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Most Helpful Favorable Review
14 out of 17 people found this review helpful.
read it and take it as a warning
Everyone should read this book. Period. Take it as a warning, of what CAN happen in the U.S., if religious extremism is allowed to infiltrate our society, and if Church and State don't stay separate. And keep in mind that Atwood took the social/political circumstances i...Read More
Everyone should read this book. Period. Take it as a warning, of what CAN happen in the U.S., if religious extremism is allowed to infiltrate our society, and if Church and State don't stay separate. And keep in mind that Atwood took the social/political circumstances in the book from real situations that have happened or are happening somewhere in the world. The writing pulls the reader in, and even though the subject is terribly depressing, you just can't quit reading it. Now that I've finished it, I can't quit thinking about it. I want to read about it, and talk about it, and read more by the author. But I won't read it again for a long time, because it's plausibility is just too disturbing. Any author who can instill such strong emotions in her/his readers is a very talented writer.Show Less
posted by constantreaderML on April 20, 2009
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7 out of 15 people found this review helpful.
The Handmaid's Tale Is Not Much Of a Tale At All
Have you ever read a book and never quite got the whole gist of it? Well if you haven¿t experienced this, you probably will after finishing The Handmaid¿s Tale. The Handmaid¿s Tale is a story with so much potential. That¿s the main thought that comes to my mind ...Read More
Have you ever read a book and never quite got the whole gist of it? Well if you haven¿t experienced this, you probably will after finishing The Handmaid¿s Tale. The Handmaid¿s Tale is a story with so much potential. That¿s the main thought that comes to my mind when I think of the book. Atwood set up a very interesting and unbelievable world in which women play the roles of handmaids. Handmaids¿ job is to have sex with a married man to provide his children. The government controls everything in this very disturbing, yet intriguing environment that interested me from the start, but it¿s just about the only interesting part in the whole book. The book lacks a real storyline and needs more plot and not so much filler. Over half the book consists of Offred, the main character, dreaming and thinking while she sits in her room. I can say the book was exciting when an actual event occurred, but there were only about three or four events when something worth reading happened. I guess I just don¿t enjoy reading about a lady who has a crazy past and present and confuses me with every detail. As I said earlier, the setting and idea for this book is definitely the best part, but even with a better plot and storyline that actually satisfies the reader, I still don¿t think I would want to read this book. Atwood¿s writing does not hold my interest and I found it hard to turn each page, dreading what would be thrown at me next. Symbolism played a large part in this book, but the problem was I never really figured what was symbolic for what. Obviously, the world Atwood set up with women and men playing specific roles held meaning and symbolism. I waited for the ending of the book to put everything together, and receive some closure, but my closure never arrived and I never put it together. The overall reason I wouldn¿t recommend this book to anyone is that I never arrived at a final thought for the book and nothing ever became clear, so I found no purpose in any of it. In my opinion, reading The Handmaid¿s Tale provides nothing but disappointment for the reader. What a waste of time.Show Less
posted by Anonymous on December 17, 2001
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constantreaderML
Posted April 20, 2009
read it and take it as a warning
Everyone should read this book. Period. Take it as a warning, of what CAN happen in the U.S., if religious extremism is allowed to infiltrate our society, and if Church and State don't stay separate. And keep in mind that Atwood took the social/political circumstances in the book from real situations that have happened or are happening somewhere in the world. The writing pulls the reader in, and even though the subject is terribly depressing, you just can't quit reading it. Now that I've finished it, I can't quit thinking about it. I want to read about it, and talk about it, and read more by the author. But I won't read it again for a long time, because it's plausibility is just too disturbing. Any author who can instill such strong emotions in her/his readers is a very talented writer.
14 out of 17 people found this review helpful.
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andrewlin
Posted June 11, 2009
All around tight novel
To categorize The Handmaid's Tale as another feminist piece of literature would be inaccurate, as it is really more. Like other novels that present visions of the world in the future, The Handmaid's tale imagines a dystopia that is all at once surreal and convincing, just as Orwell's 1984 or Huxley's Brave New World are. Though Offred's condition may appear unrealistic or even absurd at a glance, as the novel unfolds, Atwood reveals social circumstances shockingly real and in fact similar to our own.
