What is your favorite Margaret Atwood novel/short fiction collection and why?

My sentimental favorite would be The Handmaid's Tale because of how the story spoke so powerfully (and personally) to me at a certain time in my life. Since that time I have come to appreciate it in a more literary way and as a powerful warning message that I still consider revelant today.

My favorite would have to "Oryx and Crake". Taking nothing away from "The Handmaid's Tale" - I have to say that Oryx and Crake was a more inventive, more horrifying novel. I had a deeper connection to it. I also think it was more subtle than Handmaid's Tale.

My favorite (so far) is Lady Oracle though i must express a certain (perhaps irrational) fondness for The Edible Woman--i've heard people describe it as an immature effort and though it may have been her first novel i definitely taste the Atwood flavor here and something about it speaks so true to me. As i try to choose favorites here (as in so many other cases) other titles keep crying out to me--suffice it say i love MOST of them Bodily Harm and Surfacing might be at the bottom of my list though everything is well worth reading.

My favourite is the Blind Assassin. But I find things to love about almost all her novels. I do prefer the funny, satirical ones like the Robber Bride over the darker dystopias like the Handmaid's Tale and Oryx and Crake.

rampaginglibrarian, you make me want to reread all the older titles! sigh. so many books. And, tripleblessings, I loved The Blind Assassin also - that would've been my second choice (although I would have to wonder how my choices would be affected if I reread the older titles...)

I think Handmaid's Tale will always be my sentimental favorite, simply because it was my first introduction to her work, but Blind Assassin is also very high on my list of favorites.

I have to agree with avaland and Tricoteuse. I was introduced to Atwood's work through Handmaid's Tale so it has become my nostalgic favorite. When it was made into a movie I clung to the written word that much more.
Alias Grace is right up there, too.

My favourite Atwood work continues to be Cat's Eye, mainly due to its nuanced exploration of the heartbreak of girls' friendships, but also because much of it takes place in a part of Toronto I used to live in (and loved dearly). For example, I know the ravine that's represented on the book cover and the "church with the onion on top". St. Clair Street West!

I loved, loved, LOVED The Blind Assassin. Loved it!

I liked The Blind Assassin also, but my all time favorite is Cat's Eye. It taught me something about being a creative person that changed my life.

I've also read, Oryx and Crake, (most recently) and Handmaid's Tale, but in all truth, I didn't care very much for them.

My favourite is Alias Grace by a whisker from The Blind Assassin. I've never got on with Cat's Eye, maybe I need to try it again afresh!

Blind Assassin is my favorite, but I loved Cat's Eye when I read it as a teenager. It captured the tortured love affairs that friendships are at that age

Well, it looks like this thread has just about died, but I'm still going to weigh in!

Cat's Eye is my all time favorite - it changed the way I look at life (the nature of creativity, specifically) and is listed among my "life altering" books. My second favorite is Blind Assassin.

Unfortunately, I don't care too much for the dystopian books -- but then I don't care for utopian books, either, so it's probably just the genre. That being said, Handmaid's Tale and Oryx and Crake were just not my cup of tea. Although I enjoyed pondering the philosophical questions they posed ... but would probably not recommend them without a caveat.

I've had Robber Bride in Mount TBR for years, and see now that I really must get to it sooner than later. Thanks!

Hmm.. I'd say The Handmaid's Tale is a favorite because of how much I've enjoyed it -- and it's a classic! A sentimental favorite is Lady Oracle because it's the first Atwood book I read and fell in love with. Cat's Eye also comes close at the top.

The Robber Bride is absolutely my favourite. I'm not sure I can quite explain why. I get completely absorbed in the women's lives. When I have to stop reading (like when the train arrives at my station), I feel disorientated, like I've been underwater for a long time and have just come up for air.

The Handmaid's Tale also has a place in my heart as the first Atwood I read.

In fact, the only that I haven't enjoyed so far is surfacing, but it's on my re-read list. I'm determined to like it!

I love Cat's Eye, partly because it reveals that little girls are not necessarily sugar 'n spice 'n everything nice, but also because it's set in Toronto just a little before the time in which I grew up in that same city. (Hi, chamekke, message 9!)

I also love The Blind Assassin, The Penelopiad, and Moral Disorder. My sister and I have fond memories of Lady Oracle. I'm embarrassed to say I taught Surfacing to Grade 12 English students in the late 80s and early 90s, probably 'ruining' Atwood for them forever!

Will someone out there tell me why I should give Oryx and Crake another go? I haven't been able to get past the first few pages. I read The Handmaid's Tale when I was pregant and THAT was a big mistake! I could never look at it again without feeling nauseated.

The Edible Woman was my first and most pleasurable read. It's easy and funny as Chick Lit, but also insightful and relevant. Lady Oracle gave me a similar reading experience, and I always love stories of how artists come to be. I thought the Robber Bride was not as good, and the Blind Assassin was a bit too TV-movie as far as plots and execution went.

This was a hard question, as I love so many of Atwood's works. My favorite is Cat's Eye. I also read it as a teenager and felt a deep connection to the description of girls' friendships. I also adore The Robber Bride for the same reason.

I also really like her poetry collections. It's interesting to see how an image (like the bridge and ravine in Cat's Eye) first appeared in a poem.

after a recent rereading of The Handmaid's Tale, I have to say, it's still my favorite. There's just so much in it.

Top 3:
Handmaid's Tale-you always love your first, I guess. This one has always spoken to me and I love the story.
Cat's Eye-This novel showed me Atwood at what I think is her strongest, when she's describing what's happening in a normal, every-day life.
Oryx and Crake-This was the other side of the dystopia coin for me, opposite HT. I majored in biology as an undergrad, so I loved the biotech aspects, too.

I just finished The Robber Bride, and it's definitely one of my favorites now!