Blonde (Paperback)

and disturbing.

About halfway through, I found myself unconciously thinking of things in terms of the language and perception of the book. In this way it is insidious and terribly denigrating to the self esteem of a woman. Oates' Blonde (Marilyn) is so utterly powerless in the face of the macabre and disassociated carnival that is her life, and so completely the victim.

At times, I felt disgusted, with the character, and, through relation, with myself. If I could ask Oates anything, it would be this: "Did you write this book hoping to stir us all out of complacency to take charge of our lives?"

Although I'm a gen-X youngster, I'm fairly traditional, even conservative in my thinking (tattooes, aside). This book made me feel used, dirty and cheap...as a woman in general. I've never experienced this through literature, before.

Therein is the power of this novel, and was that the point? To react so strongly to the utter weakness and facility of The Blonde that one strives to change? I've read other Oates books, and this seems to be a common thread (especially with Mulvaneys, and the character of Marianne, who takes what seems like a century to find her sea legs (life legs).

Blonde deserves five stars, but for the fact that it is a very emotionally difficult read, if you choose to really absorb it. I picked it up as a beach read, and I suppose it could be casually read as such, but somewhere around page 10, it takes on a far deeper purpose.

A recommendation: For those looking for a book less emotionally denigrating to the feminine heart, read The Blind Assassin. Equally well written, engrossing and heart wrenching, but with a better moral at the end.

It's a long and at times depressing read, but it's worth every word. From the opening lines, I could not put this book down! It's become my favorite book and I've have read it many times. There so many wonderful elements to the book that I could go on raving about it for paragraphs and paragraphs, but I just needed to say that it's not fair that people are taking this book as something that it isn't: a biography, non-fiction. And they therefore are trashing it. This the first book I've read of Oates and I never knew much of anything about Monroe's life before this book, but after reading this book, I became die-hard fans of both of these talented women. So take my word for it: At the very least it's worth a checkout at the library, if you go to it with an open, unbiased mind, you'll be in for an unforrgetable read!

Grade: A