Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
Still good 20 years on, 3 Sep 2006
I still don't know what inspired me to take this book home from the library that day back when I was 16- up until then the only "grown up" literature I had read had been formulaic historical romances of the Catherine Cookson variety.
I can now credit this book with opening the door to a whole different world of books from what I was used to- books that demanded me to THINK.
And, being only 16, and not reading this book as part of my English class but rather just for myself, I was swept away by it.
Then, a couple of years ago, I got hold of a copy and read it again, curious if it would still seem so mind-blowing (I remember re-reading my beloved Narnia stories as an adult and getting the shock of my life).
And I can say that, half a life later, this book remains one of the best books I have ever read. Why?
I am still amazed at the author's imagination. How did she manage to describe the menace of a totalitarian regime so well? Science Fiction often dates quickly, seeming at best naive decades after it was written. And for me, reading this book 20-odd years after it was written, in this older and wiser post-9/11 world, certain aspects of the book took on new meaning (religious fundamental regime, strict rules about women's dress, football stadium executions).
It may not be a perfect book, but I think it is worth reading for its ideas (and warnings). And all that aside, it's a gripping read!
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32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent fictional depiction of a future dystopian society, 8 April 2002
By A Customer
This book is one of the best depictions i have read about a anti-utopian future society, along with others like '1984' and 'Brave New World'.
It combines a futuristic reality, feminism and politics to create a very detailed novel considering many different aspects of 'Gilead'.
'Offred' is the complex lead character who draws us into the seemingly perfect but corrupt world of Gilead. Her pain is experienced by the readers who long to remember exactly what she has forgotten, and what she wants to find out.
The experiences she goes through are strange, sometimes outright bizarre,and her world comes crashing down on us.
'The Handmaids Tale' is very thought-provoking, the future of women and indeed the world lies in the actions of today's society, and Atwood uses her perceptions of the present world to support the background of her novel.
Altogether 'The Handmaids Tale offers what all novels should: love, loss, action, comedy(ironic,but appropriate) vision, plot. It plays with all emotions.
A very good read.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
Highly Recommended , 10 Mar 2007
In a word - brilliant... but that won't do it justice. I was recommended to read it by a lit teacher, so I thought, "hey why not, I've nothing else to do." I'm glad I took her advice because I loved it. It's a sort of Orwellian setting, the society in Atwood's masterpiece are subjected to the observation by the ever watchful eyes. A coup arranged to have the president assassinated and set about creating a new order, women are of course second class citizens in the Gilead Society and even they have their class system. Wives, Daughters, Aunts, Handmaids, Marthas, Econowives.
Their status is established by their dress, the wives wear blue, daughters white until marriage, Aunts wear brown, Handmaids wear red, Marthas green and Econowives wear Blue, Red and Green striped dresses to reflect their multiple roles. The socially unaccepted women are Jezebel's and Unwomen, the former are sent to a sort of brothel, the latter to the dreaded colonies.
This novel follows the handmaid Offred's story and what a tale it is! Entirely gripping and appealing.
One reviewer stated they disliked the fact that Atwood describes the rooms, clothes etc in detail (and ascribed it as a typical female-author trait). I have to argue against it being a negative. Description allows readers to imagine the scenes, to see the story, it's all a part of being a good author. Atwood delivers in that respect.
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