Holly
Lisle's Vision
Book
Review
Good
Bones and Simple Murders
By Margaret Atwood
Reviewed
by Jim Francis
©
2002, Jim Francis
While
Margaret Atwood's little book Good Bones and Simple Murders (published
1994; ISBN 0-385-47110-6) is, strictly speaking, not a book on writing, it
contains many pointers for writers. It appears to be a collection of her writing
exercises, which the blurb inside the front cover says defy easy
characterization.
To
reach a point in a writing career when a book of writing exercises can be
published (and not recognized as such) must be gratifying. Perhaps it can teach
us about the way this Booker Prize winner hones her writing skills.
For
instance, in the chapter "Unpopular Gals," she turns the fairytale
world upside down by writing from the viewpoint of the bad characters. The
viewpoint character of the "Ugly Sister" proclaims her true love for
the prince, and her hatred for the lovely one, who has only the attribute of
beauty and need do nothing but sit around and be adored. The Wicked Witch from
Hansel and Gretel threatens to sue for libel. After all, the children were
abandoned as an offering; at least that's her story and she's sticking to it. A
lot can be learned from an "Evil Stepmother," who complains about her
bad reputation but says, "You can wipe your feet on me, twist my motives
around all you like, you can dump millstones on my head and drown me in the
river, but you can't get me out of the story. I'm the plot, babe, and don't you
ever forget it." In those few words, if you think about them, you have a
view of Ms. Atwood's thoughts on that slippery beast, the plot.
She
takes commonplace tales and turns them on their heads. In "The Little Red
Hen Tells All," she gives amusing thoughts from the Red Hen's point of
view. Further on, Gertrude, Hamlet's mother, says her piece. In the chapter
"There Once Was," we find a backhanded slash at political correctness
in describing character. She starts, "There was once a poor girl
who..." and then gets into argument with herself on the various aspect in
the statement. "What color? Black, white, red, brown, yellow? -- I've had
enough of white. Dominant culture this etc," and rips the whole statement
apart.
She
presents her insights on gender and genre. Men's novels are about men; women's
novels are also about men. Men's magazines have women's bodies on the cover;
women's magazines have women's bodies on the cover. Her thoughts on women's
novels delve not only into subject matter and her reading preference, but also
the phraseology used and the kind of words she says "I go mad for."
The
woman wanders into even stranger areas. Dead tree stumps in the water become
wild aquatic animals waiting to snare unsuspecting boaters, and in their turn
can be caught, butchered, and stored in the freezer. She includes a hilarious
chapter, a take-off on women's magazine articles, on "How to make a man
from scratch." She calls the product something "practical and
decorative to have around the house. Five methods of creation are given from
traditional to the folk art."
This
is not a book on writing, but a book in which Atwood reveals how she mines her
brain for its understanding of fiction, on how it begins and where it goes. She
does not attempt to wonder about the why of fiction, leaving that
to the reader. She has a chapter in praise of stupid women. Why? Because
they make good characters. And also because they give rise to good
complications.
Her
view on the "topic" of the female body: "I get up in the morning.
My topic feels like hell."
She
gives her view of humans from the point of view of The Planet of the Moths.
"Liking Men" is said to be possible if only the effort is made. With
an imaginary short love affair with Raymond Chandler she explores the seamier
side of a woman's character.
The
book is enjoyable, puzzling, and deeper than can be revealed by a fast glance.
It's a book full of nuances and hints recognizable by another writer as being
dredged from deep inside the author's mind. What is to be made of three pages of
thoughts brought on by the contemplation of a piece of bread, or three pages
contemplating the blank, white page that confronts all authors? And the thoughts
on the Angel of Suicide; is that angel the companion of all writers? She has
also dug from within for thoughts on dying and death. There are thoughts on
"Good Bones" that behave badly and ache.
No,
not a book on writing, but a book by an award winning writer (including two
Canadian Governor General Awards) that should interest writers and help them to
understand their art.
Margaret
Atwood is the author of more than twenty-five books and now has a book out on
writing. The title Negotiating with the Dead is a reference to departed
authors. I await it with some trepidation, wondering whether or not it will spur
me on to greater efforts.
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