I finally finished Cat's Eye before bed last night. It's been on my list for a while: I enjoyed The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments, but I wanted to branch out into the non-handmaid universe of Margaret Atwood. Having slept on it, here's what has stuck with me:

+ Atwood's prose is sharp, descriptive, and poignant. She always impresses me with her ability to tackle delicate topics unflinchingly and pragmatically; however, the humanity of her characters is always intact.

+ >!Having been a victim of childhood bullying myself, I found the description of the pre-teen girl gang of Cordelia, Grace, and Carol inflicting psychological damage on Elaine to be eerily realistic, highly relatable and, if I am being honest, mildly triggering.!<

+ >!It was very powerful and satisfying when Elaine finally absolved Cordelia (and herself) of the events of 40 years ago. It gives the reader the sense that she has finally moved on, metaphorically and literally.!<

+>! Elaine's strength in removing herself from the bullying situation was admirable, but...!<

- >!...the behavior of the adults in the situation was distressing, especially from my perspective as a teacher: 1. Elaine's mother not intervening, even when she knew that Elaine's safety was compromised, and 2. Mrs. Smeath arguably being "in on it" and not putting a stop to Grace and the girls in their bullying efforts. (She event went as far as saying that she felt Elaine deserved it because her family did not practice any formalized religion. Yuck.)!<

- The book was a slow burn. Once I knew that one of the main premises of the book was >!bullying!<, I was disappointed to find that >!it took nearly 100 pages to meet Cordelia!<.

- >!Once Elaine reached upper adolescence and adulthood, the story took a very different turn. This kept my interest, but I was truthfully disappointed in and frustrated with Elaine's character. There was a whole slew of really questionable and complicated situations in which she became involved, but what stuck out to me was that each one of them was her choice! No one chooses the pain of victimhood and bullying, but Elaine made a series of choices in adulthood that kept her firmly planted in her unhappiness.!<

- >!The entire Josef Hrbik subplot disgusted me. I couldn't help but think that, if the book were to come out 30 years later, (...firmly planted in the #MeToo movement...) there would have been a lot of backlash on that. It's vile enough that Elaine is barely 18 and he is 35, but the love triangle with (not-much-older) Susie put me over the edge, especially when she tried to perform an at-home abortion.!<

Overall, I walked away not feeling very hopeful. While I am pretty confident that this is what Atwood was going for, I tend to stay away from stories this heavy that do not end on a high note. If characters are going to be put in difficult situations, I want to be able to root for them and see them attain (at least) a glimmer of hope. I felt this way when reading Jeannette Walls's memoir, The Glass Castle: It arguably starts out even lower than Cat's Eye, but it ends much more optimistically.

Final thought: If I had to pick a "silver lining" >!to counter this sort of an ending!<, I suppose it would be that Atwood demonstrates the duality of human nature very well. I did not find any of the characters in this story to be 100% likable. >!That said, most of the characters had a redemptive or "Aha!" moment in which they moved beyond their previous flaws or stasis.!<

I am eager to hear what others have to say on the book. I also welcome a challenge or a "devil's advocate" take on my perspective(s)!

Edit: For a little more consistency.

Comments

AutoModerator t1_jdi9ae2 wrote on March 24, 2023 at 4:10 PM

#2,337,551

Margaret Atwood did an AMA here you might want to take a look :) Here's a link to all of our upcoming AMAs

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earliest_grey t1_jdil5t8 wrote on March 24, 2023 at 5:25 PM

#2,338,857

I read this book years ago and didn't think much of it when I finished, to be honest. But the descriptions of bullying and Elaine's self harm have stuck with me even when I can't remember most of the plot. Those scenes just come back to me at random moments.

I can't say I love the book, since I barely remember most of it, but certain scenes definitely affected me.

bye_alisha OP t1_jdilyyf wrote on March 24, 2023 at 5:30 PM

#2,338,945

Replying to earliest_grey (#2,338,857)

>I read this book years ago and didn't think much of it when I finished

This is kind of where I am, too. It had its moments, but I was expecting more after all the build-up!

vibraltu t1_jdiohzc wrote on March 24, 2023 at 5:46 PM

#2,339,249

I've read every novel by Atwood, and Cat's Eye is one of my favourites.

