Margaret Atwood has long been one of my favorite authors. In fact, her dystopian gem The Handmaid's Tale is one my my top 5 novels. I stumbled upon that book accidentally, browsing in a used book shop while lost in San Francisco in 2001. What a beautiful mistake. Since then, I've read Edible Woman, Oryx and Crake, The Blind Assassin, and now Cat's Eye. I read Cat's Eye for my What's in a Name reading challenge, as my book with an animal in the title. Here's my review.
First and foremost, I perceived this novel as a wonderful, painfully accurate study of how girls treat other girls. Though it was written in the 1980s, and takes place largely in the immediate aftermath of World War II, Cat's Eye is a very relevant study of the venom dripping from self-conscious little girls, and the agonizing self-loathing it so often masks. The central character, and narrator, is Elaine Risley. An established painter, Elaine reluctantly returns to her childhood home, Toronto, because a local gallery is hosting a retrospective of her life's artwork. Almost immediately upon her return to Toronto, old ghosts arise to haunt Elaine--particularly Cordelia, who was simultaneously Elaine's best friend and worst enemy during their formative childhood years. Cordelia's cunning psychological abuse--and Elaine's silent acceptance of it--probably quite accurately portrays a common girlhood rite of passage. As memories overcome Elaine, and as she struggles to come to terms with her childhood torment, Cordelia's image appears before her around every corner, her face in ever crowd. It is an extremely compelling study of how horribly little girls and young women treat each other, and how these social interactions bend us and shape us, and never really evaporate from us. It certainly struck a chord with me.
Cat's Eye follows Elaine through childhood, high school, college, and her professional life. It's all depicted beautifully, and with such honesty. There are elements of Elaine that make me think Atwood used me as a model for the character. It's rare that a book strikes me so profoundly, hits such a nerve (although Atwood has done it twice now, first with The Handmaid's Tale, and now this. I can't recommend it any more heartily.
So, 1 down, 5 to go. I'm taking a break from my reading challenge selections at the moment. I'm rereading Pride and Prejudice, a novel that always makes me smile, and gets better with every read.
