The Robber Bride, by Margaret Atwood

This book begins with the return of a dead woman, Zenia. We see her return from three points of view, that of Tony Fremont, Charis, and Roz.

Tony is an historian, especially interested in war. She has a habit of reversing words, "war" becomes "raw," "Fremont" "tnomerf," etc. Roz is the publisher of a large and successful women's  magazine. Charis is a sort of New Age person, perhaps she could be called an "earth mother" type, respectful of all forms of life, aware of auras, vegetarian.

All three of these women have lost men to Zenia. Tony got hers back, but now worries that he's threatened by Zenia's apparent resurrection. Roz and Charis were not so lucky.

New York Times Review.

The Blind Assassin, by Margaret Atwood

So wonderful. Maggie can't miss, it seems.

This is a complex, multi-layered novel, but not a bit confusing. Atwood tells several stories here, not the least of which is the history of the decade before the outbreak of World War II, and the repression of unions and progressives.

The central characters are sisters, Laura and Iris. Their father is a minor industrialist with a factory near Toronto. Laura, we learn early on, does not live long, but becomes famous posthumously for writing a novel, the title of which is the title of this book. We get segments of the novel-within-a-novel throughout the work. Atwood also uses news clippings (fictional) among the chapters, which switch back and forth in time. All this is done with great skill; one has the impression that this is the way to tell these stories, that no other method would be as satisfying.

Among other lessons, The Blind Assassin teaches us that greed, a lust for power, and the forces of unbridled capitalism have human and individual consequences, some of which are quite specifically illustrated, others hinted at or implied.

Iris and Laura are women, though born into a wealthy family, they are still without power. We see them treated as children at best, and slaves at worst. Since they are both very intelligent and resourceful, they manage to wrest some freedom and self-determination from the world, but not without great cost, especially in Laura's case.

Dark Age Ahead, by Jane Jacobs

Loss of memory equates to loss of culture. Culture transferred by word of mouth, by demonstration, rather than by writing or recordings.

The automobile as an agent of cultural destruction, loneliness, sprawl. The demise of the trollies at the hands of GM.

p.17:
Cultural xenophobia is a frequent sequel to a society's decline from cultural vigor.

shift from faith in logos to mythos

...conservatism that looks backward to fundamentalist beliefs for guidance and a worldview...

p. 31  "The miracle of money growing on houses operates even more potently in the [US]..."

p. 34 "The most serious and widespread increase was the need for an automobile"

p. 35 ...probably the most important: speaking relationships among neighbors and acquaintances...

p. 37  automobile -- chief destroyer of American communities

p. 38-39

destruction of elec. street car systems GM, Robert Moses, Fiorello La Guardia
interesting notes on this topic p. 186-188  see also www.almankoff.com

p.98  Americans...don't ... think that any place outside the United States is totally real; their curiosity about Canada seems almost nonexistent