Maybe it’s been fashionable for a while now to write with a multiple perspective, but Atwood does it as well as anyone I’ve read. It’s not the first time for her either - The Handmaid’s Tale, Alias Grace, The Robber Bride and others all have elements of the ’’story within a story’’.
In The Blind Assassin, the conceit is taken to the extreme. The first layer is of course Atwood’s telling of the tale she’s called ’’The Blind Assassin’’. Within that there are several more stories. Two are being told by Iris, an aging ex-socialite and once a darling of Canada’s elite. She narrates both her first-person present day story and, within that, her memoir - the writing of which is the driving force of the whole novel. In another layer, a fourth layer, exists the real ’’book within the book’’ which is also called ’’The Blind Assassin’’. This is the book, profoundly shocking when it was first published, that Iris’s dead sister is revered for. Then, inside that story, at the very heart of the novel, is a fifth narrative; the main character of ’’the book within the book’’, an unnamed but familiar male figure, is telling a serialised story to his lover during their rare moments together. And that is where, in macabre, science-fiction style, the figure of the blind assassin is brought to life. The writing of this desperately created, revolting and brilliant otherworld seems a million miles away from the calm, spare narrative style of Iris’s everyday life. Which is, of course, one of the points.
But you’ll have to read it to find out why.
Interspersed throughout all this, there are glimpses of Iris as seen through the eyes of those who once admired her and latterly find her a rather pathetic figure; journalists and newspaper society columnists. Once you’ve got it all sorted out - I’ve made it seem much more complicated than it actually is! - you can settle down to enjoy four or five novels in one. Bargain. (Even at the hard back price...)
What I found most compelling was that each of the stories has its own pace, voice and pulling power. Atwood lets us find our way through the novel very gently - it’s the kind of writing which you hardly notice and then, when you get to the end, you realise how clever it was and you want to go back and start again. If you haven’t read any Atwood yet, this would be a great introduction to her work. If you have, then you’ll be able to relish the treat before and afterwards.