11 out of 12 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted August 30, 2008
Interesting, scary, sad, thought provoking
I had never heard of the book, and chose it simply because it had good reviews. I was lost in the beginning - it took me a while to realize it takes place in the future but when I did I found it startling. The author has a unique style that keeps the reader enthralled. It was a refreshing change from much of the fiction I have been reading.
9 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted June 5, 2005
Don't get your hopes up...
This sounded like a really good book to me, with an author whose poetry I had read and liked, and a detailed distopian world, all the rave reviews and everything. It wasn't. A Handmaid's Tale tries for the realistic tone of Orwell and Huxley, but falls short so much that it made me feel embarrassed for her. It doesn't sound like a voice from a dark future so much as the ravings of someone who is blinded by their own over-the-top fantasies and fears. There were various places where I thought, yes, this is starting to feel right, maybe it will turn into an interesting story now- only to turn the page and watch it stumble back into the same rut. The mindset of women being victims is carried too far in this book, to the point where you constantly want to slap the narrator and tell her to stop whining and do something about it already. The concept of the enforced transition from a modern lifestyle to the one the book depicts in a single lifetime is not portrayed in a believable way, and though I imagine many people will get something from it, intelligent and open-minded women may want to skip this one, because it's not saying anything you don't already know.
7 out of 17 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted December 17, 2001
The Handmaid's Tale Is Not Much Of a Tale At All
Have you ever read a book and never quite got the whole gist of it? Well if you haven¿t experienced this, you probably will after finishing The Handmaid¿s Tale. The Handmaid¿s Tale is a story with so much potential. That¿s the main thought that comes to my mind when I think of the book. Atwood set up a very interesting and unbelievable world in which women play the roles of handmaids. Handmaids¿ job is to have sex with a married man to provide his children. The government controls everything in this very disturbing, yet intriguing environment that interested me from the start, but it¿s just about the only interesting part in the whole book. The book lacks a real storyline and needs more plot and not so much filler. Over half the book consists of Offred, the main character, dreaming and thinking while she sits in her room. I can say the book was exciting when an actual event occurred, but there were only about three or four events when something worth reading happened. I guess I just don¿t enjoy reading about a lady who has a crazy past and present and confuses me with every detail. As I said earlier, the setting and idea for this book is definitely the best part, but even with a better plot and storyline that actually satisfies the reader, I still don¿t think I would want to read this book. Atwood¿s writing does not hold my interest and I found it hard to turn each page, dreading what would be thrown at me next. Symbolism played a large part in this book, but the problem was I never really figured what was symbolic for what. Obviously, the world Atwood set up with women and men playing specific roles held meaning and symbolism. I waited for the ending of the book to put everything together, and receive some closure, but my closure never arrived and I never put it together. The overall reason I wouldn¿t recommend this book to anyone is that I never arrived at a final thought for the book and nothing ever became clear, so I found no purpose in any of it. In my opinion, reading The Handmaid¿s Tale provides nothing but disappointment for the reader. What a waste of time.
7 out of 15 people found this review helpful.
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A Keeper!
I picked up this book over a decade ago on a break in between classes while I was at school and bored. I remember vividly reading the entire book in a day and re-reading the book so often that when I purchased my nook last December, "The Handmaid's Tale" was the first book I bought. Atwood's glance at a sexist and distopian society is terrifying and the book makes a strong statement about what happens when the state has too much control.
The Red Dresses and Blue Dresses haunt me til this day, and yet I read the book over and over again when I cannot find anything else to tempt me.6 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
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Distressing.
This story is extraordinary.chilling, but extraordinary. As with all of her books, Atwood as a canny ability to insert the very basics of human nature into the most outrageous and horrifying of environments, which is essentially what makes this book believable. I challenge any reader to keep the chills at bay when they come to the part of the story where it is explained how the United States is overtaken by a group of religious fanatics and the world as we know it is mutated to a dystopian hell.
