The Blind Assassin

Reception

Reception was mixed. A reviewer for Salon described the book as a "cunning tale ... sketched with Atwood's trademark dark humor and deft hand."[3] The Christian Science Monitor critic commented on "Atwood's crisp wit and steely realism" and said the book "brilliantly ... works to flesh out the dime-novel culture of the 1930s and to emphasize the precarious position of women."[4] The New York Times critic Thomas Mallon was unimpressed, calling the book "overlong and badly written".[5] Adam Mars-Jones in The Guardian was less negative but characterized the book as a "romantic tale" with political elements bolted on.[6]

The novel was awarded the Booker Prize in 2000 and the Hammett Prize in 2001. It was also nominated for Governor General's Award in 2000, Orange Prize for Fiction, and the International Dublin Literary Award in 2002.[7] Time magazine named it the best novel of 2000 and included it in its list of the 100 greatest English-language novels since 1923.[8] As of 2019, The Blind Assassin is Atwood's second highest-selling novel after The Handmaid's Tale, having sold over half a million copies of hard-cover and paper-back combined.[9] Sales of the novel jumped tenfold in 2000 after receiving the Booker Prize.[10]


This content is from Wikipedia. GradeSaver is providing this content as a courtesy until we can offer a professionally written study guide by one of our staff editors. We do not consider this content professional or citable. Please use your discretion when relying on it.