The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood #bookreview #fantasy #dystopian
Title: The Handmaid’s Tale
Author: Margaret Atwood
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication Date: February 17, 1986
Page Count: 325
My rating: 2 stars
About the book:
The 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 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.
Ok, unpopular opinion time. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is a book that seems like everyone else had read and loved so this is not even my first attempt at reading but this is the first time I pushed through and finished.
The story is supposed to be a not too distant future for those of us in the US where things much go horribly awry to where the country becomes the Republic of Gilead. In Gilead women have basically gone back to the status of being nothing more than property, actually maybe I shouldn’t even say gone back as Gilead seems even worse than the tales of true history.
The book centers around a woman called Offred, which is not even her name but signifies who she belongs to. Offred is what is known as a Handmaid who’s purpose is nothing other than being a breeding vessel for her owner. As a reader learns of Offred’s current situation in Gilead there are also flashbacks to the before time to give hints as to what led to things the way they are.
Now, my first reason for not being in love with this book is simply I really dislike the style of writing. To me the story seems like a puzzle you need to put together as the writing feels choppy and things are left unsaid for a lot of things I want to know. I would be more apt to believe a world of this making if I were given details as to the whys and hows things came about but instead a reader needs to grasp at hints embedded in the long drawn out prose.
To me I honestly think the author just seemed to write more of the actions within the book for the shock factor and perhaps if I’d read this years ago and didn’t already have knowledge of the plot beforehand I may have been shocked and awed but instead I just felt bored while reading. There’s nothing said or done to get me to believe this could be a possible future for America as I don’t see women sitting back and agreeing to be in this sort of situation. Pushing through the book this time I had the afterthought that I should have kept track of each time I would cringe or roll my eyes at things going on as those were definitely my two most powerful reactions. Oh well, now I know this one just isn’t for me though and I can finally check that box of having read it.
Find this book online:
Goodreads / Amazon
About the author:
MARGARET ATWOOD, whose work has been published in over thirty-five countries, is the author of more than forty books of fiction, poetry, and critical essays. In addition to The Handmaid’s Tale, her novels include Cat’s Eye, shortlisted for the Booker Prize; Alias Grace, which won the Giller Prize in Canada and the Premio Mondello in Italy; The Blind Assassin, winner of the 2000 Booker Prize; and her most recent, Oryx and Crake, shortlisted for the 2003 Booker Prize. She lives in Toronto with writer Graeme Gibson.
Carries Book Reviews 
Good review. I didn’t ever feel the need to read it
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I guess I just get these cases of I need to know what is there when I keep hearing about it and with the tv adaption now it keeps coming up so I pushed through.
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Thoughtful review Carrie. I read this years ago and liked it more than you, but I didn’t think it was perfect either.
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Thanks, I do think there are many factors in my feelings reading it now as opposed to long ago like many did.
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You did better than me, Carrie. I couldn’t make it through and abandoned it. I was not engaged at all. This was a few years, and I thought about trying again, but probably won’t. Thoughtful review!
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Thanks Jennifer! I’m surprised at how many have admitted to not liking it since I look at my Goodreads friends list and see an amazing amount of 5 stars but it just shows that not every book is for everyone. The only reason I actually finished this time was putting it on audio because it still dragged like crazy to me again.
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This book/tv show is on my tbr – I don’t know yet what I’ll be doing first, but I have it on my calendar. 😀
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Hopefully you’ll be one of the ones that enjoy it more than I did. 🙂
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I actually enjoyed most of the book. However, I also would have liked to know how things deteriorated to the point of Gilead becoming what it is. I also found the end extremely dissatisfying. I felt as though the rug had been ripped out from under me and I was left frustrated. On the other hand, the HULU series is outstanding. Margaret Atwood is involved in the production, so I can only assume she felt there was a lot more to say. Glad I read it, happier I can watch it.
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I think had I not already known what the general idea behind it was I might have chalked up a star or two to creativity but waiting so long it wasn’t a surprise to me so that didn’t help the other things bothering me where sometimes I can overlook a bit more. I also didn’t want to mention the end in case I would be spoiling for someone else down the road but after the disappointment of no real explanation during the read the end was a big let down too.
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I had to read it for my A Levels. Hated it then and when I re-read it last year, I actually disliked it more. Don’t like the writing style, really don’t like the first person narrative and I seriously couldn’t stand Offred as a protagonist.
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Once all the way through will be more than enough for me, I’m not that sadistic to torture myself again. LOL I am curious about the television adaption but I doubt I’ll ever bother to even try one episode since there’s lots of other more appealing things I could watch.
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Love this honest review! I hear so much great things about this but when I skimmed through it I thought it qas blah! Great Review, Carrie!🤗😍❤📚
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Haha thanks Dani! If I could count on anyone else to be bored with it with me I should have guessed you would be…. definitely NOT a hit it and quit it book huh? LOL
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Definitely not a good hit it and quit it!!!🤣🤣🤣
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Thank you Carrie! I have tried to read this book twice and could not get into it. Being Canadian, I am supposed to love Margaret Atwood, but I don’t. Glad to see I am not the only one who did not enjoy this book. It was a DNF for me.
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Well technically it was a DNF for me too but with hearing about the show all the time I thought OK I can do this, just put it on audio and power on through. I was kind of hoping I’d be amazed at some point but trust me the end is more annoying than the rest. LOL
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That is why there are so many authors, genres and books. There is something for everyone, not the same things.
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Definitely. I hate seeing people say things like “horrible writing” because there are just so many different writing styles and ways to tell stories. Heck even kids reading graphic novels is better than not reading at all and if that’s what they enjoy then go for it.
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I couldn’t agree more!
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I completely LOVED the book and just finished season two of The Handmaid’s Tale. Desperate for more dystopian, feminist, sci-fi adjacent content, I put together this list of next things to read, watch, and listen to! http://www.bit.ly/away_THT
Would love any other recommendations you might have??
—
http://www.areweadultsyet.com
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I haven’t actually read too much of the genre myself even though I do tend to like them when I do…. Handmaid’s Tale an exception to that of course. LOL I pushed myself to make it through THT to review Vox by Christina Dalcher since they were being compared and I liked it much better though.
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I think your opinions are fair enough, and certainly it took a lot to build myself up to read this book. I really enjoyed it, and actually loved the writing style, but it’s okay not to like a popular book! The problem I had was that it was so distressing, as a woman, to read… I was so angry when I finished it
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