|
The Edible Woman | 
| Author: Margaret Atwood
Publisher: Anchor
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy Used: $3.14
You Save: $10.81 (77%)
New (35) Used (31) Collectible (1) from $3.14
Rating:  45 reviews
Sales Rank: 193930
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.2 x 0.8
ISBN: 0385491069
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780385491068
ASIN: 0385491069
Publication Date: March 16, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. May be missing pages. 100% Money Back Guarantee.
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Ever since her engagement, the strangest thing has been happening to Marian McAlpin: she can't eat. First meat. Then eggs, vegetables, cake, pumpkin seeds--everything! Worse yet, she has the crazy feeling that she's being eaten. Marian ought to feel consumed with passion, but she really just feels...consumed. A brilliant and powerful work rich in irony and metaphor, The Edible Woman is an unforgettable masterpiece by a true master of contemporary literary fiction.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 40 more reviews...
 Surreal June 18, 2008
Edible Woman / 0-385-49106-9
Probably one of Atwood's most surreal novel, the main character finds that just as she is being 'consumed' by wedding plans, she herself cannot consume certain foods without becoming violently ill. Her mysterious and lamented aversion to certain foods start with the standard vegetarian fare (she cannot to eat animals which were once alive) to vegan fare (she cannot eat products of animals, such as milk and eggs) to complete abstinence (she cannot eat vegetables, as they were once alive, too).
The symbolism within the novel is incredibly heavy, and revolves around women eating and being eaten by the world around them. The main character is being consumed by her demanding fiance and the wedding plans; her roommate is being consumed by the infant inside her, and the fetishes of the infant's father (he is only attracted to very young, 'unspoilt' girls); her best friend from college is being consumed by multiple pregnancies and a desperate, clinging husband. Though the novel is feminist in tone, the men are just as consumed as the women, in their own ways - in typical Atwood fashion, nearly everyone here is a victim of something, with few villains to point at. The ending is neither happy nor tidy, and will likely lead the reader to feel disappointed and sad, but the disappointment is with reality, and not with the author or her writing.
 Recommended, but not Atwood's best work November 29, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have read and enjoyed many of Margaret Atwood's books, especially Oryx and Crake and The Robber Bride. The Edible Woman was Atwood's first published novel. It's definitely not her best, but I recommend it.
The setting is late 1960s Canada. Marian, our protagonist, is on the trajectory that society expected of her at the time. She's going to get married, leave her job and, well, be a housewife.
Is she fulfilling expectations, or are expectations consuming her? Is she on a path to self-realization, or will she subsume her own identity and desires to those of her fiance and society at large?
The Edible Woman uses food metaphorically, as the title would suggest. Marian's relationship with food reflects her journey as she teeters on the edge of living the life that is expected of her.
There were some truly funny, insightful moments. Marian's voice was effective and her character well-realized. But I found the other characters in the novel to be vague, shapeless caricatures. They didn't seem like real people, each of them being too specifically defined by their quirks and their purpose in the story. The food metaphor, too, while effective, was way too front-and-center for my, er, taste. I've read reviews that praise this food metaphor as an early, prescient look at eating disorders as tied to gender roles and expectations, but I'm not sure I believe that Atwood had eating disorders, as a disease, in mind. Perhaps I'm not giving her enough credit.
All in all, I appreciated The Edible Woman, but it really did have the feeling of a first novel. Read it, and then go on to read Atwood's other and better works!
(Almost) a contemporary novel November 13, 2007
This is the first book I read by Margaret Atwood, it was written in 1965 but I believe that the only aspects giving away the years depicted are the absence of modern technolgy in the narrative (i.e. mobile phones, computers etc. -not that this is a "technological" read anyway, just the opposite) and perhaps, only perhaps, -that's the way I perceived it- a certain candour in some of the characters/situations which conveys "something" dated.
It's the tale of Marian, a quiet, well-brought up girl in her early 20s who's struggling to conform to the demands and unwritten rules of society. This is not because she does not want to, in fact, she would like to, but she realises that her inner self craves more than a proper, suitable and predictable routine (a good job, a respectable marriage, children in due time etc.), as it was expected -and often still is, if you think about it-. Something in her rebels, in a subtle but undeniably determined way. Will she manage to tackle and overcome her gnawing uneasiness, consistently on the rise, rapidly becoming a true torment and assailing her inner being? (A fact that her "cool" but obtuse boyfriend completely fails to see). That's for you to find out if you get this book.
