of her other novels.

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perplexedagain · 15/09/2019 22:56

Think I am going to try Stone Mattress. I like short stories as a form as only excellent writers do short stories well. I'm really unsure about the Testaments. There's such a lot of hype and I don't want to be disappointed

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BornInAThunderstorm · 15/09/2019 22:58

I really enjoyed Surfacing, although the Edible Woman is also quite good

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SinisterBumFacedCat · 24/09/2019 23:33

I really enjoyed Lady Oracle, found it hilarious. Loved Cats Eye, Blind Assassin and Oryx and Crake. Struggled with Surfacing and gave up a few chapters before the end, only book i’ve ever done that with.

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DarlingNikita · 29/09/2019 17:13

I've read all her fiction. I agree Hag-Seed, Handmaid's Tale and Cat's Eye are very fine pieces of work. I also really liked the Penelopiad. But for me Alias Grace is her masterpiece and should have won the Booker.

This may be controversial but I don't really like her 'late-period' work (Oryx and Crake, Maddadam et al).

But to answer your question, I really like her poetry. Have you read any of that?

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CountFosco · 29/09/2019 20:44

Another vote for Alias Grace, it's my favourite. Also love The Robber Bride. Hated The Edible Woman.

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SchadenfreudePersonified · 29/09/2019 23:17

Loved the Oryx and Crake trilogy, the Robber Bride, Alias Grace, The Handmaid's Tale, Blind Assassin - and unlike most on here I enjoyed the Penelopiad.

TBH, I haven't read anything by her that I haven't enjoyed except the Testament and The Edible Woman. Haven't read her short stories though - it's a genre I'm not keen on.

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jackparlabane · 29/09/2019 23:26

Cats Eye, Lady Oracle, Robber Bride and Blind Assassin are my faves. And Alias Grace.
Oryx and Crake was a bit meh and stopped suddenly - is the sequel any good?

Loved Handmaid's Tale but couldn't reread or watch the series, so doubt I'll read its sequel.

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Moomin8 · 29/09/2019 23:32

Cat's Eye and The Robber Bride are my favourites. Oryx and Crake is also great in its own way.

For me, Cat's Eye is such a sharp observation of how difficult it is to be a girl / woman since we're socialised to be 'nice, kind, polite' and that supposed friendship groups can actually therefore be a hotbed for viscous, covert bullying.

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OnTheBorderline · 30/09/2019 01:57

Surfacing and Bluebeard's Egg which is a book of short stories.

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ChristmasFluff · 12/10/2019 22:46

I read the Handmaid's Tale in 1988 - and stayed up to read it in one go. I then read everything she had written, and have read all she has written since.

Not a second wasted. Read what you fancy - she's a genius.

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PhilSwagielka · 14/10/2019 09:57

The Edible Woman, and definitely check out her short stories too.

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PhilSwagielka · 14/10/2019 09:59

And if you're asking what my fave is, either The Handmaid's Tale or Cat's Eye. I was badly bullied by girls claiming to be 'friends', so the latter is very close to home.

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timtam23 · 21/10/2019 16:37

I really enjoyed Cat's Eye. Maybe because I had been bullied by other girls when younger, and could relate to the story. My English teacher at school recommended The Handmaid's Tale for me to read - it must have been 1986 or 1987. And I absolutely loved it. I read The Edible Woman next and also liked it but that one felt a bit more unfinished, I think it was her first novel? I liked Alias Grace but haven't read any of the later books, Oryx & Crake etc. I listened to some of the radio dramatisation of The Testaments and found myself getting drawn into the story so will put it on the list to read once the publication/Booker excitement has died down a bit

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historysock · 21/10/2019 16:39

Alias Grace is the best of her books I think.

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ScreamingCosArgosHaveNoRavens · 21/10/2019 16:41

Another vote for Cat's Eye. I'm not much of a fan of The Handmaid's Tale so I'm waiting until The Testaments starts appearing in charity shops to read it - but Cat's Eye was much better.

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