tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20099192.post604203018465592888..comments2007-11-24T18:52:17.768-05:00Dr. Crazyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12457967076373916629noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20099192.post-70854093380279182882007-11-24T18:52:00.000-05:002007-11-24T18:52:00.000-05:00Shakespeare rawks!<BR/><BR/>As we English Majors say. And it's really all about Macbeth, innit?<BR/><BR/>I have a collected works that I purchased 20 years ago (or so) in London, and it goes with me wherever I move....<BR/><BR/>I have one bookcase that I keep all my "must have books" in. When one goes in, another must go out. It keeps me focused on the works that are useful to me.<BR/><BR/>Or it is some kind of controlled OCD?<BR/><BR/>;-)rwellorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17489538189139910055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20099192.post-57371261156541250492007-11-21T21:08:00.001-05:002007-11-21T21:08:00.001-05:00Well considered and telling. I used to do this (or a morph of it) in a negotiating class: there were five people deciding, but no one knew which of the five were getting the reading or getting sent. I was astonished that they nearly all chose Shakespeare (they were business majors), and about half wanted a Bible. Weirder still? They were French.Bellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10849272391043604637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20099192.post-51525514643958233262007-11-21T21:08:00.000-05:002007-11-21T21:08:00.000-05:00Well considered and telling. I used to do this (or a morph of it) in a negotiating class: there were five people deciding, but no one knew which of the five were getting the reading or getting sent. I was astonished that they nearly all chose Shakespeare (they were business majors), and about half wanted a Bible. Weirder still? They were French.Bellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10849272391043604637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20099192.post-29503388270117921072007-11-21T12:30:00.000-05:002007-11-21T12:30:00.000-05:00Of *course* you'll take The Tempest on a voyage to a strange land in outer space. It only makes sense.<BR/><BR/>As for survival guides, why not the Hitchhiker's Guide? ;)Dr. Viragohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03960384082670286328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20099192.post-14648797189546084482007-11-20T21:37:00.000-05:002007-11-20T21:37:00.000-05:00To be fair, there are some people who do talk about this book, but here's why I think it gets less attention than others:<BR/><BR/>I think it's the most ambivalent of her novels, about the world, about women. It's complicated. We have a villain who is a woman with whom we sort of sympathize, we have three protagonists with whom we sympathize, but that we also critique. She's not doing the dystopic thing (Handmaid's Tale, Oryx and Crake) nor is she doing the early feminist stuff of Lady Oracle or Cat's Eye - or others) nor is she doing the metafictional/historical fiction stuff that she does in Alias Grace and The Blind Assassin). In some ways, it's the novel of hers that attempts to do the least, I think, but it's, for me, the best *story*. I came to Atwood first through The Handmaid's Tale and then through the early stuff. *The Robber Bride* was the first of her books that I read when it first came out, and for me, it's ultimately the most satisfying. Is it the best? I don't know. But I love it most.Dr. Crazyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12457967076373916629noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20099192.post-46230054625401210442007-11-20T21:18:00.000-05:002007-11-20T21:18:00.000-05:00Great list. <BR/><BR/>The Robber Bride is my favourite Atwood novel, too. By far. For me, it's because it actually feels as if she is sympathetic toward her characters. Why does nobody talk about this book?Hilairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09033740943173352249noreply@blogger.com