Lady Oracle

Rating:
Summary: Worlds Colliding
Review: This is the third Atwood book I've read, and I really enjoy her work. Her stories tend to suck you in, and by the middle of the book you're having trouble putting it down because you want to finish it. It's as if some of her stories are so implausible that you can't imagine what could happen next, so you have to keep reading.
In Lady Oracle Atwood describes the life of Joan, a woman who has had many negative experiences as a child and makes some bad choices as an adult. The story goes back and forth from her present life to her childhood, and the flashbacks continue through the story to bring you up to speed on her life. This is the same form that Atwood's two other books that I have read have taken as well. Joan becomes a celebrated author, but her husband, the impetuous Arthur, has negative things to say about her and her work. She becomes involved in scandals and finds that the only way out may be to fake her own death (which continues her pattern of placating others and not being able to do for herself).
In all this is another great book, but I personally felt that the ending was anti-climactic, leaving the reader with no sense of closure.


Rating:
Summary: Not qute good as her others
Review: I love Margaret Atwood. She's one of my favorite authors. This book didn't quite live up to my expectations of her. I thought the main character, Joan, was great. Very well developed. I related to her and I cared what happened to her. As usual, the best parts of this book were the sections that dealt with Joan's complicated family relationships, her romantic life, and her childhood. Nobody can understand the complexities of female friendship better than Atwood. Atwood uses flashbacks to tell the story -- she's one of the best at using this technique so that the reader doesn't get lost. The first half to two thirds of the book was terrific.

I found that the way Atwood wrapped up the novel was frustrating. The plot got a little too weird for me. I'm used to her writing being very grounded, and the latter sections of this book didn't live up to that. I found I was required to suspend disbelief far more than I wanted to or was able to. I got pulled out of the text whenever Atwood would show as an excerpt from one of Joan's novels.

Despite the things that irritated and/or distracted me, I still think this is a worthwhile book. By Atwood standards, it's probably only 3 stars -- I thought Cat's Eye and The Robber Bride were much better. But even at her worst, Atwood is a gifted writer, so this book is one that is highly readable.

Rating:
Summary: Another wild ride from Atwood
Review: I read Margaret Atwood's *Lady Oracle* with a book group at the office, and I am anxious to find out what my co-workers think of it. I've read several of Atwood's novels previously and am used to her unusual plots and characters, and *Lady Oracle* is no exception. If you enjoyed *The Robber Bride*, I think you'll find *Lady Oracle* right up your alley.

Joan Foster might be categorized as having multiple personality disorder except for the fact that all her personalities co-exist rather happily. When the novel opens, Joan has escaped to Italy, reasons unknown as yet to the reader, and she catalogues her various lives chapter by chapter. Her childhood self, an overweight doormat, must reconcile with her adult self, a beautiful, thin redhead. And then Joan has her writer self, a gothic romance novelist writing under a pen name. Unfortunately, her husband Arthur only knows the adult Joan, and she has a devil of a time keeping them separate from her home with Arthur.

As the novel expands to reveal the how's and why's of Joan's disappearance, readers are treated to various anecdotes of Joan's upbringing and married life. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes moving, Atwood shows once again that she is a must-read author in contemporary fiction.

Rating:
Summary: Another wild ride from Atwood
Review: I read Margaret Atwood's *Lady Oracle* with a book group at the office, and I am anxious to find out what my co-workers think of it. I've read several of Atwood's novels previously and am used to her unusual plots and characters, and *Lady Oracle* is no exception. If you enjoyed *The Robber Bride*, I think you'll find *Lady Oracle* right up your alley.

Joan Foster might be categorized as having multiple personality disorder except for the fact that all her personalities co-exist rather happily. When the novel opens, Joan has escaped to Italy, reasons unknown as yet to the reader, and she catalogues her various lives chapter by chapter. Her childhood self, an overweight doormat, must reconcile with her adult self, a beautiful, thin redhead. And then Joan has her writer self, a gothic romance novelist writing under a pen name. Unfortunately, her husband Arthur only knows the adult Joan, and she has a devil of a time keeping them separate from her home with Arthur.

