Search Results for: atwood

“A ratio of failures is built into the process of writing.”

Margaret Atwood continues, “The wastebasket has evolved for a reason.”  This morning, a student described how difficult writing was for her. She’s not alone.  One thing that hasn’t changed over the decades I’ve worked with students is the expectation that … Continue reading

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“He wanted revenge. He longed for it. He daydreamed about it.”

Is there a person on earth who hasn’t daydreamed about revenge? It’s easy to relate to a person who wants to get even, which is the basic story line in Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood. It’s based on The Tempest by … Continue reading

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“It comes over him in a wave: He’s been wrong about his Tempest, wrong for twelve years.”

Anyone can retell as classic story, but changing a play by Shakespeare while remaining true to the themes and lessons of the original requires skill. Changes were needed, Margaret Atwood told a standing-room-only crowd in Madison, Wisconsin this week, to  … Continue reading

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Five Intriguing Ideas from 2016 Books

This blog focuses on one idea from one book each week, and so selecting just five from the 50 or so that I’ve published in 2016 is a challenge. But after looking through them all, I have to say that … Continue reading

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Five Best Novels of 2016

The five novels that rose to the top of my 2016 list are: The best word to describe Elizabeth Strout’s My Name is Lucy Barton is exquisite. What I love about Strout is her ability to dive right in to … Continue reading

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“There’s work to be done, there are plots to be plotted, there are scams to be scammed, there are villains to be misled!”

This may be Margaret Atwood’s greatest masterpiece. In Hag-Seed, she retells Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” by turning it inside-out and adding a layer.  It’s a play within a play within a novel.  This restructuring results in a  hybrid form of story-telling … Continue reading

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