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Lady Oracle
Authors :
Margaret Atwood
| Release Date: |
13 April, 1998 |
| Manufacturer: |
Anchor |
| Availability: |
Usually ships in 24 hours |
| List Price: |
$13.95 |
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 Customer Reviews 
all the best of Atwood, except the ending
Rating: 4
The first meeting with Joan Foster on the balcony of the pensione in Italy is purposefully misleading - this novel is far from the relaxing report from an Italian vacation. But soon enough, Joan, the main character and narrator, makes sure the reader is shocked and intrigued, pushing them to read on. Joan reveals that she faked her own death and is now in hiding. Why? What led her to this, seemingly desperate, step? Her story starts in childhood and meanders through all the turns of girl's and woman's life. As a child, Joan is fighting with weight and longing for beauty, has a perfectionist, overambitious, always unhappy mother and absent (even when present) father, who appears very boring and apathetic at home, but his life is mysterious and full of secrets. Tormented by her mother, Joan escapes into overeating; she is friendless and shy, the girls at Brownies bully her. Her only friend is her aunt Louisa K. Delacourt, who introduces her to the world of movies and spiritual séances. And thanks to Aunt Lou, Joan is finally motivated to lose weight...
Growing up, Joan manages to get the attention of men, but other women (except Aunt Lou, whose identity Joan uses as her alter ego) remain always her antagonists. She is unstable and her life is a mess, she has many ideas for improvement, but always ends up disappointed with herself and longing to erase the past and start afresh from zero again...She desperately wishes for love (a result of an unhappy childhood...) and so meets a parade of less than perfect men: her first lover, Paul, a Polish political émigré in London, who introduces her to the world of trashy romance novels; Arthur, who she marries, a myopic rebel; and her most romantic love, The Royal Porcupine vel Chuck, who is an artist exhibiting animal carcasses. All of them are disappointing, when seen closely, and so Joan is always unsatisfied. She is not able to perceive her life as full and interesting, always waiting, never stable, never feeling the present as something good - sort of anti - yoga approach.
Atwood is usually labeled as a feminist writer, and I can understand it, although she is, simply, just a very good writer. In her novels, the characters display many traits, fears, thoughts common to many women, which most of the women would not admit having (or would admit only at the session with the psychoanalyst). In "Lady Oracle" like in her other novels, she refers to feminine logic and intuition, making the novel at the same time very chaotic - like the lives of perhaps of too many contemporary women trying to get from their time on Earth as much as possible, squeeze the life as much as it hurts, hoping there is always more. The novel felt at the same time very personal and very general, a remarkable achievement. There are, of course, common Atwood motifs (she repeats herself a bit, it is not yet autoplagiarism, but establishing a firm ground, a safe niche for herself, which she mastered to perfection, in all her novels coming back to the same subject in different configurations: the main protagonist's struggle with her personal image, the books written by her as a parallel reality, the toxic mother-daughter relationship, spiritualism, cruelty of little girls, child molesters...). In "Lady Oracle" the most original is the title and its interpretation in the text - "Lady Oracle" is not only the title of Joan's bestseller, but she appears also in her visions with the candle and automatic writing, and, in the distorted version, can be the medium she meets with Aunt Lou... Reading, I was always thinking about the meaning of the title.
I appreciate the author's obvious eloquence and effortless jiggling of mythical themes (the Persephone comes to mind, when Joan tries her automatic writing), fairy tale images, and historical and social stereotypes. I like her irony and wit, woven into the flawless prose so that nothing looks forced and the story flows naturally (I laughed at the changes in style when the excerpts from Joan's novel appeared). Atwood manages to write lightly about very serious matters, and despite the light language the problems tackled in her novels remain with the reader forever, they do not disappear, but fester, demanding attention, urging to think and analyze. I was a bit disappointed with the ending, which, although very unexpected, appeared rushed, as if the author could not wait for the climax. Therefore, I rate this novel four stars, because Atwood can be better.
Classic Atwood - and humorous, too!
Rating: 4
"Lady Oracle" started slowly--or maybe I just had trouble engaging with it initially, as I was trying to figure out who exactly the narrator was. But once Joan began recounting and reflecting on her life, I was hooked. Atwood used this device of mixing past and present in "The Robber Bride" and "Cat's Eye" as well, but I actually think it works best here. Joan is quite a character, and meets some remarkable people (remarkable in ways good and bad) throughout the course of her life. These are some of Atwood's best character creations. The antics of Joan and the Royal Porcupine had me laughing out loud. I wish I had some of these people in my own life, if only for the amusement value!
This is maybe Atwood's funniest novel, though as is her style, the humor is subtle and used sparingly. I am a huge fan of her prose and narration; it amazes me that she can effective use "big words" and address "big ideas" while seeming conversational and accessible rather than pompously erudite. (Ahem, Ian McEwan?)
My only criticism of "Lady Oracle" was the ending. I greatly enjoyed Joan's telling of her life story, but her reasons for faking her death and fleeing to Italy were contrived and rather ridiculously melodramatic. Granted, the line between her novels and actual life was beginning to blur, but still, it seemed more like a too-obvious plot device to frame the narrative. And the ending was just marked by futility. Hence, I give the book four rather than five stars. Nonetheless, I highly recommend it for Atwood fans as well as others who enjoy character-driven narrative fiction. This goes on my list of favorite Atwood, along with "Oryx and Crake" and "Alias Grace".
A fun romp!
Rating: 4
I loved the Handmaids Tale and enjoyed this book as well, though it is much lighter. The best part of the book was not included in the reviews - her abusive childhood and subsequent eating disorder. The end of the book got more and more implausible and I started to feel like I was reading Jennifer Weiner instead. But, all in all, a really good book; very entertaining.
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