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The Handmaid's Tale: A Novel
 

The Handmaid's Tale: A Novel

by Margaret Atwood

In the world of the near future, who will control women's bodies?

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... (read more)

Top tags: fiction,  dystopia,  science fiction,  feminism,  literature (all tags)

Discussions

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  • ZOEY P

    zoey p said:

    “I picked up this book because I love dystopian books and movies (such as Jean-Luc Godard's movie "Alphaville"- rent it!), and this one sounded especially intriguing. It takes place in a future where women are either wives, "Marthas" (housekeepers), or, in the case of the protagonist, handmaids (women solely meant to give birth for infertile couples). The main character feels trapped in a society in which a woman's body is a possession which she cannot own, and in which she has been stripped of her past and identity.
    The Handmaid's Tale kept me hooked because of Margaret Atwood's writing; it is transfixing! Each word rings with quiet desperation. Only in this book can the writer randomly write "help me" and it is perfectly placed, completely unforced. It made me want to read more of Atwood's books; I could not ut this one down! It's hypnotic, trapping the reader in its rythyms, and leaving the reader thinking long after he or she has finished it. ”

    posted Wednesday, September 24 2008 ( | view 2 replies )
  • Selina C

    selina c said:

    “To be critical and nit picky -parts of it WERE realistic, but then parts of it were completely off the wall. I mean come on. Women not being allowed to read? How could they have enforced that one? Wouldn't that kind of futuristic society invented test-tube babies to counteract the 'sex' problem? Some major plot holes and anachronisms if you think about it too much. ”

    posted Tuesday, August 26 2008 ( | view 3 replies )
  • Samra T

    samra t said:

    “I poured over the posts and did not see anyone referring to the movie adaptation of this book, and I have to say, if you can find it in the video store, rent it! The book was hauntingly realistic. With our digitized lifestyles, our On-line everything, how easily our lives could be taken over by a hostile force! Fore more info on the movie, made in 1990, go to IMDB.com and search for The Handmaid's Tale.”

    posted Tuesday, August 26 2008
  • Sara Sunshine (Ninja Librarian)

    sara sunshine (ninja librarian) said:

    “I read this when I was 16 for fun. (Yes I was a crazy bibliophile.)

    I found it to be a haunting example of a dystopian feminist society. Since at the time, I had recently read several books railing against the evilness of a patriarchal society this one created an interesting counterpoint. (Example:" Gibbon's Decline and Fall" by Sherri S. Tepper). At the same time I must admit it was a rather tedious book to read. Despite the fact that it was not very enjoyable, aspects of it have haunted my mind for years. It isn't a fun read, but it certainly has impact.

    That said, on a rather disturbing note, I learned from a young library patron recently that this book is being assigned to some Middle School and Freshmen students. How scary is that! Yes I read it at 16, but I was a freak! I've heard college seniors bemoan the tediousness of this book, and school's are going to foist it upon kids who are primed and ready to discard reading as uncool! Ack! Please teachers out there; let people discover this book either on their own or in college. Forced reading of dense literature is like the recipe for convincing teens and preteens that reading is a boring, uncool, grind, and a waste of time. Even "Brave New World" would be a better choice for highlighting a dystopian society or "The Giver" by Lois Lowry.”

    posted Wednesday, July 30 2008 ( | view 2 replies )
  • Pinkie D

    pinkie d said:

    “What a bizarre concept. Chilling and revolting, yet slicing very close to many beliefs existent today.

    I found this particular work of Atwood's to be quite disjointed, but that was purposeful of course; the mind of someone trying to stay sane in an utterly un-sane and insane world. The limited use of dialogue was a nice twist.

    For the few sexual curses and body part slangs that were used, I feel a bit more descriptive sexual play would have been appropriate. Why stop at mere innuendo when crassness leapt off the page mere paragraphs before? It's just not consistent writing.

