not as good as the robber bride and in some parts atwood get´s too detailed about unimportant stuff...

Release planned for Friday, February 13, 2004 at Meet-Up in Wien, Wien Austria.

Got this book tonight at the Meet-Up!

Synopsis
Elaine, a painter, returns to Toronto and finds herself overwhelmed by her past - memories of her childhood, betrayals and cruelties surface relentlessly. She must face the spectre of Cordelia who has been her best friend and her tormentor, and who has haunted her for 40 years.


Interesting literature. I will start a bookring now.
There are already 3 participants, I will write another journal entry later with the final list.

OK, this is the final list of participants:

1. RoryG- Finland
2. Acid- France
3. clawdette- USA
4. bookczuk- USA
5. katalirob- USA
6. tchouli- USA
7. tantan- Australia
8. dutch-flybaby- The Netherlands
09. xanapeg- Portugal
10. back to me

Sending a PM to all participants now...
The book will be sent out to #1 on Monday, March 15th.

Just arrived by mail. I'm looking forward to reading it.

Finished this one today. It was harder to read than I thought. I used to have my own "Cordelia" and this brought back some memories that I had forgotten. I didn't like so much of Elaine's adult life, but in the end the book came back together. Just this really wasn't that entertaining to me, but a good book to read, about what the little girls really are like.

Ok, I'm sending this off to Acid, hopefully already tomorrow.

I've just received it today. Hopefully the weather was not too bad and the book not so damaged by the rain.;)

Sorry for keeping you waiting. I have just send it to Clawdette! Hope you collect stamps or you know someone who is doing so :)

recieved this yesterday as part of bookring, will post when read

releasing to bookczuk today...i'm sorry it took so long to read it, my summer has been really crazy...a bit hard to follow but I did enjoy the book

I spent the morning running around town like a mad-woman, taking pictures of Charelston to put in releases for the Armchair traveling Show Us Your Town Challenge. When I say mad-woman, I really mean it. Since I proposed the challenge, I cannot even officially enter, but I just love showing people my beautiful city anyway.

Anyhow, by the time I got home from that, and from grocery shopping and battling traffic, I was officially grumpy. But, the day then got infinitely better. My mail carrier was earlier than usual and had a big smile and a parcel for me. Voila! It was this book!

I shall now put supper on a back burner to simmer while I reintroduce myself to one of my favorite authors. Thank you allbookedup for starting the ring and clawdette for sending it on to me.

Oh- and everyone is welcome to vote on the pictures submitted in the above challenge. Vote for as many pictures as you like, but only one vote per picture. Rules are posted. Feel free to submit an entry or two. We're having fun!

Pictured: The Ashley River at Charelston South Carolina USA

I am always so surprised by how cruel girls can be to each other. I am afraid that I am more like Elaine's parents- not exactly part of the mainstream of life. The weaving of the story from past to present, the interplay of the characters, growth of Elaine and shifts of power and focus were all well done to my mind. I often find that the actual story Margaret Atwood writes about is not as compelling as her details and work with the characters. There is an everyday-ness about them and a seeming normalcy of their lives (yes, even Grace the murderess in Alias Grace.)

Elaine's life as an adult was a bit less absorbing for me than that of Elaine the child. I liked the details fo her childhood. There were things that struck a note with me, from marbles to learning about conventional religion while growing up in an unconventional home. My brothers and I were raised in "Ethical Humanism" after our parents both rejected the religions of their childhoods. I have a stron memory of going to Sunday School at The Ethical Society. While our parents were upstairs hearing lectures about humanistic this or that, we kids were stuck in the basement learning about different religions of the world- excluding Christianity or Judiasm, because those were the ones the adults upstairs had rejected. One day, a kid gathered a group of us to sneak outside to read this really cool book, that his parents wouldn't let him read. It had great stories- love, hate, lust, adventure, battles, kindness- something for everyone. When we finally got caught, we were almost through the Old Testament. That was my introduction to the Bible.

I will be sending this on to katalirob today or tomorrow. Thanks again!

Pictured: Fisherman on the Cooper River. The Ashley River, pictured above, runs along one side of the Charelston Peninsula, and the Cooper River runs alongside the other. Locals say the two come together to form the Atlantic Ocean!

I'm really sorry, but I forgot to let you know that I received this book recently as an RABCK, so I'll just send this copy on without reading it, as soon as I get tchouli's address.

recvd today
=^..^=

off to tantan
enjoy
=^..^=

Received in the mail today. This a couple down on the rings/rays pile, but I'll get to it as soon as I can.

I did really enjoy this, although like a few others I liked Elaine's story as a child more than as an adult. This will go on the list of Atwood's I've enjoyed as opposed to the Atwood's I hated. :-) This will be going on to dutch-flybaby as soon as I have an address.

Today is another bookdelivery-day, this is the second book I received today :-) Who has rowed this book across all the oceans between here and Autralia in the past 11 weeks ? Well, I'm glad it has arrived safely! Look at this funny bookmark that I found in the book, I love it!

Next in line is xanapeq not xanapeg (typo in the list) I found this out on the Portugese forum.

Ok, I have really tried... but I stranded on page 100 of this book and I must admit I have read lots of only first lines of paragraphs as well. Although I'm curious about what exactly Cordelia has done to Elaine and how it affected her, I just can't stand wading through more endless descriptions of things that are not really interesting for the story in my humble opinion.
I'm a bit disappointed because I really liked The handmaid's tale. No more Margaret Atwood for me for a while.

I have sent a pm to xanapeq and hope to receive her address soon, so I can mail the book.

RELEASE NOTES:

My husband is mailing this book as I type this release note. I'm sending the book back to allbookedup. I hope it reaches you safely!

When I came home from my holiday today, the book was waiting on my table.
It is my second bookring ever to return home so far.
The book still looks OK :-) so maybe I will release it soon.

Thanks for sending it back to me and thanks for the postcard, dutch-flybaby!

This sad little book sat on my shelf for some months now, so I thought I should send it out into the world (again).

I am sending the book to Fluffy-Owl in the UK tomorrow!

I went up to college yesterday, and there were four books waiting for me in the pigeon hole, felt so popular! Hope to get round to reading it soon, as I enjoyed the last Atwood book I read. Thank you again, allbookedup, for sending it to me!

I've just read some of the comments people have already written and I'm surprised that it hasn't been more popular, as it's one of the best Atwood books I've read. I really liked the way in which the lives of the older Elaine and the younger Elaine were portrayed and the way that something in either the past or the present had direct relevance to the other. I remember being a little girl and it's a surprisingly accurate portrayal of the ways in which girls can play. I really enjoyed it.

Will offer it up on a suitable BookRelay soon.

RELEASE NOTES:

On the shelf at the back of the shop.