Or so it seems. I may choose my books fairly randomly, but sometimes patterns seem to emerge. Or else people are just really interested in what motivates murder and what the act of murder does to the murderer. Or else it's just a weird fluke. Or else there's some cosmic message for me here.
Anyway, Alias Grace wasn't exactly a fun read, but it's definitely my favorite Margaret Atwood thus far. It's a somewhat unsettling read, certainly, and it doesn't have any solid catharsis. Yeesh. I should have more to say about this book. Essentially, the novel is a fictionalized account of a somewhat infamous 19th century murder in Canada. The murder gained notoriety because the accused and convicted murderers included a young girl who was a servant in the household.
Despite her conviction and years spent in prison, there were questions even at the time of both her guilt and her sanity. The novel explores both, and as I said, it doesn't necessarily leave you with a satisfying answer. The story is strongest when it focuses on Grace and her experiences, I found the doctor's story significantly less compelling and even somewhat detracting.
For kicks, after that one I decided to read The Human Stain. I wouldn't recommend it for beach reading, that's for sure. It does present a number of interesting questions about the meanings of race, identity, family, and how we define roles for ourselves and others.However, the book never really resonated with me. It was fine and possibly interesting even in a cerebral way, but it never got beyond that for me.
Like oh so many books, the protagonist is a writer/novelist. I'm fascinated by how many stories do that, particularly when the writer is almost a non-character in the story, a cipher observing but not really involved in the story. It makes me think of Roger's criticism of Mark in Rent. I do wonder if some authors think of themselves that way in life, or if it just comes across that way in these kind of stories.
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