Margaret Atwood, "The handmaid's tale"

This book has been on my radar since at least 2015, so I’m glad I finally got the chance to get around to it this year. (It was top on my TBR in terms of popularity on Goodreads.) It was also my first introduction to Margaret Atwood. The Handmaid’s Tale is a powerful dystopian read that has cemented itself as a modern classic—everything about it was so familiar to me from pop culture and media, yet that didn’t dampen my enjoyment of it.

The narrative is fragmented and disjointed since it is presented as a recollection or memoir by the protagonist; consequently, it is also in first-person POV. Atwood handled this rather well—Offred’s reflections on her past and the current state of dystopia felt genuine. Her difficulty in recollecting older things or ruminations on the future were palpable and lent a sense of realism. Many authors fail to do first-person convincingly; here, it helps that Offred is telling us her story, but not altogether subsuming the reader into her life—partly because of the conceit of the novel. (I won’t get into that too much, but it is brilliant.) Go into the novel with no expectations or spoilers, even though you may be familiar with its overarching points from media. It is well worth seeing how it all unfolds.

I also found the characters memorable—some are stereotypical, but to a reasonable degree. Offred is the highlight of the novel, and her character arc is entirely flawed—as she admits herself—which makes her an even more sympathetic and endearing character. Her struggles are somewhat emblematic of women generally in Gilead, but her particular outlook on them nonetheless strikes its own chord. The supporting characters were also surprisingly well-developed—her partner, Ofglen, is devious and scheming and I felt quite affected by what happens with her.

The dystopian themes were incredible to read and felt extremely prescient for 2024. Oppression championed by the oppressed class themselves; the faulty nature of collective memory; the consequences of contrarian thought; the passive acceptance of oppressive forces and imposed hierarchy; and so on. So often while reading the book, I went through cycles of thinking ‘this is too unrealistic’ and a few moments later switching to ‘this is exactly on the nose’. I did find myself uncomfortable at times with the reversal of certain tropes, like the female gaze; it is a good example of how easy it is to take certain aspects of literary narratives for granted (i.e., the male gaze).

That there are people today who openly align themselves with the sort of values embraced by Gileadean society is a disturbing thought. Atwood herself must have felt this, too, since she ended up writing a sequel to the book. (I may or may not read the sequel—we’ll see; I don’t want it to unnecessarily ruin my impression of the first.) I can only hope her preface to the book holds true—that we must not and can not let ourselves fall to such disgraceful states, whether as people or as a country.

I definitely do want to see the show next—it seems to have good reviews, and I am curious how they capture some of these moments in the book. I was somewhat (though not entirely) surprised that there are several tender and even happy moments in the book, though they are almost drowned out by all of the depressing and bleak ones. Also—the one definitive word for this book must be ‘bleak’, because I saw that so many times.

5 stars out of 5

It isn't often that I grant a book 5 stars, especially when I at first marked it as "un-promising".
I'm not really a fan of literature. With a plethora of languages in my curriculum at high school, I was forced to read way too many boring stuffy books denominated as "literature", and it put me off said literature for the rest of my life. But sometimes there are gems that are actually worth reading. Beautiful gruesome awful books that slowly torture you with tiny pricks of dread and horror. This book is one of them.

There is no fast-paced action, no witty dialogue. The writing is disjointed and commits many of the writing no-no's like constantly switching from narrative to flashback, sometimes in the same paragraph. The narrator rambles on, recounting too many details that at first seem pointless and needless.
But once you work your way past the first percents (I listened to the Clare Danes' audiobook), the devil is in those details.
It is important to know that the narrative is the way it is on purpose. It is supposed to be an audio recording by one of the handmaidens. Atwood writes it exactly as one would tell the story, not as one would write it down. The rambling memories are all over the place, just as they would have been if someone would sit down and tell you the story.
That style, combined with the very limited first person point of view and the high level of detail makes it a very intimate read. You get really up close and personal with the main character.

It's also important to know that Atwood wrote this story in 1986, in the era of Reagan and his threat of religious fervor. The plot of the book was a quite a bit relevant at the time. However, a commonly voiced critique on the story was that it was "too improbable" and it would be impossible for a government to make such drastic changes in such a short time. And the lack of reaction from the people would be totally unrealistic. Well... then came the 2016 elections.

The current US government made horrific steps towards the laws this book. They took away Planned Parenthood, took away basic necessities from lower incomes and the rights from minorities. It is shocking. And the people sit back and take it, like good proper citizens. That's not a criticism from me on their behavior, I understand it is a normal human reaction. It is as Atwood very aptly described in this book. People won't really protest until it is too late. And women's rights are, even today, not important enough to be worth protesting or protecting.

This book rips you apart with its gentle softness. It tears into your soul and makes you think and feel. It is brutal for all its lack of what we tend to see as violence. The violence between the lines is more insidious, more visceral.

I'm glad that this book has regained its visibility and popularity today, due to the Hulu series with the same name. People need to know this book, know the risk of complacency. They have have a misogynist christian zealot bigots as a government, intent on curtailing all women's rights and if they won't pay attention to that, parts of this book may become reality really quickly.

Clare Danes narrates the book very well. Her voice fits excellently with the philosophic style and June's character. She places the right tremors and emotion in her voice while still maintaining that almost victorian genteel style.

This audiobook is an absolute must-read.

I had bought and read this book when it first came out in paperback in 1985 when I was a grad student. I loved it then! I still love it! I totally forgotten that the end was somewhat ambiguous as to what the outcome was of "of Fred". It definitely paints a picture of the truly warped society with warped views of people and religion. The author does a good job using first person to express the individual feelings of thee handmaid and the plight of society. In some ways, the end is a little encouraging, because it shows the. To be only a period and to come to an end, but it's a little bit unnerving that the characters that we have come to know are not completed. On the other hand, nothing is left hanging per se. I am looking forward to reading it (or listening to it) again, and getting more out of it. Of course, it may be another 25 years before I get around to it again :-). I highly recommend this book, particularly for anyone who has concerns about society, religion, or authority. Excellent book!