(My top list: The Edible Woman; Murder in the Dark; Cat's Eye; Alias Grace. Everything else is good.)

bye_alisha OP t1_jdirnwx wrote on March 24, 2023 at 6:06 PM

#2,339,593

Replying to vibraltu (#2,339,249)

Good to know- Thanks for this. I'll have to check out some of her other novels as well.

Oolonger t1_jdish3e wrote on March 24, 2023 at 6:12 PM

#2,339,670

I love Cat’s Eye. I think a lot of it is based on her own girlhood and people she knew, so that’s why people make poor decisions or stay in bad situations. Sadly, it rings true for most people.

helen_twelvetrees t1_jdixeg5 wrote on March 24, 2023 at 6:43 PM

#2,340,241

I really like Cat's Eye. I thought it did a great job in showing how the bullying Elaine suffered in childhood continued to affect her negatively for years afterward. Her tendency to sympathize with men, no matter how badly they were behaving toward the women in their lives, for example. Also, her mistrust of any kind of female authority figures. It's unusual to read a book by a female author where male-female relationships are taken much more lightly while female friendships are portrayed as bloodsport. I also thought Atwood did an excellent job showing how little things that might be easily dismissed by some people, like Cordelia's bullying, which really only lasted for a year or so in her childhood, could have such a huge effect on Elaine that she was still wanting to get closure on it so many years later.

I also liked reading about Elaine's artwork. I'm a very visually-oriented person and I could imagine all of her paintings quite easily and found it fascinating how she used the elements of her past in her artwork.

bye_alisha OP t1_jdj2iag wrote on March 24, 2023 at 7:16 PM

#2,340,769

Replying to Oolonger (#2,339,670)

TOO TRUE. Maybe it's bad of me, but there was definitely a little relief in feeling that I haven't encountered as many sticky situations in my own life...

bye_alisha OP t1_jdj2q6x wrote on March 24, 2023 at 7:18 PM

#2,340,790

Replying to helen_twelvetrees (#2,340,241)

>I also liked reading about Elaine's artwork. I'm a very visually-oriented person and I could imagine all of her paintings quite easily and found it fascinating how she used the elements of her past in her artwork.

GREAT point- That's something I didn't mention, but you're so right to state how important and intriguing that was...

Apprehensive-Log8333 t1_jdjneok wrote on March 24, 2023 at 9:36 PM

#2,343,020

It's been several years since I read this book, when I first read it in my late teens it really helped me a lot by allowing me to understand that the bullying I got from my "friend" group was toxic and traumatizing and wrong. It was not until I read this book that I stopped having nightmares about my bully, who was aptly named Karen. I really identified with how the adults around the protagonist could not seem to grasp what was happening, and how it affected her life for so long. That scene where she's trapped in the gorge.....devastating. I love Margaret Atwood but her books are depressing. Try Anne Tyler, she's a lot more uplifting.

bye_alisha OP t1_jdkw5fu wrote on March 25, 2023 at 3:21 AM

#2,347,845

Replying to Apprehensive-Log8333 (#2,343,020)

Thanks for sharing- I'm glad you found the book when you did!

I'll have to look into Anne Tyler- Uplifting is more my speed...

helen_twelvetrees t1_jdl99re wrote on March 25, 2023 at 5:36 AM

#2,349,059

Replying to vibraltu (#2,339,249)

Alias Grace is my favorite. I absolutely love it for Atwood's wordplay and her use of Victorian writing tropes.

hedgepop14 t1_jdl9grj wrote on March 25, 2023 at 5:38 AM

#2,349,072

So glad to see this book talked about. I read it in my late teens and I deeply identified with Elaine's inability to grasp at her trauma >!due to her repressing her memory, until the pivotal scene.!< I've been itching to re-read it but I'm not sure about re-entering such a heavy book.