The Tent by Margaret Atwood
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I’m a fan of Margaret Atwood. I wasn’t sure what to expect of this book. While the cover claims it’s a collection of essays, this book is more like a collection of impressions that aren’t formulated into what we may traditionally know of as a narrative (although there are narrative voices)… while at the same time, the collection doesn’t make as much a thesis-point as the traditional anglo-saxon epistemic essay structure. So it’s a little difficult for me to write a review in that sense. I think of this collection more like a palette of colors, or swatch patterns to be saved for future use… most of the ideas in here are of interest, but they don’t connect anywhere and don’t seem to be easily collated into a single narrative impulse.
If you’re looking to be receptive to subtle emotions, and you want to read something without taxing yourself too much, I think this is a good book to read. Since I tend to dive deeply into whatever I read — and try to find how this text allows me to orient myself more or less in the world I already exist in — it was difficult for me to read this book. Despite it’s slim size, I took forever working through it.
I wouldn’t say that the descriptions are misleading, but my expectations were definitely not in line with what I read. From glancing at the other reviews, I am in the minority on this one.
