maybe 3.5 stars. i feel like atwood's short stories are generally stronger than her prose, which sometimes rambles and baffles. she can already say so much in 10 pages. some of the short fiction is banal though; starting to believe it's a trend that i like only 30% of her compilations, so naturally out of the 14 stories i found 4 of them truly memorable1. the war in the bathroom - the first story and v refreshing in its searingly vivid descriptions. even at the end the relationship between the two main characters is still shrouded in mystery, but i can appreciate that 2. the man from mars - borderline creepy and also terribly amusing! "a lumbering elephant stampeded by a smiling, emaciated mouse" who could think up anything this creative?? where does atwood's thought process even begin??? 4. under glass - bitingly visceral. atwood at her most critical and meticulous, dissecting the layers of human relationships that we hide our intentions behind, how we fight and self-doubt and bargain, how we settle for less. makes u want to slap the protag, except u think u might do the same, in her place6. rape fantasies - by far the best story and atwood at her most magnificent!!! the capably written black comedy is really something. it makes it impossible not to laugh, and yet the entire time you're chastising yourself for it. joking about rape without trivializing it (or trivializing it without blaming the victim/turning it into farce/shying away from the power dynamics inherent in the act) takes real skill, and how cleanly she cuts through all the humor to get to the true crux of the issue: rape isn't some sexy stranger appearing in your bathroom. it's about loss of empathy, control, dominance, being seen as sub-human. the rest of the stories - including the titular one! - were less rad. but maybe i just can't relate yet.
When I picked it up, I had no idea that Dancing Girls by Margaret Atwood was a book of short stories. I’m usually not a short story fan overall, but was excited to read Atwood’s take, since I’m a big fan of her.I’m still working on my Margaret Atwood Challenge, reading one of her novels per month, basically in order of publication, so this is my December book.While a few of the stories in Dancing Girls had endings that left me stumped, I still enjoyed reading them. But for the most part, they kept me very entertained.For instance, The War in the Bathroom was told over the course of a week, where a woman feels like her living space is being invaded daily by an elderly man whose bathroom habits can be clearly heard from her room.Then in The Man from Mars, a strange little foreign man begins to stalk Christine. . .Rape Fantasies has a dark name, but is a witty story about one woman’s ridiculous rape fantasies that somehow turn into love.Atwood’s Dancing Girls has a common theme of obsession with a hint of crazy that touches almost every story in the collection. And of course, you know I’m loving the obsessive/crazy theme with my psychological thriller kick!If you enjoy Margaret Atwood or enjoy reading short stories, these are some great ones to get into!Speaking of obsession, what is something you are a little obsessed with?Thanks for reading,Rebecca @ Love at First Book
What do You think about Dancing Girls (1998)?
Loved all the stories, and as with all other short story books, some more so than others. The one that REALLY stood out for me was "When It Happens" (Holy. Cow- a precursor to A Handmaid's Tale, anyone?!) "Polarities" was also fantastic, watching this man fall for a woman as she becomes less desirable to most. "A Travel Piece" UGH! I want to know what happens!!! Write a sequel, please Ms. Atwood! And "Training" was another fave, an interesting relationship between a girl with severe cerebral palsy and her camp counselor (or rather his relationship with her). Always love Atwood.
—Animlgrl
A so-so collection of short fiction that took me forever to slog through.The collection is dark, depressing and rather abstract in some stories. The main characters include a woman who appears to be suffering from some sort of schizophrenia and dementia, a woman being stalked by a foreign student, several couples in relationships that range from unhappy to adulterous, a counselor at a camp for children with disabilities, and a racist who insists on seeing new tenets in her building in their "native costumes."Out of the 14 stories in the collection there were only 3 that I really liked.As a reader of romance, I found Rape Fantasies to be rather interesting. The main character of the story has rape fantasies where she fends off the attacker by some stroke of luck - the would be rapist gets his zipper stuck and starts to cry that he's never been able to get anything right or some other such ridiculous thing. I thought it was a clever take on the ideaThe other story I liked was A Travel Piece which is about a travel writer that ends up in a plane crash which leaves them stranded in life boats on the ocean for several days. It has a bit of a Lord of the Flies vibe too it.
—Vicky
Normally I'm a huge fan of Margaret Atwood, but this early collection just felt like wading through mud for me. So many sketches of characters that go nowhere, stories that are just about a state of mind that never resolves into anything particularly telling, prose that isn't particularly interesting or lively. Her more recent work feels so much more ambitious, and deeply felt, and wise, than this. There are standouts in this collection, like the classic "Rape Fantasies," and "Training," but most of these stories were a bit of a chore for me.
—Tasha Robinson