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
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compelling and thought provoking...
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is a novel of dystopia set in the near future. In the tale, women are now commodities. They are not allowed to read or gain knowledge in any way. They are not allowed to make conversation with each other. Sex is for reproduction only, not pleasure. They have a job to do and if you happen to be a Handmaid, like the protagonist in this novel, then your job is to get pregnant by the Commander under whose roof you live. Our protagonist lives under a man named Fred so her name is Offred (Of Fred). Throughout this tale she remembers a time when she had her own name, her own husband to make love to, her own daughter to nurture, her own job and money....but those days are gone. She describes in pieces how the government in America changed to the totalitarian Republic of Gilead and how many people, her husband and daughter included, tried to escape it. This novel is chilling and gloomy. Offred describes her life as a handmaid in a dispirited and dejected way. The book is compelling though and thought provoking.
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted April 20, 2009
Review by a high school student
The Handmaid's tale started out okay. It was vague,mysterious, and intriguing. However, after reading about 100 pages, I could not make myself read anymore. I am all for maturity, but it got extremely vulgar. In fact, I have never read such a crude, disgusting book in my life. This was a school assignment, but I cannot continue reading this trash. The book makes a good point about when Scripture is taken out of context, but the means that the author uses to accomplish this goal is distasteful and way out of line.
5 out of 20 people found this review helpful.
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Great Book
Can any religion, when taken to its logical conclusion, be anything other than a fundamentalist trap of self delusion? Does censorship help anyone? Freedom to or freedom from ... This is a great book. Buy it and read on ... you won't regret the decision.
3 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted October 19, 2009
Garbage
Tripe
3 out of 19 people found this review helpful.
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Intense and disturbing but very well written
THE HANDMAID'S TALE is not a new book, having been published in 1985. I finally read this very intense and disturbing book by Margaret Atwood and I'm glad I waited. Ms. Atwood's tale is almost a blueprint of how severe changes to our very existence could actually occur. It's a good lesson for us to all protect the freedoms we do have and reminds us to not be so quick to jump on the bandwagon of anything that lessens any one else's personal freedom. Just as women all lost their jobs and access to any of their finances and basically became chattel of the men in society in THE HANDMAID'S TALE whether they were wives, handmaids or Marthas you could just imagine how quickly it could happen.
THE HANDMAID'S TALE is a powerful and frightening book and if you haven't read it, you should. Lynn Kimmerle2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Linda_K
Posted June 14, 2010
I Also Recommend:
Entertaining and thought provoking
I love science fiction and future fiction, and this is one of my favorite books of all time. The story about the handmaiden who has been separated from her family for the sin of not being married, who is used for her known ability to procreate, who is a prisoner in her own country, is both entertaining and thought provoking. Margaret Atwood is a master when it comes to weaving an interesting story, and excels at telling it. Now that I think about it, I think I'll read this book again! :)
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Possible future?
A story of what the world may one day become. A tale of horror of what man will do to man.
2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted April 21, 2010
The Handmaids Tale
Read this book when it first came out. I still consider it one of my top five reads of all time! This book haunted me for years, as it was possible to see this happening in the future. Just downloaded it onto my nook. Can't wait to read it again, from a 24 year later, perspective.
Cathy2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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A Frightening Warning
Presenting a truly frightening view of the future, Margaret Atwood's novel describes a totalitarian regime oddly reminiscent of Hitler's reign. She creates a world in which no one dared speak against the unreasonable demands of an evil government. Subjugating women to secondary roles in society, Atwood presents herself as an unorthodox feminist writer, whose intent is unclear. While the novel warns against a possible fate for humanity, Atwood leaves the conclusion ambiguous, and readers may interpret it as one of two extremes: salvation or destruction.