    All in all, the whole concept was brilliant. It took a mastermind to piece together and Atwood was successful indeed. The ending left much to be desired. The Historical Notes did nothing to appease this reader. I was left wanting.”

    posted Tuesday, July 29 2008
  • Melissa M

    melissa m said:

    “I originally read this in college. (For fun - if you can believe that!) Now it's probably part of someone's required reading for freshman lit. I read it again it following the ousting of the Taliban from Afghanistan and I couldn't help drawing comparisons with Atwood's fictional Gilead regime. That said, I think it's rather reactionary for tiny d to take Atwood to task for being a feminist writer using a fantasy setting. All of Atwood's work has in one way or another examined the role played by women in society. (That would be what those freshman lit majors would call "a literary theme.") Why is it immature or adolescent for any writer to use a futuristic or fantasy setting to tell their tale? That suggests that the genres of fantasy or science Fiction are inherently immature. As for The Handmaid's Tale being "A poor woman's version of 1984," I fail to comprehend why Atwood's examination of gender roles, religion, and societal norms is any less worthy than Orwell's thinly disguised, Cold war era diatribe against communism.”

    posted Saturday, June 28 2008 ( | view 1 reply )
  • Thom

    thom said:

    “Hmm, this one was a chore to read, I'm not going to lie. It wasn't very gripping. It was quite tedious if not a little repetitive.
    Although with that being said, Atwood's imagery and metaphors are truely fantastic; there are some absolute gems hidden in there which make the novel well worth reading and gave enough excitement (for me) to read it all the way through.”

    posted Monday, June 16 2008
  • Selina C

    selina c said:

    “We lived..as usual, by ignoring...

    Female genital mutilation, Westerners paying poor Indian women to mother their surrogate babies, sexually abusive nuns, expensive fertility treatment for rich career women who 'forgot' to have children, nuclear radiation fallout, Japanese wives who's only function in life is to shop and have sex, burqas, legalisation of prostitution, female infanticide, academic shortsightedness...

    I am so glad Ms Atwood was given the gift to write. Without her brilliant, disturbing writing these issues probably wouldn't even get a look in. If feminism means basic human rights for females then I'm all for it.

    Aside from that..in 'The Handmaids tale,' it must be said the men are equally trapped. It can't be said that Atwood is feminist in that she champions women over men, it is just she is writing from a female point of view. A trend I've noticed in Atwood's writing is the men are more or less emasculated, they are either afraid of women or bewitched by them...neither side seems to communicate with the other...maybe it's just me but I find it an curiously outmoded idea, probably belonging to earlier generations, that female and male are different species or different planets when in these enlightened times one would hope everyone realises that underneath it all we are all human.”

    posted Saturday, June 14 2008
  • drinknread

    drinknread said:

    “I don't know if I was more fascinated by the artful writing or the horror of living such a sheltered, 'primitive' life. Either way, it woke me up to issues of feminism, which thankfully I've passed 'through' and "out" the other side. I felt that the diehards took feminism way too seriously for our (women AND men's) own good. I agree with Amy's comment, that some church women don't see the pretense and are trapped by fear and ritualistic habits - no pun intended - rather than freed, as suggested by Christ' teachings...which is why I eventually read some of Bishop Selby Spong's books - but that's a while ago now, and I'm returning to read a few of them again. I enjoyed the movie of this book, which I normally don't, so perhaps the script interpretation matched the essence of Margaret Atwood's story...”

    posted Sunday, April 27 2008
  • drinknread

    drinknread said:

    “I don't know if I was more fascinated by the artful writing or the horror of living such a sheltered, 'primitive' life. Either way, it woke me up to issues of feminism, which thankfully I've passed 'through' and "out" the other side. I felt that the diehards took feminism way too seriously for our (women AND men's) own good. I agree with Amy's comment, that some church women don't see the pretense and are trapped by fear and ritualistic habits - no pun intended - rather than freed, as suggested by Christ' teachings...which is why I eventually read some of Bishop Selby Spong's books - but that's a while ago now, and I'm returning to read a few of them again. I enjoyed the movie of this book, which I normally don't, so perhaps the script interpretation matched the essence of Margaret Atwood's story...”

    posted Sunday, April 27 2008
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