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Title: The Handmaid's Tale : A Novel by Margaret Atwood ISBN: 0-385-49081-X Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 16 March, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.12 (345 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Chilling morality tale
Comment: I could probably make a case for the implausibility of the concept that the book puts forward, but only if I got specific, the situation where people (men or women) are used as merely property and not allowed to have any rights of their own still happens all over the world, whether you like it or not. Ms. Atwood is too smart to try and predict what the future might bring, instead she merely illustrates what happens when you stop regarding people as people, when rights of a few take precedence over the rights of everyone else (for the sake of expediency, alas). In this wacky world, women aren't allowed to read or write due to an ultra-Christian (?) (they quote from the Bible) takeover of the country. Women are divided into Aunts, Marthas, Wives and of course the Handmaiden's, who exist to have children and are given to various Commanders to try and make kids. The novel concerns itself with the story of Offred (Of Fred) and it flips back and forth between her life before the takeover, during her education in those dark days before the present time and her current life as a Handmaiden. Atwood protrays all of this in very poetic language, the words she chooses are sometimes breaktaking, but mostly it's in the images she puts forward and in the general aura that the novel is given. There's a sense of inevitable helplessness, Offred isn't going to change the world by herself and the world isn't going to change in the next day, she realizes that and still wants to fight but isn't sure how. The flashbacks are all rendered quite nicely, and given the right sense of eerie timelessness. The story is never given a date so it could happen anytime but the point illustrated is more important than the details. Some might find her a bit too immersed in the concept, the story tends to float blissfully along but she never gets preachy and even though has the country taken over by an orthodox Christian group, she's not bashing Christainity, just about any religion has buried in it somewhere the same primitive attitudes about women. But for me, it's about more than women, it's about people and what happens when all of a sudden people are property, how it dehumanizes everyone, even as you try to remain as human as you can. A fine story, with the people brought vividly to life, warts and all, and one gives one pause to think. Also, don't skip the historical section in the back, it's a bit wordy and academic and doesn't really explain the cliffhanger ending any better, but gives a better glimpse in everything. All it takes is a little perspective, I guess.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Must-Read
Comment: The Handmaid's Tale is fashioned as a dystopia, with an emphasis on feminism. The novel takes place in the late twentieth-century Republic of Gilead after an extremist right-wing group takes contol of what was formerly known as the United States. The main character is Offred, a Handmaid whose sole task in society is based on her biological function to produce children. Due to environmental pollution, a scourge of declining birthrates has befallen the nation. The Gileadean solution, essentially what critic Karen Stein calls "state-sanctioned rape," is a monthly fertilization ritual of the handmaids by the Commander of the Faith appropriated to them by the government. Thus originates Offred's name, literally denoting her status as a possession of Fred.
Under the guise of religious salvation, the Gileadean regime builds a social structure that is rigid, oppressive, and above all, misogynistic. Women in Gilead, "two-legged wombs [...] sacred vessels, ambulatory chalices," are valued solely for their fertility. As complacency replaces the strong wills of the independent woman around Offred, her hope diminishes as well. In her horrifying tale, Margaret Atwood emphasizes the idea that the oppression on women in a totalitarian state is powerful enough to destroy the human will.
By exaggerating some existing misogynistic attitudes and intertwining them with an affecting plot and characters, Atwood finds similar success in her endeavors to shed light upon and caution against a horrific societal treatment of women. Although it's just as depressing as fellow dystopias 1984 and Brave New World, it's more beautifully written. Like the two other novels, however, it's frighteningly plausible and in some places feels all too familiar. I highly recommend this book to men and women. Read it even if you don't think it's "your type." This fascinating story is creative and in depth- it is not to be missed.
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent Book
Comment: The Handmaids Tale should serve as a warning to future generations.
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Title: The Handmaid's Tale (Cliffs Notes) by Mary Ellen Snodgrass ISBN: 0822005727 Publisher: Cliffs Notes Pub. Date: 17 October, 1994 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood ISBN: 0385503857 Publisher: Nan A. Talese Pub. Date: 06 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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Title: The Blind Assassin : A Novel by Margaret Atwood ISBN: 0385720955 Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 28 August, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood ISBN: 0385491026 Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 20 January, 1998 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Alias Grace : A Novel by Margaret Atwood ISBN: 0385490445 Publisher: Doubleday Pub. Date: 13 October, 1997 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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