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Product Description
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First published in 1972, Surfacing was Margaret Atwood's second novel, following the critically acclaimed The Edible Woman. Atwood had already made her mark as a one of the most exciting new voices in Canadian poetry, winning the Governor General's Award in 1966 for The Circle Game, while her groundbreaking book of criticism, Survival, had started the process of redefining the meaning of Canadian literature.
In Surfacing, poetry and prose brilliantly come together in a heart-wrenching novel that focuses on a woman's desperate attempt to put the ghosts of her past to rest. With three friends, she's returned to the remote cabin in Northern Quebec where she spent her childhood. She's overwhelmed, almost to the point of emotional paralysis, by memories of her father and his death by drowning, her failed marriage and painful divorce, and an abortion that haunts her waking dreams. While she appears to be ambivalent about the landscape, it is the landscape that in fact will provide her with the means of healing herself and her broken spirit. Like Atwood's poetry of this period, Surfacing is a deeply psychological novel. Atwood uses the recurring image of surfacing from beneath the waves of an icy northern lake as a symbol of this woman's struggle to regain control of her life, to refuse to be a victim of her past. Surfacing is a poignant novel filled with the power of the Canadian wilderness to cleanse the soul, an image of the wilderness that has remained a preoccupation for Atwood throughout her writing career. --Jeffrey Canton --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
“One of the most important novels of the twentieth century…utterly remarkable.”
–New York Times Book Review
“Atwood probes emotions with X-ray precision. All in all, it’s an exhilarating performance.”
–Globe and Mail
“A brilliant tour-de-force.”
–Winnipeg Free Press
“Atwood’s powers of observation are disconcertingly acute, combining an ear for the vernacular with an eye for the jugular.”
–Time
“The depth and complexity of Atwood’s critique of contemporary society are stunning.”
–Ms.
“It is excellent in so many ways that one cannot begin to do justice to it in a review. It has to be read and experienced.”
–Margaret Laurence, Quarry
“Margaret Atwood is one of the most intelligent and talented writers to set herself the task of deciphering life in the late twentieth century.”
–Vogue
“In this disturbing book, Margaret Atwood has written a fascinating, sometimes frightening novel about our Canadian landscape, about our paranoia, about what we are and what we are becoming.…Astonishing.”
–Edmonton Journal
“Surfacing is likely the best piece of fiction produced by Atwood’s generation in North America or anywhere.”
–Canadian Forum
“[Atwood is] a superb storyteller who brings intelligence and wit to bear in a compelling personal vision.”
–Toronto Star
“It is quite simply superb.…She writes with the ease of total acceptance, from right inside the culture, authenticating our experience, holding up a mirror so that the image we get back is not distorted by satire or made unreal by proselytizing…but real.”
–Maclean’s
“The sophistication of its telling, the power of observation and imagination make the book remarkable.…It’s a masterful encounter with the way we live now.”
–Kingston Whig-Standard
From the Hardcover edition.
–New York Times Book Review
“Atwood probes emotions with X-ray precision. All in all, it’s an exhilarating performance.”
–Globe and Mail
“A brilliant tour-de-force.”
–Winnipeg Free Press
“Atwood’s powers of observation are disconcertingly acute, combining an ear for the vernacular with an eye for the jugular.”
–Time
“The depth and complexity of Atwood’s critique of contemporary society are stunning.”
–Ms.
“It is excellent in so many ways that one cannot begin to do justice to it in a review. It has to be read and experienced.”
–Margaret Laurence, Quarry
“Margaret Atwood is one of the most intelligent and talented writers to set herself the task of deciphering life in the late twentieth century.”
–Vogue
“In this disturbing book, Margaret Atwood has written a fascinating, sometimes frightening novel about our Canadian landscape, about our paranoia, about what we are and what we are becoming.…Astonishing.”
–Edmonton Journal
“Surfacing is likely the best piece of fiction produced by Atwood’s generation in North America or anywhere.”
–Canadian Forum
“[Atwood is] a superb storyteller who brings intelligence and wit to bear in a compelling personal vision.”
–Toronto Star
“It is quite simply superb.…She writes with the ease of total acceptance, from right inside the culture, authenticating our experience, holding up a mirror so that the image we get back is not distorted by satire or made unreal by proselytizing…but real.”
–Maclean’s
“The sophistication of its telling, the power of observation and imagination make the book remarkable.…It’s a masterful encounter with the way we live now.”
–Kingston Whig-Standard
From the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Quest Symbolism in The Twilight Zone,
By justin (Montreal, QC, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Surfacing (Paperback)
"Surfacing" is the second Atwood book I've experienced, and to be honest, I found her narrative style in this one more accessible than in "The Handmaid's Tale". The first 165 pages evoke a cynicism rooted deep in the apathy of 1970's North American culture, especially from a Canadian perspective. While Americans may find the references to the "flag-waving Yankees" the narrator loathes so much a bit distasteful in the light of recent events, the book must be taken as a narrative of one woman's personal struggle. While many of the narrator's opinions may find readers slightly offended, they provide a vehicle for her own personal frustration. The last few chapters seem a bit far-fetched compared to the others, but then again, I don't recommend reading the entire book in one sitting for that very reason. Though turned off by some elements of "weirdness" (the very same reason I didn't get into "The Handmaid's Tale"), I found "Surfacing" to be one of the most psychologically-challenging novels I've read, and perhaps the discomfort I felt while finishing the last page is post-magical-realism at its finest-- "There's no way this could happen...I think. Well...maybe?"Try it out for yourself, but please don't judge its value on a few anti-American references. Remember, she's Canadian, and the book was written in the 70's.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Atwood being surly!,
By
This review is from: Surfacing, (Mass Market Paperback)
I read this book in my early 20's in the early 90's and found that her telling of the 70's was intriguing.
3.0 out of 5 stars
These thoughts are for you,
By Chris (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Surfacing (Paperback)
I had many thoughts about "Surfacing" while reading it. I thought it felt like homework at times; thought another author should cover the book, take Atwood's story and tell it without her mumbo jumbo writing; thought a horror movie killer should show up and deal with the unhappy characters (they were in the right environment). Unexpectedly, I finished the final forty pages quickly and thought that was a good thing.
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