Margaret Atwood in the New York Times

Margaret Atwood (via last.fm)

I read a most interesting interview with Margaret Atwood in The New York Times that is discussing a variety of things but focusing on her latest work "Payback:Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth."

From the interview:

"The publication of “Payback” in October coincided with the worsening of the global economic crisis, an issue that piqued the audience’s interest in Hong Kong, which has always been more of a financial city than a literary one.“It made people think I had a crystal ball and I’d tell them what stocks they should invest in,” she said, drawing laughter during one of her four talks here.For her, the story of debt — and the way society has mishandled it — is the story of humankind. It’s a theme that runs deep through her literature."

The times we are living in provide rich material for a dystopian society of which Atwood is so good at writing about.
I like what she has to say here:

"Now, she said, debt has become “bit-ified,” with, for example, people taking mortgages and breaking them into bits, then selling them to other people. “And when it all fell apart, and they tried to figure out who, exactly, owned the mortgage on a house, they couldn’t.” Meanwhile, she added, “governments hurl taxpayers’ dollars into a bottomless pit.”

Isn't that the truth, though? Our lives in general have become more compartmentalized in terms of the type of work we do, the particular kind of sport we enjoy, the way we communicate, etc because there is so much information these days we need to break everything down into smaller parts.

It is easy to think very negatively in tough times about the future of humanity, but I like that Atwood digs deep into the meanings behind human behavior and points out certain flaws we contain in good times and bad as a society. Maybe by writing this kind of story it can make people more aware of how our actions as individuals have real consequences in our own lives and to society as well. I still think we have a long ways to go before achieving a peaceful productive life here on Earth in which all people can work together, but everything is possible.

Anyway, I thought the article was very interesting and you can read it here.
Enjoy your day!