Good Bones And Simple Murders (2001) - Plot & Excerpts
Although this book of short stories is brief, it is very dense and is not a quick read. In fact, most (if not all) of the stories beg for a re-read in order to catch Atwood’s subtleties. As a whole, the pieces have a strong feminist theme threaded throughout, with a gifted writer’s sense of humor in the crafting of the written word. Economically sound and imaginative, there’s a story in here for everyone, although everyone may not like all of the stories. There were quite a few individual stories that I absolutely fell in love with, like “Happy Endings”, “Let Us Now Praise Stupid Women”, “In Love With Raymond Chandler”, “Simple Murders”, and the two listed below.“Unpopular Gals” was the first that I adored in that she interprets the female villain characters, archetypal icons in various pieces of literature, using first person point of view to tell their opinions of how they have been characterized. In one, the archetypal “evil stepmother” pronounces, “The thing about those good daughters is, they’re so good. Obedient and passive. Sniveling, I might add. No get-up-and-go. What would become of them if it weren’t for me? Nothing, that’s what . . . I stir things up, I get things moving . . . 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 ever forget it.” (11)The other that I really liked was “Gertrude Talks Back” where Atwood gives Hamlet’s mother a voice, using a mixture of first and second person point of view, re imagining a more powerful and decisive Queen of Denmark who is frustrated with her unaffectionate husband and chooses to rectify the situation herself. In her one-sided dialogue (we only imagine the lines that Hamlet is saying, from Gertrude’s responses) she states, “Oh! You think what? You think Claudius murdered your Dad? Well, no wonder you’ve been so rude to him at the dinner table! If I’d known that, I could have put you straight in no time flat. It wasn’t Claudius, darling. It was me.”These two stories remind me of her Penelopiad, where she tells Penelope’s side of the events which occurred after Odysseus left Ithaca to fight in the Trojan War, while she was left alone for the 10 years of the war’s duration and the 10 additional years it took her husband to return. The other stories are interesting, extremely well-crafted and delightfully experimental.One, “Poppies: three Variations” is a collection of three short stories which use the words of John McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields” poem in order, (surrounded by other words of course) to tell three distinct tales. It’s hard to describe, but very cool.Favorite/Memorable Quotes:“. . . stupid women are not so stupid as they pretend: they pretend for love. Men love them because they make even stupid men feel smart: women for the same reason, and because they are reminded of all the stupid things they have done themselves, but mostly because without them there would be no stories . . . Let us now praise stupid women, who have given us Literature.”“An affair with Raymond Chandler, what a joy! Not because of the mangled bodies and the marinated cops and hints of eccentric sex, but because of his interest in furniture.”"Only after we had sniffed, fingered, rubbed, rolled on, and absorbed the furniture of the room would we fall into each other’s arms, and onto the bed (king-size? peach-colored? creaky? narrow? four-postered? pioneer-quilted? lime-green chenille-covered?), ready at last to do the same things to each other.”“Whether he’s making her like it or making her dislike it or making her pretend to like it is important, but it’s not the most important thing. The most important thing is making her. Over, from nothing, new. From scratch, the way he wants.”“What men are most afraid of is not lions, not snakes, not the dark, not women. Not any more. What men are most afraid of is the body of another man. Men’s bodies are the most dangerous thing on earth.”“In the gap between desire and enactment, noun and verb, intention and infliction, want, and have, compassion begins.”
A collection of short works by Margaret Atwood. Many of them are quite witty. However, after a while, they seem to be redundant takes on the same theme.I didn't really get "Bad News"Favorite bits:"...this game was once played...by six normal people and a poet" "Murder in the Dark", p2"It's true, there are never any evil stepfathers. Only a bunch of lily-livered widowers...Where are they when I'm making those girls drudge in the kitchen, or sending them out into the blizzard in their paper dresses?...The thing about those good daughters is, they're so good . Obedient and passive. Sniveling, I might add. No get-up-and-go. What would become of them if it weren't for me? Nothing, that's what...I stir things up, I get things moving...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 ever forget it." "Unpopular Girls" p9-11"Men's novels are about how to get power. Killing and so on, or winning and so on. So are women's novels, though the method is different. In men's novels, getting the woman or women goes along with getting the power. It's a perk, not a means. In women's novels you get the power by getting the man..." Women's Novels p28"But life is bad for you, hold it in your hand long enough and you'll get pimples and become feeble minded." Women's Novels p28"Watch yourself. That's what the mirrors are for..." "Iconography" p94"She said gently that she wished he would talk more about his feelings. He said that if she had his feelings, she wouldn't want to talk about them either." "Alien Territory" p105"Sometimes we lie still and do not move. If air is still going in and out of our breathing holes, this is called sleep. If not, it is called death." "Homelanding" p137"By now you must have guessed: I come from another planet. But I will never say to you, take me to your leaders...Instead I will say, take me to your trees. Take me to your breakfasts, your sunsets, your bad dreams, your shoes, your nouns. Take me to your fingers; take me to your deaths. These are worth it..." "Homelanding" p138"These thoughts come with breakfast, like the juice from murdered fruits. Your depression, my friend, is the revenge of the oranges." "We Want It All" p135"Where do you draw the line, between love and greed? We never did know, we always wanted more. We want to take it all in, for one last time." "We Want It All" p135"Today I speak to my bones as I would speak to a dog. I want to go up the stairs, I tell them. Up, up, up, with one leg dragging...Good bones, good bones, I coax, wondering how to reward them; if they will sit up for me, beg, roll over, do one more trick...There. We're at the top. Good bones! Good bones! Keep on going." "Good Bones" p164
What do You think about Good Bones And Simple Murders (2001)?