Paralleling people to lifeless objects, Atwood uses frightening images to define the characters by the roles they play in society. Through the dehumanization of faceless victims, she portrays a society in which any dissent is a sure-fire ticket to a humiliating death. Equating Salvaging victims to scarecrows, she implies that those killed for misdeeds were punished publically as deterrence for potential rebels. Emphasizing the anonymity of victims, this comparison diminishes the executed criminals to mere tools used at the discretion of the government. Thus, Atwood crafts a world modeled after her fears and warns the world of potential dangers.
While I personally was extremely disturbed by the content of this book, I respect it as an honest work and a call for reform. Despite its unwelcomed implications, The Handmaid's Tale brought to light issues facing today's society that are commonly overlooked. The idea that time does not equate to progress is manifested in this novel, as Atwood suggests a future similar to the most horrific pasts. As Gilead oppresses its citizens to fear defiance, truth gradually fades to oblivion, as no one dares speak against the government. Those awaiting death sit "like graduating students who are about to be given prizes" and do not protest at all. Such an illustration arouses concern for the future of our society, as we wonder if humanity is headed for the described fate.2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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grammarpanda
Posted March 28, 2009
A Feminist Dystopia
I liked that this was written as a sort of memoir/diary, but wasn't divided into daily entries that make reading more staccato. Like so many of my favorite oral history/memoir style fictional future dystopia novels [which is an awesomely specific yet diverse genre:], Atwood doesn't take much time here to explain how things have come to be the way they are, giving just enough in the way of allusion and event timeline to keep the reader from feeling frustratedly out of the loop. We are given to understand that there has been a catastrophic and widespread change in the fertility of women and viability of fetuses, and that as a result women of confirmed or potential fertility are being conscripted and shuttled from home to home as 'handmaids' - one of the three functions now for wives. Handmaids are intended an entirely for non-romantic procreation role, and bizarre loveless sex rituals have been enacted as part of a regular 'ceremony'.
The nameless narrator is independent and self-reflective enough to engage the reader and bridge the gap between the common experience of contemporary romance and the dystopian future world, but not the sort of spunky derring-do heroine that becomes grating in novels of this ilk for their casual dismissal of a totalitarian regime previously established as very dangerous by the author.
I loved the conclusion to this book. At first I thought it was horrifically unsatisfying, but after reading the epilogue I was more willing to embrace the point at which Atwood chose to leave off the narration. Every unexpected plot twist in this book drew me deeper in, and while it wasn't a can't-put-it-down book, it was a more engaging read than the other two I was reading at the time2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Great Read,Great Listening
I am really glad that I revisited this story it continues to be a timely message for me and I am sure for any women that may have experience a life shattering upheaval. I especially recommend the CD as a must listen for any women I recommend the CD as a compelling listen, one that you will want to pass along and keep in your permanent library.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Varya
Posted March 18, 2009
Incredible
Incredibly sad and powerful! A story of a woman in the era when women are treated as objects, as nameless "its", where a woman is not a person anymore, but a potential breeding machinery. The book is very accurate on "how this could have happenned" - first you're too much occupied with your own tragedy and then it's just too late - your life is about survival now, not trying to fight the regime and right the wrong. Being a Russian myself I kept thinking about totalitarian past of my country and kept wondering how much alike all dictatorial states are.
Atwood's writing style is very elaborate and all in all the book touched me deeply.2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted July 20, 2000
A Failed Dystopia
The logical leaps Atwood makes are mystifying. In the late twentieth century, the President and Congress are shot, so automatically, women become sex slaves whose sole purpose is procreation. A good dystopian novel will display current attitudes and beliefs, and builds on them to create a dystopian society. To accept Atwood's Gilead is to assume that feminine rights are not valued in current American society and that women continue to lose rights. In order to see The Handmaid's Tale as a sign of things to come, one would have to forget all of the advances the feminist movement has made over the past century. If I read this book as a serf in the Middle Ages, I may be scared, but as an American citizen in the year 2000, I laugh. A tragic failure in the realm of dystopian literature.
2 out of 8 people found this review helpful.
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