As the novel expands to reveal the how's and why's of Joan's disappearance, readers are treated to various anecdotes of Joan's upbringing and married life. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes moving, Atwood shows once again that she is a must-read author in contemporary fiction.

Rating:
Summary: Amusing and quirky, but undeniably real
Review: Lady Oracle is one of Margaret Atwood's lesser known novels, but it is definitely one of her finest works. From the first page, the reader is thrown into the midst of a chaotic situation. The narrator, Joan Foster, divulges little bits and pieces of her life over the first couple of chapters. She mentions her Communist hubby, love affairs with a Polish count and someone named the Royal Porcupine, the fact that she writes gothic romances under a pseudonym and, oh yeah, that she has just faked her own death and fled to Italy. In the gothic romances our heroine writes, the generic leading ladies are described vaguely, allowing the readers to envision a character that looks a bit like themselves. Atwood doesn't allow us to fill in the blanks about our leading lady - the character of Joan Foster is complete and larger than life, with long red hair and a tall, curvy physique like an Amazon. She also possesses an irresistible wit which banters constantly with her nagging self-doubt. However, Joan's mysterious present life contrasts with the past that she tries desperately to hide: her miserable childhood as an overweight kid in suburban Ontario, Canada. Atwood takes us back to our heroine's gritty beginnings, and leads us through her life up to her present situation. Lady Oracle is quirky and a little weird at times, but all the pieces fit nicely together and create a readable and enjoyable novel. I strongly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Awesome!!!
Review: Like so many of her books, it's mostly about the inner workings of the female main character. It seems a bit quirkier and at times funnier than some of her other books. Reminded me a lot of Cat's Eye, which has to be one of my favorites by her. If you have read any of Margaret Atwood's books and liked them, you'll enjoy this one.

Rating:
Summary: Awesome!!!
Review: Like so many of her books, it's mostly about the inner workings of the female main character. It seems a bit quirkier and at times funnier than some of her other books. Reminded me a lot of Cat's Eye, which has to be one of my favorites by her. If you have read any of Margaret Atwood's books and liked them, you'll enjoy this one.

Rating:
Summary: One Of My All-Time Favorites
Review: this is my all time favourite book. i adore it. it's one of the few books i continue to reach for about once a year to reread, and i always give it as a gift to friends who have yet to read it. margaret atwood is brilliant, and this novel is laugh out loud funny.

strongly reccommended.

Rating:
Summary: If you liked "Cat's Eye," You'll Love This!
Review: _Lady Oracle_ is, essentially, a novel told mostly as a huge flashback. That said, it was quite enjoyable, even if the plot didn't make complete sense. The main character, Joan Foster, fakes her own death to escape the stresses of her current life, and moves to Italy, from where she tells us the majority of the story. After a traumatic childhood, and having grown dangerously overweight (which she did as a psychological weapon against her mother), Joan's Aunt Lou dies, leaving her a substantial amount of money on the condition that Joan lose 100 pounds. Joan loses the weight, ultimately causing more problems with her mother (because her mother wanted to be the one to get Joan to slim down), ultimately culminating with her mother attempting (and failing) to stab her. Joan moves to England and winds up mistress to an exiled, reactionary Polish count. From here she begins writing trashy Gothic romances for a living under the pseudonym of L. Delacourt. She later meets and marries Arthur, a manic socialist (or something) activist. Eventually she has a book published under her own name, a collection of poetry entitled (coincidentally enough) Lady Oracle, which becomes an immediate cult classic. This book eventually leads to her faked death, as her celebrity leads her to (among other things) an affair with an avante-garde artist who calls himself the Royal Porcupine, and an ex-CBC anchor intent on blackmailing her.

It struck me, though, that Joan doesn't really seem to believe in much of anything. She goes through the motions for people to make them happy. She is whatever those around her want her to be. In fact, the only thing she ever seems to do of her own volition is fake her death. Initiative is not on Joan Foster's agenda. Neither is truth. One wonders a bit if anything is.

In any case, _Lady Oracle_ is good, but it's nowhere near as good as _The Handmaid's Tale_. If you haven't read the latter already, I highly recommend it.