corner corner Life Before Man

Medium

Life Before Man
by Margaret Atwood | Literature & Fiction
Registered by Suzy26 of Delft, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Sunday, November 07, 2004
Average 7 star rating by BookCrossing Members 

status (set by Kemppu): to be read


5 journalers for this copy...

Journal Entry 1 by Suzy26 from Delft, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Sunday, November 07, 2004

This book has not been rated.

From the back cover:
Imprisoned by walls of their own construction here are three people, each in mid-life, mid-crisis, forced to make choices - after the rules have changed. Elizabeth with her controlled sensuality, her suppressed rage, is married to the wrong man. She has just lost her latest lover to suicide. Nate, her gentle, indecisive husband, is planning to leave her for Lesje, a perennial innocent who prefers dinosaurs to most men. Hanging over them all is the ghost of Elizabeth's dead lover....and the dizzying threat of three lives careening inevitably toward the same climax.
 

Journal Entry 2 by wingBookCrosserwing from Culemborg, Gelderland Netherlands on Monday, June 27, 2005

This book has not been rated.

I am an Atwood-lover, so I was pleased to find it on the table among all the other books people had brought to the meeting. 

Journal Entry 3 by wingBookCrosserwing from Culemborg, Gelderland Netherlands on Friday, August 01, 2008

7 out of 10

Three different viewpoints, by three different people who are connected by a love or hate relationship. Atwood's charachters are very convincingly drawn. Perhaps not her best book, but worthwhile reading. 

Journal Entry 4 by wingBookCrosserwing at Kokkola, Keski-Pohjanmaa Finland on Tuesday, December 09, 2008

This book has not been rated.

Released 3 yrs ago (12/10/2008 UTC) at Kokkola, Keski-Pohjanmaa Finland

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

- 

Journal Entry 5 by wingChaniawing from Kokkola, Keski-Pohjanmaa Finland on Tuesday, December 30, 2008

This book has not been rated.

Thanks so much, BookCrosser! I'll look forward reading this and afterwards, I will send it to someone else as I know many readers who like Atwood too! 

Journal Entry 6 by wingChaniawing from Kokkola, Keski-Pohjanmaa Finland on Tuesday, October 13, 2009

This book has not been rated.

It took a long time from me to read this book, perhaps because it was always too late when I started to read. All in all I liked the book, even if I didn't find the characters (Elizabeth, Nate and Lesje) especially pleasant or didn't feel connected with them. The tone of the book was a bit "cold", none of the three persons or their feelings (which were quite strong after all) were very emotionally described.

I didn't much like about Nate, he seemed to be drifting from place to place, from relationship to relationship, and that made me irritated.
Elizabeth was controlling, and she was the one who came closest to me, probably because she tells her parts in first person, unlike the others.
And Lesje, she wasn't exactly a colourful person, and she seemed to be quite careful and reserved most of the time.

I liked the book, but not as much as I've liked other books by Atwood.

Sending this to Tarna next. 

Journal Entry 7 by wingTarnawing from Tampere, Pirkanmaa Finland on Thursday, October 22, 2009

This book has not been rated.

Oh, Chania, thank you!!! You totally surprised me with your lovely postcard, magnificent self-made bookmark—and this book. You know I love Margaret Atwood. And this novel...Well, to tell you the truth, I’ve read it in Finnish some 10 years ago, got it at the library (they had one copy in the bin) . And I must admit I felt like you, didn’t like the protagonists at all. But... there was something haunting in the text; I had to get a copy of my own. Easier said than done. I searched and searched and finally in 2001, I found Life Before Man at a used book store in Thunder Bay. But not the Finnish translation. A bookseller at the Vammalan Vanhan kirjallisuuden päivät (The Days of Old Literature in Sastamala, as the town is now called) told me that I’d probably have to wait for the book to show up for a long, long time. “You won’t find one until those women, who got the book in early 80’ies, move to smaller places and can’t take all their books with them—or until they die and their heirs start selling their books.” Found a copy two years a ago.
So, now I’ve got two copies of Life Before Man. I like the idea. Now I have a good reason to finally read the book in its original language. And if I’ll manage to do it before July, I’ll have one more Canadian book to release in gypsymom’s 2010 Canada Day Challenge. I love it! Love you too. Thank you, Chania!
P.S. I scanned the book cover but I think I’ll save it for my later entry. This time I want to show you the postcard Chania sent. On the backside, it says Gottfried Emanuel Lefze (1816—1868).

Edited to add that thanks to Chania and Google, I now know a bit more about the postcard. The artist is Volker Brummig (somewhat bearish pseudonym, perhaps?) who, according to Parnass, has created a kind of parallel universe of teddy bears by making his own teddy bear versions of famous paintings. He also creates new, often bearish artist’s names. So, this postcard by “Gottfried Emanuel Lefze” is a teddy bearish version of Washington Crossing the Delaware by German American painter Emanuel Leutze (1816—1868). The original painting is in Metropolitan Museum of Art, btw.
 

Journal Entry 8 by wingTarnawing at Tampere, Pirkanmaa Finland on Wednesday, November 30, 2011

This book has not been rated.

Reserving this book for Kemppu. 

Journal Entry 9 by wingTarnawing at Tampere, Pirkanmaa Finland on Friday, March 09, 2012

This book has not been rated.

For some reason, reading English (or any other language than Finnish) has been a big challenge lately. I've been in the middle of Life Before Man for some months now. But, finally, I finished it. The rest of the book was easy to read.
As always, I love the sentence Margaret Atwood writes. It's so clear and beautiful. As it comes to the plot … well, I've read the Finnish translation. Kivettyneet leikit some 10-15 years ago. Never liked the protagonists but there was something very intriguing in the story line. Just wasn't quite sure what it was. Doesn't matter any more. Before I once more grabbed this book in my hands, I read the Finnish translation (Poikkeustila) of Moral Disorder. After that, I had no difficulties with Life Before Man.
Moral Disorder tastes like and, actually, is considered autobiographical novel. It tells several stories about Nell (Atwood), Tig (Graeme Gibson) and his wife Oona (Mrs. Gibson, obviously). Now I realized she's told the same story already in 1970s. Of course, the names of the characters are different, they work in different places and in occupations, etc. But here they are: Lesje, Nate and Elizabeth.
In Life Before Man the author gives voice to each one of the three protagonists. And it seems to me that in this novel she really tries to understand Elizabeth, too, by giving her background.
Now the book is much more interesting than I thought. I'm really glad I reread it. And even more glad that I did it soon after Poikkeustila. Thank you so much for this reading experience, Chania! 

Journal Entry 10 by wingTarnawing at Tampere, Pirkanmaa Finland on Saturday, March 10, 2012

This book has not been rated.

Released 2 mos ago (3/10/2012 UTC) at Tampere, Pirkanmaa Finland

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Happy reading, Kemppu! 

Journal Entry 11 by Kemppu at Tampere, Pirkanmaa Finland on Wednesday, March 14, 2012

This book has not been rated.

The book arrived on mail today and surprised me, because I had totally forgotten that this was coming to me. Thank you, Tarna! 



remove ads?

Are you sure you want to delete this item? It cannot be undone.