I think you guys have definitely got something there, Helicooter and Miller. I think Atwood is implicitly criticizing fiction's ability to compress and reduce the panoply of human identity and experience into an emblem, a character type that readers can digest and fall in love with due to how much simpler and more…

Early in the actual novel, Iris makes parting mention of the "scandalous" and controversial reception that Laura's book received upon publication. The lovers' interludes under the "Blind Assassin" chapter headings have lots of steamy, extramarital action; the sci-fi story-within-a-story-within-a-story-within-a-story…

I agree with FiveString that Richard's exploitation of Laura is the necessary coup-de-grace for all of the story's post-climactic fallout. I would look on Mr. Erskine's predatory behavior as a precursor, a clue to Richard's final reveal.

I'm glad to see I wasn't alone in finding Richard's Nazi-sympathizing to push him over the top as a villainous character. Although Blind Assassin is only my second Atwood novel (I, too, started with Handmaid's Tale), one unifying thematic thread I've detected between these two books (one of many, in fact) is a…

Ha!

Really looking forward to the discussion…
but I fear that the Gods of Work will rear their tyrannical heads and suck up my time again, as they did during the Watson's Apology discussion. If I don't pop up and participate in two weeks, it'll be due to my own laziness and lack of follow-through, but I prefer to blame it…

Joining the Facebook page would have involved shedding the superficial but strangely meaningful layer of anonymity I've enjoyed on this site. I was honestly too much of a pussy to give that up, even for the book club, which is the one thing I regularly comment on here.

While I would recommend reading TBA first on account of the book club deadline and all, Handmaid's Tale is honestly a superior starting place. Comparatively speaking, it's structurally more straight-forward than Blind Assassin and it illuminates its central themes in a very clear way.

Yeah, as far as page placement goes, WUiB has been living in a gimpy ghetto for some time now. I'm hopeful that it can get some more exposure this year.

"Meeting Across the River" is a fabulous fucking song. Who in their right mind would put it on this list? Don't you guys have some sort of veto protocol in place for these Inventory writing sessions to prevent this sort of blasphemy?

This must have been a popular story at Hollywood parties in the 70s, which I prefer to imagine involved elaborate geometric configurations of cocaine and the conspicuous absence of one Klaus Kinski.

Welcome aboard, Rowan! Hooray for class mobility!

Have a great trip, Santos. Your insights will definitely be missed.

That's funny; when I read YPU, I found the noir elements to be much more successful comparatively, though I still found YPU to be less than a perfect exercise. I wonder what tangible, and for that matter, intangible factors may be at play for all our individually divergent feelings on Whitehead's use of noir…

Noir elements
I suppose this thread is as appropriate as any to explore a topic that bothered me a great deal while reading The Intuitionist: Whitehead's use of traditional noir elements in this very untraditional context.

Agreed, FiveString. Wholeheartedly agreed.

While I will say that the elevator billboards were a serious test of my suspension of disbelief, for the most part, I agree with Rowan. There are no characters in this book who are *not* professionally immersed in the world of Elevator Inspection, and it made perfect sense to me that consequently the book itself would…

This is admittedly a reach, but I got the distinct impression that the book was intended to function on multiple levels: a racial allegory, a detective story, a coming-of-age story, but while the book functioned quite well for me as an allegory, other readings (the detective story) fell very flat. I suppose the book…

I regret not being able to take part in the Martin Dressler discussions, which I haven't even read through yet. I had some MAJOR objections to that one, and am eager to hear the arguments of that book's proponents.

I remember Little, Big unleashing vehement criticism from several WUiBers. I didn't feel alone in championing that book (probably my second-favorite WUiB selection at this point), but I remember the anti-camp being equally strong.