Bearing in mind the year in which it was written, some considerations about our modern society arise. Have women's -and men's- roles changed much since then? Of course they have, in many ways. Still, could and can a demanding society have such an impact in the configuration of our lives -or, in what we thought/think our life should be like- that sometimes we felt and feel crushed under the pressure? Has the vortex of speed in which the world has changed in this past century -with its good and bad consequences- changed the core of human nature? These are questions which came to mind as soon as I turned the last page.
I'm glad I read this book, but at the same time I cannot honestly place it among my favourites. For instance, in the beginning it almost completely failed to engage me and I kept on only because I always do (as a principle). Thankfully the tale got more interesting later on, which helped, even though I think the author was overly-descriptive especially, but not only, in connection with Marian's issues, rendering the read a bit tedious. Still, and it may sound like a contradiction, I do think it was worth reading it, because it triggers questions and comparisons with today's Western society, and it was certainly worth it for the quality of its prose, essentially studied and quite elegant.
Don't Take it that Seriously August 31, 2007
I guess I'm not the kind of reader who searches out the symbolism of every novel I read. So the discussion of this book and what the characters are supposed to symbolize may be the reason that many people did not enjoy The Edible Woman. I did. Immensely. I thought it was a hilarious look at the late 1960s in the West and there were many points I could relate to. Here's a rollicking group of young people, extremely intelligent, and full of ideas about the way life should be and how they want to live. In college, or just having graduated, they're getting smacked in the face with the reality of the world: Dull coworkers their own age and older, dull, meaningless jobs when they really want to make a splash; dull marriages and engagements that promise to turn into dull marriages; insane friends, roomates, and situations. Everything's just too much. I found this book a really refreshing--and nostalgic--look at the day before 1970. Of couse, it was written then, so the nostalgia is in the mind of the reader who may recognize that time and place. The book is deep, too. It explores the emotions of Marian, a "stolid" (I love that word--only Atwood can bring it off) young woman of obviously conventional upbringing. She's on a path that seems not to be of her choosing--though it is--and consciously decides to step off it. How she does this drives the plot and to a great extent the book's other characters. I found the parts about her friend Ainsley wickedly funny, and yes there's a certain amount of bitterness about female stereotyping that goes along with her character. But there's more to it. What we come to discover about Marian, and the whole circle of people she associates with, is that they're really free thinkers disguised as "good" kids. Marian fast forwards 25 years into her impending marriage and realizes that she wants no part of it. She's rebelling in the only way that she knows. But it's still rebellion. Ainsley, for all her outrageousness, gets pregnant and married. Interestingly, there's no input from any family member in this book. No parents anywhere--and that in itself is very true to the time it was written. I recommend this book. Don't think too much about what it means--just read it and let it speak to you in its own voice.
Not one of my favorite Atwood reads, but still recommended for fans March 18, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
THE EDIBLE WOMAN by Margaret Atwood
March 18, 2007
Rating: 4 Stars
Here's a book I read back in 2006. I'm taking a guess, but I think this is Atwood's first novel. It's a psychological character driven story in which a woman finds herself in a relationship she doesn't really care for, and before she knows it she's engaged to be married. She doesn't know how to get out of the engagement, so she goes along with it, but at the same time she is slowly losing the desire to eat. While this is all going on, she meets a man (a somewhat delinquent type of college student is the impression I get) during an interview.
Marian McAlpin works for a company (Seymour Surveys) where she has to find people to interview for various products. This is how she meets Duncan (and his "parents" Fischer and Trevor) and she is drawn to him. They carry on an illicit relationship while at the same time she keeps up the facade of being engaged to Peter, a man she really does not want to be with.
Marian's roommate Ainsley is another problem. Ainsley is trying to get pregnant (previously she was totally against having children) and latches on to Len, Marian's long time friend, and seduces him. Len had no idea what Ainsley was planning, and you can guess how he reacts when he figures out what Ainsley is up to.
And there is also Clara, Marian's friend who has several children(all toddlers). Clara's life revolves around her children and seems to have no life outside of it.
I'm not sure what I really think about this book. It was an interesting read, and my views on it may be skewed since I read it after my mother passed away. I also didn't read it all at once, but slowly, which may also have affected how I feel about it. I think for Atwood fans, I'd recommend this book. I liked it better than SURFACING, which is the book was published after EDIBLE WOMAN, but it is not going to be a favorite.
|
|
|
[ powered by full speed ]
| |
