The blind assassin

19.10

Title: The Blind Assassin

Author: Margaret Atwood

Translator: Arash Houshangifar

Publisher: Azarmidakht

Subject: Canadian stories

Age category: Adult

Number of pages: 720

Language: Farsi

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Description

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood is a Canadian author. According to critics, Assassin is one of the best works of Margaret Atwood. The book won the Booker Prize in 2000. The Assassin has a surreal atmosphere and may seem like a detective or crime novel, but it is not.

The Book of the Blind Assassin
There are many stories that introduce the reader to the atmosphere of chaos with their narration and define it in such a way that the audience feels itself in the role of the characters of the story at all times.

But, sometimes at the end of the story, with a strange ending, all the equations are broken. Margaret Atwood is one of the writers who delicately enters the minds of her audience and surprises them with a different work. The Blind Assassin is one of his famous novels that takes place in the middle of a war and surprises its reader until the end of the story.

Synopsis of the Blind Assassin
The Assassin’s novel defines two distinct narratives. In one of the stories, a hidden and obscure relationship follows a loving man and woman who meet in different places. Throughout the story, the man tells the woman fictional stories that take place in another space. Another story is told by an 80-year-old woman named Iris.

He is writing memoirs and events that have happened to him and his sister Laura in the past. Finally, the two stories are linked.
Iris remembers her and Laura’s childhood. Iris is a girl who feels responsible for her family. She is forced to marry a cold and silent man to a rich man because of the sacrifice for her family. The turning point of the book is when Iris gradually realizes the truth about her family and realizes what she really did wrong and who is to blame.

About the book The Blind Assassin
The subject of the blind killer revolves around the relationships and memories of a family. But intertwined narratives that seem to be separated come together in one line, forming an independent and unique effect for the reader. Reading this book requires patience because the narration of the book starts slowly at first. But gradually, due to the strong characterization, the audience will be confronted with a compelling story with an exciting and astonishing ending, which is definitely one of the outstanding features of this work.

In The Blind Assassin, Margaret Atwood depicts classic spaces with a modern structure for the reader. In this book, three stories are told together, but separately. With a common theme throughout the stories, Atwood creates a terrifying and complex atmosphere that ultimately brings the reader closer to solving the puzzle.

The story of The Blind Assassin begins with Laura’s death and ends with the confessions of Iris, who is now several years old. They are said to somehow determine the correctness of the manuscripts.
Atwood has subtly designed characters such as Iris and Laura. Laura, the younger sister, is a strange, mysterious and sensitive girl. Iris, the older sister, is a girl who sacrifices her life with a sense of responsibility for her family and her sister.

In each of the narratives of this novel, the author has been able to show the tone and atmosphere to the audience in such a way that the reader steps into their world and finally finds a share in completing this narrative.

Blind killer or sword wound
One of the things critics have said about the book The Blind Assassin is that the novel The Blind Assassin bears a striking resemblance to the short story “Sword Wound” by Jorge Luis Borges, a well-known Argentine writer. Sword Wound is the story of a man who feels ashamed and guilty for betraying his friend who was taking care of him.

He tells his story in reverse. He puts himself in the place of the honest character of the story and tells the story from his point of view. He recounts seeing a criminal act in which his friend was killed and finally confesses that he is his own killer. This is what Iris blinds to the killer.

Margaret Atwood; Creator of enduring stories
Margaret Atwood is a novelist, poet, literary critic, essayist, teacher, and environmental activist. He was born on November 18, 1939 in Canada. Atwood has won more than 55 national and international awards during his career. For this reason, Atwood can be considered one of the most respected contemporary writers today. In addition to writing novels, Atwood is also a poet, and to date he has published about 20 collections of poetry. He is one of the founders of the Writers Foundation of Canada; This is a non-profit organizational foundation that works to grow and promote writers.

Atwood has more than 40 works in his repertoire, including novels, short stories and non-literary books. Among Atwood’s most famous works are The Story of Nadima, The Blind Assassin, The Fortune Teller, On the Waves, The Last Man, The Deceitful Bride, Another Grace, Oryx and Creek, and The Cat’s Eye. “Top of the Tree” and “Dancing Girls” can be named.
According to his historical studies and researches, Atwood uses ancient myths and legends in his stories. In his stories there are roots of traditional realism and surrealism. He creates fascinating and readable stories by combining reality and imagination. Women are often the main characters in Atwood’s writings.

