Literary Hub has an excerpt from Margaret Atwood’s new book The Heart Goes Last that she has annotated. I am very happy Atwood has a new book but I am also unsure about it. You see, I have already read a large portion of it over a year ago.
The book began as an experiment on Amazon in writing serial fiction. Every few months Atwood would publish a new chunk of the story for $1.99-$2.99. Things were going pretty well and then all of a sudden she stopped publishing them. I read perhaps 100-150 pages of the book and then was left hanging. Ok, I thought, I guess the serial thing wasn’t working out and she ended the project.
When I found out about The Heart Goes Last I was excited until I realized that it is the book she was publishing as a serial. I feel a little cheated. I mean, if I want to find out what happens I will have to buy the whole book after I have already bought the first third of the book. Seems a bit unfair, like perhaps I should get a discount for the part I have already paid for.
That’s only part of the trouble. When it was being published as a serial, it was not on a regular schedule of say, a chapter a month or fifty pages every six weeks. Part two came out about two months after the first part and the third part came out about four months after the second part. And then it was no more. The length of time between each volume made it hard to really get into the story. The premise was good but I wasn’t especially enjoying it and only bought and read each subsequent part because it was Margaret Atwood. I am having a hard time mustering up enthusiasm for the book.
Part of me thinks that reading it as a whole book and not as a serial will make a lot of difference. But as I think about what I have already read, I am surprised by just how much detail I can recall. So then I wonder whether she made any revisions to what was already published and if so, how might that affect rereading the first third of the book and continuing to the conclusion?
Until I actually read the book I can only speculate. But I am not in a hurry to read it and that leaves me feeling just a tiny bit disappointed. I am hoping that when other people start talking about it my disappointment will dissolve.
Now, briefly, about those annotations at Literary Hub. Atwood used a site called Genius. They have a section called Lit Genius. This site is dedicated to annotating literature. It is kind of interesting. Have any of you spent much time on it? I haven’t had a chance to explore other than a quick browse. I like the concept, but I wonder how useful and/or interesting it might be for readers other than students? Because it looks like most of what is there is aimed at students. I could be wrong. Still though, makes me really happy about the cool things the internet allows us to do.
I am unpatriotic in my disinterest for Margaret Atwood’s fiction, especially all the dystopian titles, a subgenre I rarely read. But I admire and respect her for her tireless support of writers and literature (plus her politics). I love to hear her interviewed and have a book of her essays. It is in keeping with her tendency to be open to all new and evolving forms of engaging with readers and writing. However I can understand your disappointment in this case. Waiting out a few reviews first is probably wise. I am sure you’ll find something to read while you wait. 😉
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roughghosts, heh, I’m sure your lack of enthusiasm for Atwood is shared by many in Canada. I do like her dystopian titles especially the trilogy that began with Oryx and Crake but I know things like that are not everyone’s cuppa. Here newest is sort of dystopian too though not in the way of her trilogy. As a person she is very engaging and isn’t she? I am more than certain I will find plenty to read while waiting for the reviews of her book!
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Oh dear Stefanie, that sounds completely unfair. Why should you pay for the whole book? I have a funny story too, where I read a book for free – by Anna Funder, sponsored by Paspaley Pearls. It was called Everything precious, or something like that. Well Penguin have now published it in a little edition for $9.99 under the title The girl with the dogs. I BOUGHT it, not having read about it but thinking a short book by her is likely to be interesting! I was half thinking of giving it as a gift if I didn’t get time to read it (I never read books and then give them away as new). Now I know I’ll be giving it as a gift, in a Christmas stocking probably!
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whisperinggums, that is a funny story! They tricked you with a title change! Someone will be happy with what’s in their Christmas stocking! 🙂
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It will teach me too not to make assumptions about a book, no matter how quality the author!
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Hi Stefanie – that doesn’t sound ideal! I applaud authors exploring different ways of getting their content to readers, but you shouldn’t have to pay full whack if you’ve already purchased individual sections. I guess it would make more sense for it to work like buying an album through an app – where you can purchase individual tracks, and then buy the rest of the album at a discounted rate…Anyway, will definitely check Lit Genius out!
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widget85, I suppose since she did call it an experiment it lets her off the hook a little, but still! I like the idea of buying a book like music. That could be a really interesting purchasing model. Have fun exploring Genius!
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Oh my! I had no idea that had happened… Doesn’t it make you think that the story of Atwood failing to serialise her novel may in fact be more interesting than the novel itself? Was she blocked? Could she just not meet her deadlines? Who decided to pull the plug on the serial? Now that’s an intriguing plotline, right there! I would definitely get this one out of the library in a year’s time!
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litlove, I am really curious about what happened with the serialization and why it failed. I’ll have to do some searching of the internets and see if she mentions it in an interview or something. And yeah, unless everyone starts talking about how fantastic the book is, I will very likely wait and just borrow it from the library.
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Maybe you can find a copy at the library to finish reading what is left? It sounds a little poorly planned. And the reading experience will be different. The whole idea of serial reading is to gather that momentum to keep going and when the sections come out later and with more time in between it does sort of give you a feeling of let down. I wouldn’t want to have to buy it twice either.
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Danielle, I imagine I will eventually borrow it from the library and finish it. And then if it turns out to be really good I will buy the paperback, but I don;t have high hopes for it!
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I got an e-galley of this, not even knowing about the previous serialization. I usually like Atwood, but I couldn’t get past the first 100 pages or so of this. The premise was OK, but it just turned too silly. It’ll be interesting to see what you think of it if you do decide to finish it. The Washington Post review was pretty brutal and gibes with the way my opinion was going.
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Teresa, it does get silly, doesn’t it? I haven;t read any of the reviews so I looked up the Post’s and ouch! The NYT was completely opposite though, giving it high praise. Interesting…
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Thank you for letting me know about the publication history. I’ve been out of the Atwood loop for a few years and really had had no idea of her forays into serialisation. I remember Stephen King trying a serialised novel a few years ago, I wonder if this was supposed to be the high lit equivalent…
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Shoshi, you bet! I love Atwood and I don’t remember how I found out about the serialization but I do know it was not widely marketed and I came upon it quite by accident. I think it was The Green Mile that King did as a serial. His was successful and very good but then I think he had his all done or mostly done and it came out at regular intervals. Do you plan o reading the Atwood book? If so, I look forward to your thoughts on it!
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It’s staring at me now – and I’ve got tickets booked to hear her do a reading in London later on this month which has given me a deadline for finishing it!
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I must have missed all of this because I don’t remember hearing about this serial. But I can say although I’m an Atwood fan I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much due to it coming out in parts. What a bummer that you now have to buy the whole book to find out what happens next. They should at least have a discount or something!
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Iliana, I don;t think the serial was advertised at all. I found out about it quite by accident. If it had come out on a regular basis once a month I think I would have been okay with that but never knowing when the next portion was coming was annoying. I think I will be borrowing it from the library before deciding to own it!
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