The Blind Assassin

Name: The Blind Assassin
ISBN: 9787532772469

Margaret Eleanor Atwood / 韩忠华Shanghai Translation Publishing House · ChinaMay 2018

4.2

Word count: 327K words
Chapters: 110
ISBN: 9787532772469

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Summary

This is a novel of ingenious structure, a story within a story. It has two heroines: Laura, who dies in a car accident at the very start, and her sister Iris, who lives in the shadow of the dead and recalls a past on the verge of being buried. The story of the Blind Assassin was written by Laura in her lifetime, describing a love affair in the turbulent 1930s between a rich young woman and a poor young man on the run. At the same time, the lovers imagine a story set on another planet, a fiction full of love, sacrifice and betrayal. So too is real life: Iris has married the wealthy businessman Richard, a marriage that looks perfect to outsiders, but Richard turns his predatory eye on his sister-in-law Laura, and Laura's accident becomes suspicious...

Editor's review

The Blind Assassin is the crowning work of Margaret Atwood, the queen of Canadian literature, and won her the 2000 Booker Prize. With its exquisite nested narrative structure and profound historical insight, the novel builds a literary labyrinth. On the surface, the elderly Iris Chase recalls the past, trying to establish why her sister Laura drove off a bridge years before; nested within it is the novel The Blind Assassin, published anonymously in Laura's lifetime, which in turn contains a fable of social hierarchy and rebellion set on the science-fictional planet Zycron. This Russian-doll narrative is no display of technique but Atwood's precise instrument for exploring memory, truth, narrative power and the condition of women. Spanning the two world wars and the Great Depression, the novel interweaves the tragedy of one family with vast social and historical change, showing how women, squeezed between patriarchy and capitalism, are objectified and silenced, and how they resist covertly through writing and imagination. Atwood's prose is cool, precise and richly textured; beneath the seemingly plain memoir form lie immense emotional tension and suspense. Reading The Blind Assassin is an intellectual and aesthetic challenge: it asks readers to piece together the fragments, to discern the "truth" revealed through layer upon layer of narrative, and finally to grasp that history and memory are themselves made of different versions of "story." This is not only a novel about betrayal and secrets but a metafictional masterpiece about how novels come into being and how narrative shapes and subverts our perception of reality.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Veteran literary readers who relish complex narrative structures and the pleasure of solving puzzles
Readers interested in feminist literature and in the interweaving of history and personal fate
Margaret Atwood fans who want a deeper understanding of her creative development and core ideas
Readers who like to take an active part in constructing the text and to think deeply as they read

Not a good fit for

Casual readers looking for light, linear storytelling
Readers with little patience for long, slow-paced family sagas

Reading tips

As you read, try charting the timeline and narrative layers, distinguishing the three main textual strands: "Iris's memoir," "Laura's novel" and "the Zycron story."
Pay attention to recurring images such as photographs, newspaper clippings and knitted objects; they are key signs linking the narrative layers and revealing the truth.
After finishing the last chapter, go back to the opening; many details and echoes of foreshadowing take on new meaning and bring a fresh reading experience.

About the publisher

Shanghai Translation Publishing House China · Founded in 1978

Shanghai Translation Publishing House is a Chinese publisher oriented mainly toward translation and publishing. Its publications cover foreign literature, world classics and classic works, as well as social culture, folk literature and classical poetry. The database contains 2,618 titles, including Never Let Me Go, Les Misérables (2 volumes), Don Quixote (illustrated collector's edition), The Complete Comedies of Molière (4 volumes), The Complete Novels of Kafka (3 volumes), The Collected Works of Dostoevsky (9-volume set), Reason and Persons, and Oedipus Rex (Translation Classics). Its author resources include foreign writers such as Kazuo Ishiguro, Victor Hugo, Cervantes and Molière, as well as translators such as Zheng Kelu, Sun Jiameng, Li Jianwu and Zhang Kun. The publisher has brands such as "Translation Classics Selections" and "Translation Documentary," and emphasizes translated works in foreign literature and the humanities and social sciences, while also publishing bilingual dictionaries and foreign-language educational books. Public information is limited; the above is based on the book information in the database.

