The Robber Bride

by Margaret Atwood | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 0770426166 Global Overview for this book
Registered by BC-Helsinki of Helsinki, Uusimaa / Nyland Finland on 4/26/2008
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7 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by BC-Helsinki from Helsinki, Uusimaa / Nyland Finland on Saturday, April 26, 2008
"Roz, Charis, and Tony all share a wound, and her name is Zenia. Beautiful, smart and hungry, by turns manipulative and vulnerable, needy and ruthless --- Then Zenia dies, or at any rate the three women - with much relief - attend her funeral. But as The Robber Bride begins, Roz, Charis, and Tony have come together at a trendy restaurant for their monthly lunch when in walks the seemingly resurrected Zenia..."

Reserved for the Finnish BookCrossing Summer Meet in June 2008.

Journal Entry 2 by VariC from Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin Germany on Sunday, June 8, 2008
Got this at the Finnish summer meet. Thanks!

Journal Entry 3 by VariC from Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin Germany on Friday, September 5, 2008
Reading this was a really weird experience. It didn't seem like the book had any point, but it was still interesting reading. It's not like there's anything new either after the first third or so: The stories of the three women are pretty much all the same. It also doesn't look like there's going to be any proper ending, just a stopping point (well, there was an ending, but I wasn't expecting it). But despite that, I read it enthusiastically, the more so towards the end.

I think what made this book interesting was the equal treatment of all the three women and the fact that they really were different from each other. Each woman's part was told clearly in her own style, without making any one of them seem better or worse than any others, and everyone got an equal amount of space.

Zenia as a character is uninteresting. She's more like an omnipotent antagonist, knowing her enemy's weaknesses perfectly, than an actual human being. And after the first tale, there really aren't any surprises in Zenia's behavior. But even so, there is something positive: since the reader knows what to expect, the tale can be told differently. It could also be just my imagination, but it felt to me like all the three tales were different, written with the knowledge of Zenia's behavior from the previous tales.

The cover has a quote from the New York Times: “Atwood's funniest book in years.” I must say, I didn't find anything funny in the book and am mostly wondering whether I read the same book as that reviewer.

I still don't know what to think of Atwood. Luckily I have more of her books!

Going next to Chania as a raffle prize.

Journal Entry 4 by VariC at Kokkola, Keski-Pohjanmaa / Mellersta Österbotten Finland on Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Released 15 yrs ago (9/10/2008 UTC) at Kokkola, Keski-Pohjanmaa / Mellersta Österbotten Finland

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Mailed to Chania.

Journal Entry 5 by Chania from Kokkola, Keski-Pohjanmaa / Mellersta Österbotten Finland on Thursday, September 11, 2008
Thanks a lot! I like Atwood (well, most of her books) and I've been wanting to read this for a while now.

Journal Entry 6 by Chania from Kokkola, Keski-Pohjanmaa / Mellersta Österbotten Finland on Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Well, well, well. It was quite hard for me to get into this book at first but the more I read, the more interested I got and I must say that I did like it. It was a slow read for me, partly because the busy time of Christmas, but also because M.Atwood seems to write so "full" sentences - I just can't read them very fast as I need time to think about them.
I am still wondering about Zenia's motives - what kind of hate, greed, jealousy or other reason could have been so strong that she lived in misery, got herself hurt and even sick to take revenge for the other three women - especially none of them was very close to her, or had not hurt her at all. Or maybe I just didn't understand.

Just like VariC, I didn't find this book funny at all!

Journal Entry 7 by Chania from Kokkola, Keski-Pohjanmaa / Mellersta Österbotten Finland on Friday, January 22, 2010
Sending this to Tarna next, as a "kirjaviestikirja" :)
This book will also be part of the PRKL-challenge in Finnish forum.

Journal Entry 8 by Tarna from Tampere, Pirkanmaa / Birkaland Finland on Tuesday, January 26, 2010
The Robber Bride arrived today, thank you, Chania! I’ve read it before — I actually have a copy of my own — and this one will probably be wild released in the Canada Day Challenge (this year, next year, some year...). But not before I’ve read it. I’ve enjoyed The Robber Bride before, and it’ll be nice to read it again.
So, even if this copy really is on my TBR pile, I’ll put it in my RES shelf.

Oh, and Chania, thanks also for the lovely postcard by Volker Brummig. Where on earth do you find them? This time it’s Auguste Oursnoir (1841—1919) — or perhaps a teddy bearish version of Bathers by Pierre-Auguste Renoir.


Margaret (Eleanor) Atwood (1939-) at Pegasos — A literature related site in Finland
Margaret Atwood homepage



