Margaret Atwood: preference

Transcript context

…I’ve always enjoyed the way you write about the ability of objects to evoke memory or nostalgia. Why is it that you think you’re so good at that? And how do you approach writing about a relationship with objects and memory? Wow. Well, first of all, I’m Canadian, so I’m not allowed to say I’m good at anything. [laughter] Yes, we do the puncturing of hubris in our country. Unlike you in yours. [laughter] So, thank you. Thank you, but we won’t let that get out to the general audience. I think probably because I read a lot of Dickens. Dickens is not very good about women unless they’re eccentric, weird women. He’s kind of bad about the heroines. But he’s very good about objects. The other person who’s very good about objects is Raymond Chandler. Raymond Chandler is particularly good about furniture. In fact, I have a little prose poem called “In Love with Raymond Chandler,” which is about his handling of sofas. Yes, objects are very evocative, especially if you’re a person who’s been a child and has a memory because children relate quite strongly to objects in their environment when they’re little. From the iPad. “How do you choose which nonfiction to read?”…

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