版权信息
译序
第一章
桥
《多伦多星报》（1945年5月26日）
《盲刺客》（劳拉·蔡斯著）
第二章
《盲刺客·煮鸡蛋》
《环球邮报》（1947年6月4日）
《盲刺客·公园长椅》
《多伦多星报》（1975年8月25日）
《盲刺客·地毯》
《环球邮报》（1998年2月19日）
《盲刺客·口红画的心》
《亨利·帕克曼上校中学之家暨校友会简报》（提康德罗加港，1998年5月）
第三章
颁奖仪式
银色盒子
钮扣厂
阿维隆庄园
嫁妆
留声机
做面包的日子
黑丝带
苏打水
第四章
《盲刺客·咖啡馆》
《提康德罗加港先驱旗报》（1933年3月16日）
《盲刺客·雪尼尔毯子》
《帝国邮报》（1934年12月5日）
《盲刺客·信使》
《帝国邮报》（1934年12月15日）
《盲刺客·夜之奔马》
《梅费尔》（1935年5月）
《盲刺客·铜钟》
第五章
裘皮大衣
疲惫的士兵
暴力小姐
奥维德的《变形记》
钮扣厂野餐会
布施者
照片着色
冷窖
阁楼
帝国餐厅
田园俱乐部
探戈
第六章
《盲刺客·犬牙纹套裙》
《盲刺客·红锦缎》
《多伦多星报》（1935年8月28日）
《盲刺客·街头漫步》
《盲刺客·看门人》
《梅费尔》（1936年2月）
《盲刺客·冰封的外星人》
第七章
扁行李箱
火窖
寄自欧洲的明信片
蛋壳色的帽子
迷醉
向阳游乐园
忽必烈行宫
第八章
《盲刺客·杀戮者的故事》
《梅费尔》（1936年7月）
《盲刺客·Aa'A星球上的桃子女人》
《帝国邮报》（1936年9月19日）
《盲刺客·大礼帽烤肉馆》
第九章
洗衣服
烟灰缸
头上冒火的人
水妖号
栗子树
第十章
《盲刺客·西诺星球的蜥蜴人》
《梅费尔》（1937年5月）
贝拉维斯塔诊所的来信
《盲刺客·高楼》
《环球邮报》（1937年5月26日）
《盲刺客·联邦车站》
第十一章
洗手间
小猫
美丽的景色
明月当空
贝蒂小吃店
便条
第十二章
《环球邮报》（1938年10月7日）
《梅费尔》（1939年6月）
《盲刺客·怒气厅》
《盲刺客·黄色窗帘》
《盲刺客·电报》
《盲刺客·萨基诺城的毁灭》
第十三章
手套
家中的炉火
黛安娜甜点店
悬崖
第十四章
金色发束
胜利昙花一现
一堆瓦砾
第十五章
《盲刺客》尾声：另一只手
《提康德罗加港先驱旗报》（1999年5月29日）
门槛

FAQ

What does the title The Blind Assassin signify?

The image of the blind assassin recurs on several levels. It is the code name of the alien slave in Laura's novel whose eyes are put out and who is forced to fight in the arena for the amusement of the powerful, symbolizing the oppressed who resist while stripped of sight—that is, of knowledge and judgment. It also serves as a metaphor for the main characters—especially the women—who, within a given social and family structure, act like blind assassins: their actions and influence are hidden, their consequences delayed, and they themselves may not fully understand the course of their own fate. It precisely captures the novel's core themes of oppression, resistance and unknown costs.

How does this book compare with Atwood's other well-known works, such as The Handmaid's Tale?

The Blind Assassin leans more toward a weighty family saga and historical realism, with highly intricate narrative technique and a stronger experimental literary flavor. The Handmaid's Tale is a cautionary dystopian fable set in the future, more concentrated in narrative and directed straight at reality. Both deeply embody Atwood's concern with women's fate, power structures and narrative control, but The Blind Assassin has a broader span of time and place and is structurally more like a carefully constructed literary edifice, displaying the full range of the author's craft as a novelist.

Will the complex structure make this novel difficult to read?

On a first reading the multiple narrative strands and shifts in time and place may pose some challenge, but Atwood's storytelling is clear and forceful, and each chapter is clearly marked (by date, newspaper headline and so on). As long as you follow the narrator's guidance and are patient enough to grow used to the rhythm, the nested puzzles unfold naturally and bring a great sense of achievement in deciphering them. Treating it as an active exploration rather than passive reception will greatly enhance the pleasure of reading.

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About the author

Margaret Eleanor Atwood Author · Canada · 1939

Margaret Atwood is a renowned Canadian novelist, poet, and literary critic, born in Ottawa in 1939 and often called the "Queen of Canadian Literature." She has long been active at the forefront of international literary writing, and her work ranges widely, combining poetic language with a sharp observation of social reality. Her major works include The Handmaid's Tale, The Blind Assassin, and Alias Grace; the Handmaid series and The Blind Assassin are especially influential, the former exploring women's condition through dystopian imagination and the latter revisiting memory and identity through intricate narrative. A two-time winner of the Booker Prize, she has 32 works listed in our catalog, covering novels, writing essays, and collected editions, as well as critical works such as Survival, showing the breadth of her writing across genres.

韩忠华 Author

Han Zhonghua is an author associated with foreign literature in the Chinese book market. Publicly available information is limited, and basic details such as his biography, nationality, and dates of birth and death remain unclear. According to library records, three related works are held, including The Collected Works of Atwood (9 volumes) and two editions of The Blind Assassin, commonly classified under foreign literature. These works center on the Canadian writer Margaret Atwood, involving novels and the compilation of collected works, which suggests Han Zhonghua's involvement in the translation, introduction, and publication of foreign literature, particularly Atwood's writings. The Blind Assassin is known for its complex narrative structure, while the collected works systematically present Atwood's creative output. Owing to limited verifiable material, his specific writing style and personal experience cannot be described in detail; readers may learn more about his work through the relevant translations and collected volumes.