About this title: The contemporary story of a woman grappling with the tangled knot of her life. Returning to Toronto, the city of her youth, for a retrospective of her art, controversial painter Elaine Risley is engulfed by vivid images of the past. Strongest of all is the figure of Cordelia, leader of the trio of girls who initiated her into the fierce politics of childhood and its secret worlds of friendship, longing, and betrayal.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Doubleday Books
Date Published: 1989
ISBN-13:9780385260077ISBN:0385260075
Description: Good in good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 446 p. Ex-Library expected imperfections. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Bantam
Date Published: 1989
ISBN-13:9780553282474ISBN:0553282476
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Light edge and corner wear. No marks. Tight binding. No spine creases. Tanning pages. Light corner crease on front cover. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Bantam
Date Published: 1989
ISBN-13:9780553282474ISBN:0553282476
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Excellent condition. Very light edge, corner and seam wear. No marks. Tight, square book. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Bantam Books
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780553377903ISBN:0553377906
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Very light edge and corner wear. No marks. Tight, square book. Lightly tanning pages. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Good. C-Spine is well creased. Covers show wear at the edges and corners. Average reading copy. Used books may have price stickers. Most orders ship on the next business day. read more
Description: Good. CT-Spine is well creased. Covers show wear a the edges and corners. Average Reading copy. Pages tanning. Used books may have price stickers. Most orders ship on the next business day. read more
Description: Good. BT-Spine has some creases. Covers show wear. Good reading copy. Pages tanning. Used books may have price stickers. Most orders ship on the next business day. read more
This is one of those books that I felt unprepared for. There is so much here. I became overwhelmed with the themes and commentaries and issues. So I focused on the story.
I loved reading about Elaine's childhood. I loved the description of the time, the scene, the day to day life of another generation. The children were fascinating in their meanness, a meanness I remember. Was I that mean? The idea that I may have been is heartbreaking. Once the main character reached college I lost a lot of my interest in the story and started thinking more about the social commentary. The character's motivations were less understandable and in one of the last few chapters I lost respect for her entirely.
Like The Handmaid's Tale, I was impressed by the timelessness of this novel. I've been reading a lot of feminist blogs lately and I have been amazed at that parallels between this book written in 1988 and the issues women are discussing today. In the book the main character attends of feminist group meetings in the 1960. She says that she feels like she doesn't fit in because she hasn't suffered enough. She's never been beaten, raped or abused (of course she was abused in the story, although not in stereotypical way and mostly by girls) and so she feels like her contribution to the women's discussion is not valid or important. Honestly that is exactly the way I feel sometimes reading feminist blogs."
"This story follows the life of Elaine, from when she was in the "wilds" of Canada with her parents, to when they first moved into a house near Toronto. The story weaves in and out of the 'present' and her past, expanding on who she is as a person and how she relates to those around her.
At times heartbreaking, it offers a glimpse into how life was during what I presumed to be the 40's and 50's. (There are some historical things you need to know to understand parts of the book, I think.)
Overall, I enjoyed this read. Atwood likes to weave science fiction into her stories and I think this one is one of her bests. The weaving is done in such a way that it's still coherent and you don't get drawn off-track too often. It's a fairly long story, but reads well enough. It didn't completely draw me in, but I wasn't feeling like it was a chore to read it, either."
"I know people who have very specific conditions for books they read -- one who doesn't like any book that portrays adultery in a positive light, another who hates anything in first person. I like to think I don't have any of these, but that's kind of a lie: I hate passive characters.
Elaine's the most passive character in any book I can remember reading this year, and she's the protagonist and narrator to boot. She just sat around and waited for the book to happen to her, and meanwhile I'm reading along and wanting to throttle her. (Which wouldn't improve matters any, really, since she'd just be passively receiving throttling. Maybe I should have wished for her to throttle someone else.)
I concede that Atwood is a very good writer, but as has happened before, that wasn't enough to make me care."
"I'm so happy I finally gave myself the chance to read Margaret Atwood. "Cat's Eye" was so beautiful. I was moved by the way in which Atwood displays and dissects the nuances of female relationships as well as her general art of description and imagery. "Cat's Eye" is a mirror that prompted me to examine my own life and self, besides being beautifully written and full of seductively tangible prose. Elaine's perspective may have been before I was born, but I definitely felt the story calling quite clearly above the domestic forties references I couldn't place. If you're a woman, if you're a younger sister, daughter,mother,friend, I recommend this book. I couldn't help myself either, because I also snatched up a book of her poetry I'm already itching to fall into. :)"
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
rating