I read the first story of this book, "Murder in the Dark," and when I was finished I turned to my husband, shoved the book in his hand, told him to read it and then he was to tell me HOW DID SHE DO THAT? He didn't really have an answer but his comment defined what I thought of the rest of the book: "It's written with the confidence of someone who knows she can hit a homerun every time." Confidence oozes through every one of these pieces. Least faves (because they just seemed a little too forced - and I wish I had a better word for that sensation, but that's the best I've got!):"Gertrude Talks Back": Queen Gertrude gives Hamlet her opinion on her current and former husbands. Fine. But the tone somehow seemed dismissive - and the character of Gertrude never seemed dismissive in the play - which is doubly odd considering the information she is giving her 'priggish' son. And, this may seem an odd critique, but I think the white space between the paragraphs doesn't do the story any favors. It gives it a fragmented feeling and I think that a piece riffing on Shakespeare would work better within the play framework - perhaps shaping the monologue in a block form like Hamlet's own speeches would have allowed the words to have more impact instead of making the reader adjust both the form and the words. "Poppies: Three Variations": While this is probably the most complex exercise, it reads just like that: an exercise. She riffs on a verse about poppies by John McCrae by using the same words of that verse, in the same order, to tell three different stories. The first words of McCrae's verse is 'in Flanders' and all three mini-stories have with 'in' followed somewhere by 'Flanders' followed somewhere by the next word in the verse. It's a good way to stretch the literary muscle, but it's like watching someone work out - we admire their physique but prefer not to see the huffing and puffing and sweat that go along with it. Just give me the calendar, ya know?The stories that I absolutely adore are the ones that have a satirical bite to them. "Simmering": Oh! My FAVORITE by far. (I know, it's unfair to choose favorites, but there you have it, anyway.) It's all about what happens when men take over the kitchen. Go get this book and read that story. "Murder in the Dark": It set the tone for the rest of the book. Is the author just trying to manipulate the reader throughout (I'm totally okay with the way Atwood manipulates, by the way), is she just a magician showing nothing of reality? Puts the power with the writer...so I think my writerly friends will enjoy this a lot...as well as readers who like to figure out the trick. I still haven't...."Happy Endings": A choose-your-own adventure marriage! Atwood also illustrated the collection, and some are as provocative as the stories - which are also dominated by the bits and pieces of male and female anatomy. Interwoven among the stories is the question of objectifying the body: "Making a Man," "Alien Territory," "Dance of the Lepers," and "Good Bones" hit on the question in a more direct way...but it's everywhere. Well worth reading - and it won't take that long either. ~JennyPlace for the StolenUnderground Writing Project
—Jenny Maloney
I just follow your feed for all the good book recommendations! I don't know how you manage to successfully weed through all the crap but you are usually right on! :)
—Ula
3.5***This is a collection of essays on a variety of subjects. In some, Atwood turns her considerable talent to the realm of traditional fairy tales and stories, turning them on their heads and delighting the reader. What did the “little red hen” REALLY think about the other animals? How do you rewrite the typical “boy meets girl, loves, lives happily ever after” plot to arrive at a different ending? Did the ugly stepsisters get fair treatment? In other stories, she turns her scathing wit to modern issues of feminism and the roles of men and women. I particularly enjoyed the story titled “Making a Man,” which is a satire on typical “women’s magazine” how-to articles. And then there are the poignant essays on aging and death. The short essays / stories are inventive, interesting and droll – for the most part. But some stories (including essays dealing with aliens or vampires), didn’t resonate with me.
—Book Concierge
