Elizabeth, monstrous yet pitiable; Nate, her husband, a patchwork man, gentle, disillusioned; Lesje, a young woman at the natural history museum, for whom dinosaurs are as important as men. It is a sexual triangle; three people in thrall to the tragicomedy we call love...
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Superb, complete--a splendid, fully integrated work." -The New York Times Book Review
"A penetrating, wry look at the changes affecting men, women and their family lives--The book has the acute perceptions and vivid imagery which are the hallmarks of Atwood's writing." -The Sunday Toronto Sun
"Crisp, carefully ironic, contemporary. Life Before Man offers us three characters of great complexity and roundness--Atwood has written a novel that is emotionally powerful, intelligent and very adult." -Ms. Magazine
"Tough poet, clever critic, brilliant novelist, feminist, nationalist, our chief literary heroine--a superb writer." -Toronto Star
"Margaret Atwood is a deeply serious writer who is also wildly funny." -Chatelaine
"Atwood writes with savage humor. Sentences are spare, kept under enormous compression, like a bent bow." -Esquire
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
"A penetrating, wry look at the changes affecting men, women and their family lives--The book has the acute perceptions and vivid imagery which are the hallmarks of Atwood's writing." -The Sunday Toronto Sun
"Crisp, carefully ironic, contemporary. Life Before Man offers us three characters of great complexity and roundness--Atwood has written a novel that is emotionally powerful, intelligent and very adult." -Ms. Magazine
"Tough poet, clever critic, brilliant novelist, feminist, nationalist, our chief literary heroine--a superb writer." -Toronto Star
"Margaret Atwood is a deeply serious writer who is also wildly funny." -Chatelaine
"Atwood writes with savage humor. Sentences are spare, kept under enormous compression, like a bent bow." -Esquire
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From the Publisher
New in this edition: a Reader's Companion to Life Before Man--ideal for discussion groups
"Superb, complete...a splendid, fully integrated work."
--The New York Times Book Review
"Moving flawlessly from wit to pathos and back, Atwood constructs a superb living exhibit in which the artifacts are unique...there is ample treasure in this novel."
--Chicago Tribune
"Crisp, carefully ironic, contemporary...Life Before Man offers us three characters of great complexity and roundness...Atwood has written a novel that is emotionally powerful, intelligent and very adult."
--Ms.
"Atwood writes with savage humor. Sentences are spare, kept under enormous compression, like a bent bow."
--Esquire
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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More About the Author
MARGARET ATWOOD, whose work has been published in over thirty-five countries, is the author of more than forty books of fiction, poetry, and critical essays. In addition to The Handmaid's Tale, her novels include Cat's Eye, shortlisted for the Booker Prize; Alias Grace, which won the Giller Prize in Canada and the Premio Mondello in Italy; The Blind Assassin, winner of the 2000 Booker Prize; and her most recent, Oryx and Crake, shortlisted for the 2003 Booker Prize. She lives in Toronto with writer Graeme Gibson.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A sub-par effort for an outstanding author,
This review is from: Life Before Man (Paperback)
Being a loyal Atwood fan, I decided to read the last of her unread novels recently. The title of the novel, Life Before Man, held the dark tones of mystery that I appreciate in literature; the hint of scandal, intrigue, or just the promise of what Atwood is so good at dishing up: a rich and intricate tale woven around several characters. This would not have been unlike my favourite novels by Atwood, Cat's Eye, Lady Oracle, and The Robber Bride. I thought that with Life Before Man, I had saved one of the best for last. I was wrong.What ensued in the next 400 pages was an embarrassing love triangle involving three warped and morally repugnant morons. Even all the sinnin' and flirtin' couldn't save this book from falling flat on its face. The story became not only frustrating, but agonizingly boring - the development of any sympathetic or likeable characters was bogged down by over-tedious use of language and metaphor. The story did not challenge new borders in literature and failed to violate *my* expectations as a reader. I was more interested in the page count and, sometimes, in the sparse poetic quality of the novel, than what was happening to the three main characters. By the end of the book, I was too disappointed to complain about the lack of resolution and was only glad to say that I'd finished what I'd begun. A valuable read for true Atwood fans interested in noting the evolution of her work between then and now, but not a book to cluck cluck cluck over. Two-and-a-half stars.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The traces we leave behind,
By m.nell@rf.roccadefinance.nl (Kampen, The Netherlands) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Life Before Man (Paperback)
What is the nature of a fossil? Using a quote from Bjorn Kurten to precede this novel, Atwood illuminates much of what is to follow: a fossil is not necessarily a part of an organism, but could be a record of its activity: a footprint, perhaps. It could be a prehistoric equivalent of graffiti.Using the fossil as the central metaphor for her novel, Atwood tells the story of three individuals whose lives collide with cataclysmic effect. Told in episodes from the three different perspectives the reader uncovers the story much like an archaeologist might uncover the treasures of a prehistoric site. Elizabeth, Nate and Lesje are put under the microscope and steadily stripped down to their essential components by a narrator (although a few of Elizabeth's episodes are told in the first person) who is as objective as a scientist. We all know, however, that scientists are not always objective. What makes this novel so fascinating is this interplay between cold fact and emotional involvement. Atwood refuses to follow easy paths to happy solutions and the reader senses early on that a tragic outcome is as inevitable as the eventual extinction of Lesje's beloved dinosaurs. Her characters are neither heroes nor villains, neither heartless monsters nor innocent victims. They are driven towards their fates by forces as much in their own natures as in the natures of those around them. As any true Atwood devotee would expect, the writing is sharp, witty, observant and totally compelling. It is perhaps richer in symbolism than many of her other novels, yet it does not tread the mystical and poetic waters (so to speak) of "Surfacing". It reads deceptively easily and the bubbling volcano at its core is implied rather than stated. If the novel has a possible downfall it could lie in this subtlety, which many readers might not perceive. "Life before man" is a landmark novel, even for an author who is surely one of the greatest literary minds of our age. Its effect is devastating in the best possible sense, making the reader reflect on the consequences of actions which might seem insignificant at the time, but can leave traces far beyond their original scope.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing, especially for an Atwood fan,
By
This review is from: Life Before Man (Mass Market Paperback)
Life Before Man was a big disappointment to me. I love all of Margaret Atwood's other books and have always enjoyed the skillful movements back and forth through stages in the charcters lives. Unfortunatly, this device doesn't work well in this book because so very little actually happens. It is character driven and introspective to a fault, especially since none of the characters are likeable. Those in sympathetic positions (Lesje and Nate) are too colorless to inspire affection or loyalty, and Elizabeth, while possessing of some spirit and initiative, is too selfish and cold to inspire sympathy. If you've decided to read Margaret Atwood, please start with Cat's Eye or Alias Grace or The Robber Bride. There may be something to be learned from Life Before Man, but it's too sad and slow a lesson.
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