Surfacing | Literary Criticism & Book Review

Surfacing Critical Overview

When Surfacing, was published in 1972, it earned recognition in Canada and in the United States from scholars and from the general public. Most critics applauded the novel's style, characterizations, and themes. Edward Weeks, in a review for Atlantic, writes that Atwood's "sense of the place, of the lake in its various moods, or the animal life retreating before the intruder, is beautifully conveyed. . . . [There are] passages of fine writing in this book and scenes of considerable power, such as the diving under the cliff and the discovery of the dead heron." Paul Delany, in the New York Times Book Review, determines that

at a time when many novelists restrict themselves to
a single mode of expression, such as documentary realism
or unrestrained fantasy, Miss Atwood has undertaken
a more serious and complex task. Denying
Emerson's maxim that the true art of life is to skate
...
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