Now a Hulu Original SeriesThe Handmaid’s Tale is a novel of such power that the reader will be unable to forget its images and its forecast. Set in the near future, it describes life in what was once the United States and is now called the Republic of Gilead, a monotheocracy that has reacted to social unrest and a sharply declining birthrate by reverting to, and going beyond, the repressive … beyond, the repressive intolerance of the original Puritans. The regime takes the Book of Genesis absolutely at its word, with bizarre consequences for the women and men in its population.
The story is told through the eyes of Offred, one of the unfortunate Handmaids under the new social order. In condensed but eloquent prose, by turns cool-eyed, tender, despairing, passionate, and wry, she reveals to us the dark corners behind the establishment’s calm facade, as certain tendencies now in existence are carried to their logical conclusions. The Handmaid’s Tale is funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing. It is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and a tour de force. It is Margaret Atwood at her best.
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I sincerely hope that our world does not turn into a place such as this world, but this book is an eye opener in a tragic way. Sometimes folks don’t speak out early enough when wrongs are being perpetuated, and just follow the herd until all is lost. Viva la Resistance!
This is without doubt the worst book I have ever read.
Reading the Handmaids tale affirmed to me the importance of our roles as citizens to be the conscious of our society, and the danger of being extreme and inflexible. Life thrives on balance and moderation. Our current political status after 2016 elections in USA & Europe; the rise of white supremacy, nationalism, isolationism. reminded me of a …
Offred is a handmaid in the new world. Revolutions and civil wars led to an end of the way things used to be. Pollution put an end to normal conception and family life. Offred dresses all in red, as do the other handmaids, a symbol that she is a handmaid, the woman who is supposed to conceive a baby for a high-ranking couple.
Offred remembers the …
Dystopian tale of how extreme right wing views distorts society. Disturbing.
Hard to describe how I felt about this book except to say it’s a book you need to read and experience.
one of the best books of all time
One of my favorites of all time!
too close to real life for comfort. The fact that it’s even remotely possible makes it scary.
Rightly deserves to be considered a classic.
Most thought provoking book that I have read in a long time. Still haven’t decided if I liked it or not.
I like more detail in my science fiction. I was irritated by the missing letter at the beginning of each chapter.
A dystopia based on the premise that a revisionist “Old Testament” Christian variant has taken America and warped it into a Patriarchal mode where women own nothing. The protagonist first realized the degree of the calamity when her credit card was cancelled because of her gender. The unclarified environmental catastrophy resulting in decreased …
I hear she is writing a sequel, can’t wait!
One of the greatest and most excitingly readable books of the last 40’years. One of the few books that I literally could not put down and stayed up late reading–not so much for the conventional “and then what” but for “how did this happen” and what is this world like.
This book blew me away.
As a woman, I found this tale to be a frightening possibility of what might occur if birth rates continue to decline in “desired” populations (countries, states, etc,).
this is one of those books that you think about for a LONG time after you are done
Read it when it first came out and couldn’t fully comprehend its enormity then. Read it again 3 months ago and could talk to no one until I had finished it. Compelling and scary. Made me feel fragile and not fully whole the second time around! Must read!
A disturbing portrayal of a “what if” dystopian fruture that perhaps that is not so “what if” in light of current events in the US.