25 July 2012

Cat's Eye



Of all of Margaret Atwood's novels, Cat's Eye is most close to The Robber Bride. It's got a similar setting and similar characters, but it's more of a coming-of-age story. To be honest, I kept expecting a Jodi Picoult-style twist, and it never came. Like The Robber Bride, Cat's Eye is mostly told in flashbacks, starting with WWII, as it approaches the present of the 1980s, and discusses many of the cultural changes at that time, especially feminism. 

I really liked Cat's Eye, but at the same time, I kept waiting for the twist, waiting for the "so what?" of the story. It was good, but not my favorite Atwood. It was the Atwood version of a mean girls story, and how one must work to overcome it, but I didn't really like or need the grown up point-of-view. I felt like it didn't add too much to the story, but at the same time, we couldn't see the growth and change without the difference of time. 

So, it didn't really live up to my expectations, but at the same time, I don't feel like I wasted my time reading it. I did enjoy it and I recommend it as a coming-of-age or coming-to-terms-with-life novel. 

Read on! 

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