I sink down into my body as into a swamp, fenland, where only I know the footingโฆ. Iโm a cloud, congealed around a central object, the shape of a pear, which is hard and more real than I am and glows red within its translucent wrapping. Inside it is a space, huge as the sky at night and dark and curved like that, though black-red rather than black.
Margaret AtwoodOne of the reasons [William] Shakespeare is so endlessly fascinating is that you can look at that figure from about 10 different angles: Caliban in Shakespeare's day was probably viewed as a sort of comic, barbarian type, but into the 19th century there were productions where Caliban was the hero. He's a potential rapist of a minor. Is that a good thing? No, it is not. On the other hand, Prospero's got him cooped up in a cave and tortures him if he doesn't do what Prospero wants. Is that a good thing? No. Shakespeare doesn't let you off easy.
Margaret AtwoodHistory, as I recall, was never this winsome, and especially not this clean, but the real thing would never sell: most people prefer a past in which nothing smells.
Margaret AtwoodI never have [suffered writerโs block], although Iโve had books that didnโt work out. I had to stop writing them. I just abandoned them. It was depressing, but it wasnโt the end of the world. When it really isnโt working, and youโve been bashing yourself against the wall, itโs kind of a relief. I mean, sometimes you bash yourself against the wall and you get through it. But sometimes the wall is just a wall. Thereโs nothing to be done but go somewhere else.
Margaret Atwood