The Handmaid's Tale
Ratings813
Average rating4.1
15
Ratings813
Average rating4.1
Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now...
--back cover
Featured Series
2 primary booksThe Handmaid's Tale is a 2-book series with 2 primary works first released in 1985 with contributions by Margaret Atwood and Michèle Albaret-Maatsch.
Reviews with the most likes.
I didn't really like Margaret Atwood's writing style in Oryx and Crake and I'm not a huge fan of it here, but I have to say there are glimmers of enjoyment in the writing in this book.
I've never been a dystopia fan, but there is something chilling about the realism of some aspects of Gilead that might very well happen in our world, any time in the near future - all this despite the fact that this book in itself was published almost 2 decades ago.
3.5
A very detailed, yet white-washed analysis on a dystopian (yet realistic) look at a future where women (specifically fertile ones) are made property (again). This was very well-written and the premise was very interesting, but I found myself losing interest in some parts.
Grim and Shocking Tale!!
A grim tale of possible future that makes you think should we raise voice against the totalitarian regimes when they start making disastrous changes or just act ignorant and think it will not impact us. The main character had the same thinking and very well conveys it by saying “we are the people who live in the white spaces of newspapers always thinking that actions by government will never impact us.”
On the other note, the book is slightly difficult to read but you slowly get hooked to the story of Offred and how world came to a dark future like this.
My first Atwood read was actually The Year of the Flood, and honestly it didn't grab me the way I thought it would based on reviews. I picked this book up because I'm trying to read some “classics” that I missed, and it blew me away. Such concise, terse language which nonetheless blooms into something amazing. It's not a happy read–way too close to home in that “our society is a thin veneer” sort of way, but that's the strength of the book as well, of course: With a few years, things could change significantly for the worse for all of us, and for women in particular. (When I was growing up, the idea that women wouldn't have easy, cheap access to abortion by now seemed silly, for instance.) This is definitely a book I will read again and again.
SPOILER BELOW
One odd thing that hit me as I finished the book up last night is the shift in tone at the very end, as it is revealed that the Mayday folks are there to save our protagonist–the whole book seems to be building to her suicide, almost from the first page, and then BAM! she's part of the resistance. It seems so unlikely, in a way–but also, it speaks to the fact that many of us don't see the resistance going on all around us, aren't familiar with the ways in which people resist every damn day. I suppose the ending is ambiguous on purpose...
Featured Prompt
1,973 booksWhen you think back on every book you've ever read, what are some of your favorites? These can be from any time of your life – books that resonated with you as a kid, ones that shaped your personal...
