The Handmaid's Tale

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Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid's Tale (1987, Virago Press Ltd)

Paperback, 324 pages

English language

Published Nov. 6, 1987 by Virago Press Ltd.

ISBN:
978-0-86068-866-2
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5 stars (4 reviews)

The Handmaid's Tale is a radical departure for Margaret Atwood. Set in the near future, in a locale that oddly resembles Cambridge, Massachusetts, it describes life in what was once the United States. Now, however, it has become the Republic of Gilead, a monolithic theocracy that has reacted to social unrest and a sharply declining birthrate by reverting to the repressive intolerance of the original Puritans, and has gone far beyond them. This regime takes the Book of Genesis absolutely at its word, with bizarre consequences for women, and for men as well.

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 …

46 editions

Not so speculative fiction

5 stars

I was warned this book is not a fun one. Indeed it is not.

You get to see the omnipresent fear and violence of a patriarchal surveillance state. You get to see how it got there, little by little, and how it got accepted. The disturbing part is that it is very much believable...

I hadn't seen since Orwell's "1984" the effect of a totalitarian system on an individual so well described, especially at an individual level. You get to see how a single mind resists or breaks when faced with such overwhelming brutal and oppressive environment.

It is definitely worth reading, especially when you keep in mind the fact that Atwood has been censored in several US states.

reviewed The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid's Tale, #1)

Příběh ze světa, kde se přestaly rodit děti

4 stars

Stejnojmenný seriál mě zaujal, takže jsem si zákonitě musel přečíst i knihu. Ta odpovídá jen prvním dílům seriálu. Popisuje dystopický svět, kde se přestaly rodit děti a moc převzali muži, kteří z některých žen udělaly jen nádoby na plození dětí. Napsáno je to poutavě, čtivě a přitom člověku v hlavě naskakují různé otázky. Doporučuji.

a classic

5 stars

I read this classic just two years ago. It felt more relevant to the present than it may have been when it was written. This book is a revolutionary milestone in speculative fiction and probably feminist literature as well, but I found equally interesting that the text is based on progressive loss of innocence. The final chapter is incredible and left me very satisfied.