The Handmaid's Tale

, #1

by

314 pages

Published Nov. 15, 1998

View on Inventaire

4 stars (375 reviews)

The Handmaid's Tale is a dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, published in 1985. It is set in a near-future New England, in a strongly patriarchal, totalitarian theonomic state, known as Republic of Gilead, that has overthrown the United States government. The central character and narrator is a woman named Offred, one of the group known as "handmaids", who are forcibly assigned to produce children for the "commanders" – the ruling class of men. The novel explores themes of subjugated women in a patriarchal society and the various means by which they resist and attempt to gain individuality and independence. The novel's title echoes the component parts of Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, which is a series of connected stories (such as "The Merchant's Tale" and "The Parson's Tale").The Handmaid's Tale won the 1985 Governor General's Award and the first Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1987; it was also …

78 editions

reviewed The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Meh

2 stars

I read the Handmaid's Tale yesterday, finally. I'm disappointed. I did not like the writing style at all, there was no real story, just descriptions. And then it just ended. No conclusion or anything.

My best guess it's because the TV show was so intense and well made (at least the earlier seasons), and the book was... Not? Episodes would stay with me for days, but I'm struggling to recall the book.

Maybe the book is supposed to be unsatisfying to go with the theme. Nothing much happened after Gilead was created, every day just kinda goes by. Sure there was some torture and death, but... Eh.

Maybe I was expecting too much after all the praise it got. It's my first Atwood book, and way way outside of my usual genre (fantasy, scifi, horror).

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

A must read in the current political climate, but not in love with the writing style

4 stars

A must read in the current political climate. I like the Hulu TV show better than the book though... the book is good, but I just don't care for: 1) the confusing, random flashbacks in time that don't seem to be triggered by anything in the book's present time; 2) some of the deep, detailed dives into things such as the appearance of a flower. While Hemingway had an excessively sparse writing style for me, Atwood had a bit of an excessively flowery, purple-prose style at times for my taste; 3) the sensation that from the start of the book to the end of the book, nothing progressed. There didn't seem to be a plot, rather just a description of how awful life in Gilead was. Perhaps you can piece together a plot from some of the pre-Gilead flashbacks, but I prefer more linear storylines.

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

Review of "The Handmaid's Tale (The Handmaid's Tale, #1)" on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Slow moving, but a story that remains relevant 35 years later. I wasn’t prepared for Atwood’s high-caliber writing. It was able to keep things interesting despite the slow pace. I wish it had more plot, but it sounds like the recent sequel addresses many of the reader’s questions. The information dump at the end was my favorite part, and presented some familiar voices that have me interested in the tv series (this was the Audible series cast version).

"'I’ll take care of it', Luke said. And because he said 'it' instead of 'her' I knew he meant kill. That is what you have to do before you kill, I thought. You have to create an 'it' where none was before. You do that first in your head, and then you make it real. So that’s how they do it, I thought. I seemed never to have known that before."

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

Review of "Handmaid's Tale" on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I first read this back in 1995, when I was in college. It was (I think) the first dystopian book I'd ever read, and I found it fascinating. Of course, that was when a future like that seemed unimaginable. Now, rereading it with the backdrop of current events, it feels like more than an exercise in fiction, and it's not hard to connect the dots from where we are now as a society to how we could end up in that place. I'm eager to read The Testaments and see what additional layers Ms. Atwood has created to deepen this story.

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

Review of "The Handmaid's Tale (The Handmaid's Tale, #1)" on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Every time I read a novel from Margaret Atwood it is like receiving a master lesson in narrative construction and prose style. It is as though she were standing over my shoulder saying 'You see? That's how you do it." This novel is no exception.

I wanted to re-read this before starting The Testaments and also because the last time I read it I was in high school. It turns out I read some pretty great books in high school and I should probably re-read all of them because God knows 17 year old me and 42 year old me have different insights.

The Handmaid's Tale was still a word lover's delight. The puns and logophilic games are every bit as entertaining as they were when I first encountered the novel. The difference in 2019 is just how frightening everything is. There isn't a single implausible plot point here and …

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

Review of "Handmaid's Tale" on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

It is telling that, the entire time I knew about this book before I read it, I had assumed it was set in the far future, or at least beyond the lifespans of the present day. It is a very different story when it is basically happening a decade or two hence (with some intervening major catastrophes), something that was made clear by the "historical perspective" provided in the epilogue. Also, the show is really good but uses too much slow-mo, the bane of streaming drama.

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

Review of "The Handmaid's Tale (The Handmaid's Tale, #1)" on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

The Handmaid's Tale was my first Margaret Atwood and I found it highly fascinating. While it kept shooing my mind to Orwell's 1984, it was much more enjoyable than the latter. This might be due to the fact that I'm 10 years older than the version of me who read 1984, but it might also be the much more subtle way of storytelling.
I very much liked the twist at the end with the "Historical Notes", as it at once added so much more depth that the tale as such. That ending earned it the fifth star, since without this "revelation" I would have been left dangling in thin air (or dangling even more than I am now, anyway).

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

Review of "The Handmaid's Tale (The Handmaid's Tale, #1)" on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

When did I first read this? I'm not sure...before the internet, probably when this novel was a recent one. Back then, it scared me. Now, it scares me even more. Back then, I remember thinking that all women should read this, but now I think everyone should.

Sadly, some of the aspects of life under the Gilead Regime are at work today, in certain parts of the world. The culture is extremely misogynistic, but note that most of the men in such a society are also restricted, not at all free. Not as badly off as women, of course.

Margaret Atwood excels at writing speculative fiction, I adore her writing, so it's no surprise that I would recommend this to everyone. (Not this particular paperback; the cover is falling apart, getting smaller every time I picked it up. I've left a trail.)



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

Review of "The Handmaid's Tale (The Handmaid's Tale, #1)" on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I listened to the version read by Claire Danes. Her breathless voice fits the story quite well. While the writing style is beautifully clear and concise the content of the story is rather heavy weight and with a slow moving plot I found it often difficult to follow Offred's meandering thoughts and ideas. But this is less about the plot and much more about the setting and its gruesome implications.

Set in a near future that is long past now - written in the early 80s it is set in the late 20st century - it feels dated and not at the same time. After a series of natural and other disasters New England has been turned into a religious authoritarian state. The major theme is the suppression of women through various means. And how quickly and easily we can fall for propaganda and can be made to accept nearly …

reviewed The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Review of "The Handmaid's Tale" on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Does it stand up to the tile of classic? Yes. I can see how this book could speak to many people. Do I liked it? It was ok, but nothing I'll be reading for a second time. The concept of the story was interesting. The writing style engaging. But somehow I found difficult to finish it. Handmaid's tale definetly has my approval and I recommend reading it, but if you find this kind of thing not for you, then go ahead and pick something else to read.

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