Surfacing

This is another one of Atwood's early novels, but is almost the flipside of The Edible Woman. That book showcased her oft neglected sense of humor and used some none too subtle metaphors to drive the point home. Here we have a very somber work that has so many layers of symbolism that English teachers the world over must be drooling over the thought of putting it into their classrooms. In a nutshell, a nameless protagonist takes three friends (a married couple and her boyfriend) out into the Canadian woods to find out where her father and along the way we get heaps of character exploration, to which plot almost seems secondary. Not that this is a bad thing, at her best Atwood dissects people like nobody's business and her character studies reveal simple characters for the complicated people they are layer by layer. Except that doesn't much happen here. Like the later Life Before Man, there are four people here who interact in various ways. Also like Life Before Man, all of these people are either so self absorbed or just plain unlikeable that it's hard to care. Unlike Life Before Man, the book is narrated totally in first person, which means you don't get as much of that car accident feeling from watching all the characters circle each other, which wound up being the most fascinating part of that book. Here it's all filtered through the narrator, which is good and bad. We don't get really great insights into the other characters this way, the one guy is always annoying and a total jerk, he reminds me of On the Road's Dean Moriarty with all the redeeming qualities taken out. The other guy isn't as annoying but then he rarely talks either, so I guess it's a tossup. That leaves the heavy character lifting to the two women, one of which is rather submissive and not too exciting. The other is the narrator herself, who speaks in Atwood's typically brilliant prose, with all its gift for detail and metaphor. The only problem . . . she's not too interesting either since she's cold and distant to everyone in the story and nearly impenetrable to the reader. Atwood, to her credit, does try to find a new spin on "woman repressed by society trying to break free" which leads to a very, very strange section of the book that probably means all kinds of things I'm not smart enough to understand. But in the end, the narrator was so distant that I really couldn't care all that much. Still, Atwood gets points for trying really hard, and I could read her prose all day, she does make beautiful sentences seem quite effortless. My version has a neater cover, with someone in a canoe dissolving, which I think sums up the book very well. All in all, a worthy read and worth your time, but it's not her best. That, alas, was still to come.

"We don't receive wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can make for us, which no one can spare us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world." -Marcel ProustTake the journey. Find yourself.

I have a feeling that those who rated this book with three or less stars have no idea what the book is about. If you're searching for a bit of fluff, this is not the book to turn to. Although it isn't a difficult read, it also is not a shallow one. In fact, Margaret Atwood's searing and relentless eye for detail is in its earliest stages here. Any fan will appreciate _Surfacing_.In _Surfacing_, Margaret Atwood addresses the issue of identity as reflected by the artifice around you - both in the people you know and the person you are instructed to become. Nothing in this book is what it seems, but rather, it is a clever facade meant to impart meaning to the reader. The nameless narrator of _Surfacing_ engages in a deep journey into the wild bush of Northern Quebec, which becomes a metaphor for her process of recovering self and identity. The land is used as a backdrop for the renunciation of a distorted self-image. What this book ultimately does is provides us with insight into how we also function as individuals and just what is it that makes us who we are? Is each human being just a pastiche? Atwood gives you four fascinating characters that are peeled apart to the core and, even though it is only the main protagonist that goes through a physical journey in finding herself, we also witness the psychic journeys of those around her and realize what it means to be a man, woman, artist, a mother, father, wife, husband, and sister. No role is left untouched. _Surfacing_ is also a very entertaining book and can be read on many levels. Highly recommended!

Average of Three STARS? That is an indication that some reviewers don't 'get' this book. This book, one of Atwood's earlier works, was written with a great deal of metaphor symbolism etched so skillfully into the content of the book, you may not realize that until you've reached the end, and have an "aha" experience, in some ways similar (though without the visual shock effect) to the way I felt at the end of watching Sixth Sense (the movie). If you like Margaret Atwood, you will greatly enjoy seeing her young mind at work, as she shows us the unraveling mind of a young woman looking for something in the Canadian woods one week-end. This book is effective and touching if you can move with it - but it isn't a linear-read. The missing plot and underdeveloped characters are not missing or underdeveloped at all -- read without that analytical side of the brain, and the treasures will 'surface'. Undo expectations and flow emotionally with it -- you won't be disappointed.(my original paperback version has $1.50 marked on it!). The original version is falling apart, and I wanted to own another - glad to see it is still here (oh, my but look at the price now!)