Journal Entry 9 by Tarna at Tampere, Pirkanmaa / Birkaland Finland on Wednesday, April 10, 2013
No, I don't think it's funny either. But, odd as it is, I find The Robber Bride absolutely hilarious. Once again, I enjoyed the book enormously.
I love the three women being all so different and yet so same in their intimate relationships. They are all more or less exploited by their husbands/partners—and in a way Zenia does rescue them from destructive relationships.
I love Zenia being the omnipotent antagonist, as VariC puts it, and knowing the weak points of Tony, Charis and Roz, being such a great manipulator and so easily gaining their trust. And doing it more than once.
Zenia visited Tony's life for the first time in early sixties, Charis's in early seventies and Roz's in early eighties. With just few lines Atwood draws vivid picture of Canada and especially Toronto in those decades.
Atwood's female characters are survivors (according to her, survival is typical theme in CanLit), men are the weak ones. Ethnic diversity and multiculturalism are also typically Canadian, and The Robber Bride celebrates them almost on every page.
I love all the allusions to different fairy tales, starting with the title. (Those are, IMO, one of the most hilarious parts of the novel.)
I love the “reversing” theme, playing with words, palindromes and such, all kinds of left-handedness, so to speak, hidden in the story. It's like being in a fun house and seeing somewhat crooked images reflecting in mirrors.
Most of all I love the fact that The Robber Bride belongs to what I call the BAG (before Alias Grace) era. In my mind, Alias Grace divides Atwood's fictional works in two section. The latter part consists mainly of dystopias, books telling a story and nothing else, whereas BAG novels have been called poet's books and said to be just as deep as the reader wants. There are many layers to be found in the text under the surface if you care to look for them. Rereading that kind of book may give you some new insights.
Margaret Atwood admits that Moral Disorder (translated in Finnish as Poikkeustila) is based on her life. Rereading Life Before Man made me realize it describes, basically, the very same triangular relationship between Margaret Atwood (Nell in Moral Disorder, Lesje in Life Before Man), Graeme Gibson (Tig/Nate) and his wife (Oona/Elizabeth). Now I can't help thinking there might be third, more fragmented version too. It seems to me that the three protagonists with their hubbies/partners are images of Atwood and Gibson at some point of their relationships. Reflections on the mirror may be somewhat twisted but I think I still recognize them. According to Wikipedia. Atwood has said that of all the characters created by her she identifies most with Zenia because they both are story-tellers. Maybe so, but I think Zenia is a fun house style reflection of the author. It is misshapen, of course: in real life Atwood was so called other woman in the triangular. — I am aware I may be over-interpreting here. But it's my read, I'm allowed to. ;-)

Hey, did I mention I love The Robber Bride? Well, I do. Reading it again was most rewarding. Thank you all for sharing!


PS. The Robber Bride won the 1993 Trillium Book Award. It was also a finalist for the 1994 Governor General's Award. In very good company, too.

Journal Entry 10 by Tarna at Tampere, Pirkanmaa / Birkaland Finland on Thursday, May 9, 2013

Released 10 yrs ago (5/9/2013 UTC) at Tampere, Pirkanmaa / Birkaland Finland

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Both Margaret Atwood and The Robber Bride are among my favourites. You picked up a great book from Palkintokaappi (Finnish forum Trophy Cabinet). Gongrats, and Happy Reading!

Journal Entry 11 by slipperbunny at Helsinki, Uusimaa / Nyland Finland on Monday, May 13, 2013
Thanks for the book. =) It sounds really interesting. I have a feeling that I've read somehing from Atwood but I have no idea what.

Journal Entry 12 by slipperbunny at Helsinki, Uusimaa / Nyland Finland on Sunday, August 18, 2013
I wasn't supposed to read this yet but then I tagged someone in the European wishlist tag-game so I "had" to read this already. =) I actually started reading this while in London and it took me a while to read this because the text is quite small and I had to stop to think from time to time. I loved the little information things about war and other random things, I think that those little details made it easy for me to really feel the characters. There was something in each of the characters that made me relate to them, but my favorite part of the book was Tony and her relationship with West and it just broke my heart when Tony got hurt.

Now I'm wondering about the "funniest book"-thing too. I wouldn't really say this is a funny book. Great, but not all that funny. I'll be sending this book forward tomorrow.

Journal Entry 13 by slipperbunny at Helsinki, Uusimaa / Nyland Finland on Monday, August 19, 2013

Released 10 yrs ago (8/19/2013 UTC) at Helsinki, Uusimaa / Nyland Finland

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So, The Robber Bride is leaving today to Canada. =) Enjoy!

Journal Entry 14 by mathgirl40 at Waterloo, Ontario Canada on Friday, August 30, 2013
I can't believe The Robber Bride made it all the way from Finland to Canada in just 10 days! Thank you, slipperbunny, for sending this book overseas. I am a big Margaret Atwood fan and look forward to reading this.

Journal Entry 15 by mathgirl40 at Waterloo, Ontario Canada on Saturday, May 24, 2014
This is the story of three friends who had all been taken in and deeply hurt by a woman, Zenia, who’s the embodiment of evil, and how they react when she suddenly resurfaces after they’d all thought she had died. Like a vampire that can only enter a house once invited, Zenia is able to inflict so much damage because the three women had naively welcomed her into their lives. Atwood explores a number of themes--good, evil, trust, forgiveness, revenge--and, as with many of Atwood’s books, there are strong messages as well as a feminist perspective. I hated the weaknesses in her characters but at the same time, I got terribly caught up in their plights and was compelled to keep reading to find out what would happen to them. I’m a huge Atwood fan, and though I wouldn’t count this one among my very favourites (The Handmaid's Tale and Alias Grace fall into that category), it was a very engrossing read.

Thanks to BC-Helsinki for making this book available and to slipper-bunny for sending it to me. I've passed it on to another local BookCrosser.

Journal Entry 16 by sjt105 at Waterloo, Ontario Canada on Sunday, June 15, 2014
Classic Margaret Atwood. I am not a big Atwood fan but I still found the themes engrossing and needed to find out how it ended. A good read.

Journal Entry 17 by mathgirl40 at Waterloo, Ontario Canada on Monday, June 23, 2014
Got this back from sjt105 and will be releasing it again for the Canada Days release challenge.

Journal Entry 18 by mathgirl40 at Cafe 1842 King St Uptown in Waterloo, Ontario Canada on Monday, June 23, 2014

Released 9 yrs ago (6/23/2014 UTC) at Cafe 1842 King St Uptown in Waterloo, Ontario Canada

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I left this novel on the bookshelf at Cafe 1842. This release is for the Canada Days release challenge hosted by gypsysmom.

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