The Blindfold Paperback – January 1, 1994

This was my first book of Siri's and it was a delightful book. I could relate to Iris and her struggles as some related to my life. What touched me was her drive to keep going even in the hardest times and yet lost herself to survive too. How many of us would just love to be some body else for a while. I cried and laughed with and at Iris. When she shared her story to Paris of her police incident I laughed so hard because I could imagine the thoughts going through his head. "What are friends for but to have a good laugh." I do hope that Siri will continue another book about Iris. I would like to find out if she ever finds love and if she is alright in other areas of her life. This is the first book that I hated to see end.

I did not get the book, it seemed that the book ended even before it started, and the end came quite suddenly without giving any answers. The main character is a tortured and unhealthy young lady who gets involved with quite strange men, and in the end is always disappointed. Did not get the story at all!

I like Siri Hustvedt's writing. It's intellectual and profound, but this particular book lacked the direction found in her other books, I felt. I'd like to read more of her novels.

Haunting debut. Very promising. A book I read several years ago, and read again now. I love the energy in the book. Not perfect, but close.

Very odd book, but interesting. Had to read for school. Has a lot of dealings with mental illness.

One of my favorite novels. Read 3 times. So visual and evocative, bringing out subconcious feelings about looking, being looked at, trust, and vulnerability.

This is a very good writer. And, I understand that every novel doesn't have to be a spy story or a thriller. This was a character study about a young woman, sought after mostly by older men, who is fighting mentally illness, and not too successfully, but trying to make her way through life. She weaves 4(?) connected stories, really connected by characters that weave in and out of her life, and with some gothic horror elements, that just aren't that scary. More disturbing. Like a lot of stories, I have trouble finding someone to like. She's not unlikeable, but you would find it incredibly tiring to be her friend. She seems to have one here - Ruth, who doesn't spend much time with her. Stephen, a boyfriend, and George, perhaps a potential boyfriend, seem to have their own issues, but not so bad as her. I couldn't say I found either likeable, but I did get the feeling that Stephen was treated shabbily by the author. Her professor-lover, I don't get it. Mr. Morning was more disturbing than her and Paris, maybe the most likeable of all, was not only disturbing, but incredibly annoying. The book started like it was on a path to a good story, and then fell off to what was the real story. In fact, every part of it seemed like it was on its way to a good story, only to fold back in on her mental illness. In the end, I admire the author's ability. I might read another if it falls into my lap. But, I feel no great drive to do so.

I gave this book two stars because I both liked and disliked it at the same time. The Independent on Sunday called it 'mesmerizing'. It was but not in a good way. I thought it mesmerizing like witnessing a car accident. A tragedy you can't take your eyes away from.'The Blindfold' consisted of four parts. Part one sees Iris take up dictation for Mr. Morning. She is given an object to describe, a glove, a cotton ball. Eventually, she becomes suspicious of the origin of the object and throws it away. Neither the objects nor Mr. Morning are ever mentioned again.Part two introduces Stephen and George. George takes a photograph of Iris, which embarrasses her. He displays the photo in a gallery viewing of his work, until it mysteriously disappears. She eventually stops contact with both men. I enjoyed this part most, though I can't say why. It's the car accident again. The story puts you in a kind of trance.Part three sees Iris in a hospital. This is where I began to loose interest. Her life was too bizarre, too chaotic. Or perhaps just her thoughts. It all didn't seem real. I half expected her to wake up at the end and reveal it was all a dream.Part four sees her at university. This is the first time I felt I was reading the book I'd picked up in the first place. Iris had seemed faded before, black and white. Now she was in full colour. However, it didn't last long.'The Blindfold' made me feel blindfolded the entire way though. In the end, I felt dazed and confused by what I'd read and what it all meant. Iris reminded me of Elizabeth Wurtzel in 'Prozac Nation' or Susanna Kaysen from 'Girl, Interrupted.' Whether she was meant to be bi-polar or suicidal, I'm not sure.

The first time I read this book I really didn't like it, then I reread it and began to be enchanted. On one level it is the story of the coming of age of Iris Vegan, an intellectually intelligent but emotionally naive midwest girl come to New York to university. Like a little girl in a fairytale she meets a cast of characters on the streets and in the buildings of the urban jungle, the creepy obsessive Mr Morning, the too too cool Stephen and his artistic friends, Iris' professor lover and Iris' own transformation into a she/he wandering the seedier pits of the urban landscape and New York itself. Iris an literature student and she describes the world around her in first person narration through the filter of her heroines. Give it time and it will haunt you.

Siri Hustvedt, for me one of the best modern writers does not let me down. Very insightful and always this way of springing a surprise, in this case by swinging the camera you view the story from right around, deft and absorbing

I love this author, she shows a great insight into human nature, and this book is as good as her others.

Blindfold was the final book of Siri Hustvedt which I hadn't read before. I love all of her books and waiting to read a new one. I know people who don't like Siri Hustvedt. I'd like to know why.

brilliant