“I still think this was the scariest book I have ever read which was quite a number of years ago. What is really hair raising is that so much of it has found life in our present day. One small memory is using plastic cards to enter different locations. Did that happen in this story or is this part of the nightmare I retained? Think of all the cards we use today to enter rooms or buildings. Think of Ann Le! Protection is what we think we have by using them. Yuck!”
“too quick and too obvious if you know what i mean”
“i barely remember reading this, but i know i read it in middle school.i guess i was too young. i think i should read this again.”
“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. ”
“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. ”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“First read for A level, a dystopia that does not portray women in a very nice light. segregated, categorised, coloured to purpose of job, a future we do not want, no one seems happy”
