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

[perplexedagain]

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??

I really enjoyed her collection of short stories Stone Mattress.

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)

Cat's Eye was excellent.

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

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.

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

Another vote for The Edible Woman
Agree about Penelopeaid

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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?

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

Alias Grace is the best of her books I think.

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.