Margaret Atwood at The Booker Prize function.

I used to teach The Handmaid's Tale as an A level text. Lots to discuss.

She is a very intelligent and interesting woman - amazing that she's still writing at the age of 80. I'm not sure that I wholly support XR but people have a right to support what they believe in.

I read A Handmaid's Tale and found it very disturbing and extremely depressing. I wouldn't want to read it again (though I have watched the TV series).

I thought Cat's Eye was a brilliant book and also Alias Grace. I couldn't get on with The Blind Assassin.

Frizzy hair? Finding the milk has gone off? Not being able to find the remote?

You might need to give us a clue in order to narrow it down a bit

Ya know what else is irritating?

Yeah - it’s still xtremely irritating

I think it just ties in with the egg timer on their symbol that looks like an X. And it's a way of saying extinction without the e. Obviously.

Why do XR use x instead of e? Do they think it’s more edgy or summat?

Been following her for years Gonegirl she had a most interesting childhood. Mostly lived in the Canadian countryside camping whilst her dad studied specimens-he was an entomologist. She didn't go to school until she was 12! Surfacing is perhaps the book that really relates to her life.

Ok trisher. You're most likely right.

(although I appreciate you did know really)

Never mind Nanny27. You're probably best off not knowing.

Oh I'm so sorry. Stupid me. Of course it is. ??

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinction_Rebellion
(XR)

Umm..... XR?? ??

Gonegirl as I said Atwood has a very long history of environmental activism. No way can she be considered someone who has simply jumped on a bandwagon. I agree someone may simply have handed her an XR badge and she has worn it for publicity purposes but her dedication goes way beyond that.

Don't know where she got that badge though. XR have no official merchandise. They make their own badges out of cloth. Hers looked like plastic!

Another case of a celeb oaring in IMO.

Love her books.

I used to like her books, but I'm more of a "Take a Break" reader these days.

Love her books although I don't think either the Handmaid's Tale or The Testaments are her best works. Cat's Eye is much better. She comes from a family of natural scientists and spent her youth in the Canadian wilderness where her dad was doing research, so I would think XR is vitally important to her.

I don’t like her books or the fact that XR is a misnomer

I love her books but can’t stand XR.