Margaret Atwood

Ever since her engagement, the strangest thing has been happening to Marian McAlpin: she can't eat. First meat. Then eggs, vegetables, cake, pumpkin seeds--everything! Worse yet, she has the crazy feeling that she's being eaten. Marian ought to feel consumed with passion, but she really just feels...consumed. A brilliant and powerful work rich in irony and metaphor, "The Edible Woman" is an unforgettable masterpiece by a true master of contemporary literary fiction.

The edible woman

By the author of The Handmaid's Tale and Alias Grace Marian is determined to be ordinary. She lays her head gently on the shoulder of her serious fiancee and quietly awaits marriage. But she didn't count on an inner rebellion that would rock her stable routine, and her digestion. Marriage a la mode, Marian discovers, is something she literally can't stomach ... The Edible Woman is a funny, engaging novel about emotional cannibalism, men and women, and desire to be consumed. 'Margaret Atwood not only has a sense of humour, she has wit and style in abundance ... a joy to read' Good Housekeeping 'Written with a brilliant angry energy' Observer 'A witty, elegant, generous and patient writer' Punch

The Edible Woman

Bilge Ince

It is actually 3.4 stars
I enjoyed in most of the conversations between Duncan and Marian. Also I loved the contradiction in Clara’s ideas even if she is a mom and a wife as well. But after some point I got bored of the story generally. After the half of the book, I found myself that I was yelling with my inner voice to Marian as Come ooon It is too obvious that you should break up with Peter.

Atwood opens a window to look at relationships and roles we play in our life in this book.

 “Why are you so interested in amoebas?" "Oh, they're immortal," he said, "and sort of shapeless and flexible. Being a person is getting too complicated."

 Maybe it isn't a baby at all but a kind of parasitic growth, like galls on trees, or elephantiasis of the navel, or a huge bunion....

This was the first book I read from Margaret Atwood and I can’t say that it was a strong start.

A humorous, ironic, disturbing, and parabolic novel features a woman who, after her engagement to be wed, first loses her appetite and then becomes obsessed with the idea that she herself is being eaten. Reissue.

Trever

Originally I expected this to be a post-modern  The Bell Jar-esque breakdown novel. Although I would still put it in that group, this was much less bleak than Plath's novel. Marian McAlpin isn't necessarily depressed like Esther Greenwood; she just undergoes a bout of anorexia and depersonalization following her engagement. It was published in the same year as  Portnoy's Complaint, which I incidentally just finished reading, and I feel like this is kind of the female antithesis to that book. It's certainly less gross. Other thoughts: the style is certainly ahead of its time, but the content is a little dated, although not irrelevant. The switch from first-person to third-person is seamless, and it doesn't feel forced; in fact, I can't imagine the whole book being told in one or the other.

edible woman.

Tori W.

I had to read this for a class I am taking, so it's not something I'd usually read...but I really loved the writing and what it is supposed to portray. And for some odd reason I relate to the main character way too much...

lizbet koval

from the beginning i found it interesting. it was amusing to see how the story was unfolding as the details about the characters were uncovered.

i enjoyed the switch of the first person narration to the third person narration, when marian was becoming less and less stable. as well as the whole theme of the edibles, food, consumption, all revolving around that omnipresent phenomenon? need? obsession? 

it’s not five starts because sometimes i really could not keep on reading about that peter or joe. i know it’s good to create reflections of the shitty men from our world. but i’d rather have them humiliated by the strong female heroines than the other way. i know it’s subjective. but still.

˜Theœ Edible Woman

Jade Flynn

The Edible Woman is my fourth Atwood and whilst it was a solid read it becomes apparent the further in you get that this is one of Atwood's earlier novels. It isn't the genius I've come to expect but there's certainly glimmers of the author that everyone holds dear today.

The edible woman

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