The Blind Assassin

By: Margaret Atwood

Narrated by: Margot Dionne

Length: 18 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Margaret Atwood takes the art of storytelling to new heights in a dazzling new novel that unfolds layer by astonishing layer and concludes in a brilliant and wonderfully satisfying twist.

For the past twenty-five years, Margaret Atwood has written works of striking originality and imagination. In The Blind Assassin, she stretches the limits of her accomplishments as never before, creating a novel that is entertaining and profoundly serious.

The novel opens with these simple, resonant words: "Ten days after the war ended, my sister drove a car off the bridge." They are spoken by Iris, whose terse account of her sister Laura's death in 1945 is followed by an inquest report proclaiming the death accidental. But just as the listener expects to settle into Laura's story, Atwood introduces a novel-within-a- novel. Entitled The Blind Assassin, it is a science fiction story told by two unnamed lovers who meet in dingy backstreet rooms. When we return to Iris, it is through a 1947 newspaper article announcing the discovery of a sailboat carrying the dead body of her husband, a distinguished industrialist.

Told in a style that magnificently captures the colloquialisms and clichés of the 1930s and 1940s, The Blind Assassin is a richly layered and uniquely rewarding experience. The novel has many threads and a series of events that follow one another at a breathtaking pace. As everything comes together, listeners will discover that the story Atwood is telling is not only what it seems to be—but, in fact, much more.

The Blind Assassin proves once again that Atwood is one of the most talented, daring, and exciting writers of our time. Like The Handmaid's Tale, it is destined to become a classic.

©2000 by O.W. Toad, Ltd.

Critic reviews

Book Sense Book of the Year Award Finalist, Adult Fiction, 2001

"Dionne’s narration is hypnotic and moody, mapping out Atwood’s social and emotional geography, the many little hurts and betrayals, and the hopes. Listeners will find themselves piecing together the clues, guessing at truths, but the rewards are to be found in the layering of details and the skill of the storytelling." –AudioFile

“An example of a writer at the very peak of her performance.…As it delves into the kinds of relationships that can exist between men and women and the rich and poor, it becomes a compassionate and utterly honest book. It is profound and touching. It is to be treasured.”
–Edmonton Journal

“The Blind Assassin is the kind of story so full of intrigue and desperation that you take it to bed with you simply because you can’t bear to put it down.…It’s one thing to write an accomplished novel; it’s another entirely to spin a tale so brilliantly that the reader internalizes it.” –Harper’s Bazaar

“Margaret Atwood is one of the greatest writers alive.…A novel of luminous prose, scalpel-precise insights and fierce characters.…[The Blind Assassin] is so assured, so elegant and so incandescently intelligent, she casts her contemporaries in the shade.” –Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Give it time

At first I loved this book. Then I got bored. Then I fell back in love with it. Give it time. Atwood is a genius storyteller.

Just Okay

usually love Atwood but just didn't love this one. narration was also poor quality at times.

Ignore the sound quality, if you can

Amazing writing, good narration, and worst sound quality ever. Sounds like it was produced in the 50s, but I managed to overcome, and Atwood’s writing made it worth the effort.

Absolutely Beautiful

This is an exquisitely written, exquisitely narrated book. The language is like fine brandy, the story heady and intricate. I have never read Atwood so this was a first for me and i could not be more impressed. This is no simple tale, it is a story within a story within a story, yet the narrator did a fine job of keeping all the stories distinct. I would highly recommend this to anyone wanting to be lulled into another world.

EXCELLENT

This was a great story, beautifully written, expertly narrated and very deserving of the award it won.

Good read

Although tedious at times, it is a genuine good read. The family relationships provoked the thoughts of this reader to the darker side her own family story.

Great book, poor recording

This is a good performance of a wonderful book, but the recording quality is TERRIBLE. There is a fuzzy gramophone quality that at first I thought was a clever effect to differentiate the inner story from the outer one. But no, it was just poor sound quality that got worse at times to the point that some words were hard to understand. And it cuts off so abruptly at the end that I’m not sure I heard the whole book.

Audible, this book is a masterwork! Do better!

Masterful storytelling

The storytelling was captivating, the actor captured the tone and attitude of the main character beautifully with all the complexity, mystery, irony and pride of the character, The story itself was compelling, in the telling of an elusive truth remembered, slipping easily in and out of past and present. it is rich in descriptive detail with out becoming bogged down in it. this book ranks among my all time favorites, up there with Tolstoy. There was some trouble in the middle of the audio with a squeaking background noise, however, i contacted the tech people at audible who helped me resolve this. This book is not to be passed up due to a little squeaking. Margaret Atwood can tell an intricate story from a woman's perspective like no other. its worth listening to again, and again.

Art Imitates Life or Something Else?

The Chase family legacy is rife with aristocracy, intrigue, romance, death and a fascinating sub story! The characters are bold and believable, if misunderstood. The main story comes from Iris the older sibling at some 80 years of age attempting to weave the family history in such a way as to bring some understanding to her estranged grand-daughter, Sabrina. While we are delighted, saddened but ultimately understanding of Iris's sacrifices and affairs of the heart we are intrigued and excited by the sub-novel. Here we follow in the footsteps of the man and the woman, clandestine lovers. As time passes, it becomes clear that the events in the sub-novel run parallel to the lives of Iris and Laura, and that at the end the two stories intersect and become one. This one is a "must read" that will become a "want to read again" I'm sure!

amazing!

I wish there was more!! I love everything this author has written I've gotten through so far - truly a talented writer.