Whitman news since 1896

Whitman Wire

Vol. CLIV, Issue 6
Whitman news since 1896

Whitman Wire

Whitman news since 1896

Whitman Wire

Atwood pitches ‘The Tent’

Poignant, understated drama is what comes to mind when describing Margaret Atwood’s “The Tent.”

A small collection of short stories, poems and literary works, some of the material published here in 2007 has been previously shown in other compilations of Atwood’s.

“The Tent” consists of deeply emotive vignettes that hang together not through common characters or plot lines but rather through trends and themes in Atwood’s writing. Although there is no over-arching narrative all of the stories come together to form a cohesive message.

The same can be said of each individual excerpt. If you are looking for a long narrative with in-depth character development and analysis, “The Tent” will likely not please you. Very few of the chapters consist of a complete story and while they sometimes feel disjointed when read right in a row, each story has the perfect amount of detail to nail home the point but remain succinct.

Reading more like poetry than prose, even in those chapters that function like stories versus poems, Atwood’s writing is simply beautiful. The stories range from very short descriptions of one’s voice, to longer musings on warlords. This collection, while it doesn’t have a clear narrative, and does read mostly like poetry, is metaphoric only to the perfect point of comprehension. Additionally, each metaphorical chapter offers a lovely, raw and surface-level story.

Covering ideas ranging from youth to death, from identity to fear, from limits to failure, this collection has something to offer for each reader.
The stories challenge you to think about these themes. They are dark and sometimes incredibly painful. Yet, some of them are funny and hopeful.

For example, one portrait in the middle of the collection entitled, “The Animals Reject Their Names and Things Return to Their Origins” begins with a description of the bear’s disdain for his name as something that constricts his identity. Soon other animals follow suit as Atwood challenges our notions of both the importance of words as well as the problems we face when we forget what is behind them.

While Atwood’s stories within this collection could easily conjure up images of your own life, they can also bring about contemplation of the lives of people you don’t know. Some of the excerpts are laugh-out-loud funny, and some will leave you an emotional puddle on the ground.
A quick read, full of varying feelings and sentiments, this is another on the long list of Atwood’s already loved collections.

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