The characters in Atwood’s stories suffer from mental and emotional crises. This issue has caused the tension and excitement of his stories that the audience seeks to solve the riddle that has been created in his mind until the end of the story.

In parts of the book Blind Assassin we read:
Ten days after the war ended, my sister Laura threw herself off a bridge in a car. The bridge was being repaired, and Laura just walked over the warning sign that had been erected for the occasion. The car broke the branches of the trees with fresh leaves, then caught fire, spun around, and fell into a shallow creek in a valley thirty meters from street level. Pieces of the bridge fell on the car, leaving nothing but burnt pieces of Laura’s body.

The police informed me. The car with which Laura had an accident was mine, they had found it from the car number. The police, no doubt because of Richard’s last name, reported this very politely.
It was said that the car tires might have got stuck in the tram rails or that the car brakes did not work well, but it was necessary to say that two credible witnesses – a lawyer and a bank clerk – saw that Laura deliberately deflected the steering wheel and as easily as A person puts his foot on the sidewalk in the middle of the street and throws the car into the valley. Laura’s white gloves caught their eye and they saw how the steering wheel was deflected.

I thought it was not the cause of the car brake accident. Laura had a reason for doing so. Of course, his reasons were not like those of other people. But in any case, he had done a cruel thing.
“I think you want someone to confirm his identity,” I told police. “I will come to confirm his identity.” It was as if I could hear my voice from a distance. The fact was that I could hardly speak; My mouth was numb and my whole face was constricted by the pain. It was as if I had come to the dentist. I was angry with Laura for what she had done, but I was also angry with the police who wanted to say that Laura did it on purpose. Hot air flowed around my head; A ring of my hair spun in the air like ink scattered in water.

“Unfortunately, Ms. Griffin will be investigated locally,” police said.

“Of course, but it was an accident,” I said. “My sister’s driving was never good.”

The Blind Assassin, the most brilliant and prominent work of Margaret Eleanor Atwood, chronicles the lives of families who have experienced many ups and downs under the influence of war and its events. The book won the Booker Prize in 2000

Get to know Margaret Eleanor Atwood better:
Margaret Eleanor Atwood was born in 1939 in Canada. He was the second child in the family of Carl Atwood, an entomologist, and Margaret Dorothy Kilam. His childhood was spent in the remote jungles of northern Quebec, traveling between Ottawa, St. Mary, and Toronto because of his father’s research on forest insects. Margaret wrote her first play at the age of six and then began composing poetry. He began his studies at the University of Toronto, earning a bachelor’s degree in English literature and a major in philosophy and French as a side subject.

Margaret Atwood has published more than 40 novels, short stories, children’s stories and non-literary works. His novels translated into Persian include “The Story of Nadima”, “The Deceitful Bride”, “Another Grace”, “The Blind Assassin”, “Oryx and Creek” and “Cat’s Eye”.
Atwood’s books are rooted in traditional realism and often deal with the issue of human freedom or lack thereof. In his books, woman is also used as the main character of the story. His works have won the votes of many critics and many awards such as; Princess Asturias, Arthur C. Win Clark and the Booker Prize.

In another part of the book Blind Assassin we read:

“Farewells may be very sad, but the returns are certainly worse. Man’s objective presence can not equal the radiant shadow created in his absence. Blur the time and distance of the spots; “Then suddenly Aziz travels and returns, and the harsh light of the sun shows well all over the face, even pimples and wrinkles and fine hair.”

“Some of the best things have been done by those who have not returned, those who, when they have no time, those who truly know the meaning of the word poor.
They put aside risk and benefit, do not think about the future, and are forced to think about the present by bayonet force. When they fall from the top of a precipice, you either fall or fly; You cling to any hope, no matter how unlikely; “However, if I want to use a word that is overused, it is a miracle.”

Introducing the book The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

The blind assassin begins with these simple and clear words: Ten days after the end of the war, my sister Lara fell from a bridge in her car. These words are said by Iris; The brief case of his sister’s death in 1945 is accompanied by an interrogative report declaring the death accidental.

But as soon as the reader expects to follow Lara’s story, Atwood turns the book into a novel within another. The book is a science fiction story told by two anonymous lovers. When we return to Iris, the story is told in a newspaper article in 1947;
An article revealing the discovery of a yacht carrying the body of Iris’s husband [a famous factory owner]. By putting together seemingly distant elements, Atwood creates a world full of immersive images with an unforgettable effect.

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