The Handmaid's Tale

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, yet thouroghly depressing
Review: I had to read this for school. When ever you have to do that, you automatically assume that the book will be... boring? Well, i coulnt NOT stop reading. The way Atwood describes the innermost thoughts of the main character is facinating. The story line, and the settign though, is a bit depressing. Women are used practically for their ovaries, in an age of decling birth. It makes me mad that, (if you read) some women are treated so badly. This book makes you think, on the most part, but is VERy emotional. You will find you turning the pages constatnly, and Atwood keeps you on your toes.

Rating:
Summary: Not so futuristic after all
Review: I read this book once in high school and again in college. This story has already happened! In Iran women are kept almost as slaves to their husbands and they have no rights of their own. For centuries kings would have barren wives executed or divorced just in order to remarry a woman who could bear him an heir to the throne--if that's not women being used as childmaking robots I don't know what is. Even now a woman doesn't have freedom to choose what happens to her body. Abortion is illegal in most places than not, meaning that a woman cannot make her choice to terminate her pregnancy. Men out there--if you can't relate b/c it is not from a male perspective then you have no intellectual capacity whatsoever--women have related to male-view propeganda for years without complaint.

Rating:
Summary: Almost Chillingly Possible
Review: This was a wonderful book and makes me think twice everytime I use my debit card instead of paying for things with cash. With the recent, vehement outcries for and against abortion rights and the Christian Coalition's bulldog involvement in American politics, this book hits even alarmingly closer to a possible future reality.

Rating:
Summary: ...or The Secret Lives of Women
Review: Margaret Atwood's cautionary tale of a near-future America governed by a reactionary theocracy delivers insight into how people entrenched in a caste system react to their circumstances. Besides telling the tale of the women who are virtual slaves and concubines, the story shows the other side of the supposedly righteous, puritanical society which dominates every aspect of life in this not entirely unlikely scenario. Atwood also does a fine job of illustarting the small acts of resistance to the monolithic oppression of this society, and the small glimmers of hope the oppressed find and cling to.

Rating:
Summary: Good a bit too similar to 1984 though
Review: This actually is a very interesting book, however the similarities between it and '1984' are stricking. Not being a women or femanist I didnt always appreciate the depictions of a patriacal society Atwood seems to manifest. However the first person form of the book adds to its futuristic storyline making it quite belivable and personal to the reader. A must read for any fans of dysutopian fiction, not to mention femanists.

Rating:
Summary: Handmaid's Tale
Review: The 'Handmaid's Tale' is an astounding novel about a woman and her struggles with a futuristic society. It is very easily related to, and a twist from 'normal' novels that have a futuristic setting. The Handmaid's Tale is a wonderful and thought provoking novel for the women of todays society.

Rating:
Summary: Memorable book. Comparable to 1984
Review: I read this book when I was 13. Picked it out of the library shelf among R.L. Stines and Christopher Pikes (Not sure what it was doing among those books!). I'm almost 18 now, and even though I haven't picked up that book since the first time I read it, it continues to conjure itself to the surface of my thoughts. At the time I read it, I knew it was a good book even though it grossed me out completely. But now I can look back at it and see its greater effect. It is very similiar to 1984: an individual has an illegal and dangerous love affair, the individual lives as an oppressed citizen in an oppressed world where rebels are killed sadistically, there are high power party officials that live in decadence, the individual displays subtle courage, the individual is arrested, there are hints of an underground movement, books and historical knowledge is limited, and an ambiguous ending. However, where 1984 seems to critisize politcal parties and question our perception of reality and truth, Handmaid's Tale seems more focused on feminism and questioning women's role in society. Some people critisize it for its abrupt ending, but I think its not quite as abrupt as some would think. In 1984, I thought the idea of hope was rather questionable. But in Handmaid's Tale, I am almost certain that the last pages of the book meant most certainlly that hope existed and that even if our heroine had perished in the hands of enemies (we can also argue that she didn't and was saved), that at least in the future, the oppressive society in which she died in will also fail to survive. So if you like books with good ending, you might try this one.

Rating:
Summary: Oh my word...
Review: When I read this book for my English A level I was bored at best. The plot is contrived and without flavour, seemingly based on a Mills & Boon novel about impossible love. The idea about Religions slugging it out for the control of the planet is entertaining, but not developed enough to hold my attention at least. The novel revolves around a boring character who constantly daydreams on dull incidents in the not so recent past and refuses to dwell on deeper topics. The logic of Offreds narrative is left to the reader to develop, so those who are ignorant to the feminist psyche are largely left in the dark, so all the fellas who even look at this book in their local library should read all books by Germaine Greer before turning the first page. Females seem to love the book as it represents all the trouble and strife that women fear the most, but men will see it as tripe. Much like Waiting for Godot, not much happens throughout the novel, infrequently peppered with observations on the savagery of those surrounding her. Overall, men will not like this as it is written for those who take opression of the masses as an immediate, serious threat to the reader. It is not a book which is to be read and feared, but rather to learn from and predict how one would feel in this scenario. An interesting portal into the female mind, a dark and vacuus pit.

Rating:
Summary: Handmaid Tale...
Review: I just finished reading Margaret Atwood's masterpiece 'The Handmaid's Tale.' The whole idea of a dystopian society is very unappealing to me. Of course after studying witch trials and learning about puritans, Atwood made this society where it is supposed to be the future, yet women are still being repressed by male dominated society. Theocracy should have been eliminated by this point in time. The color motif of different classes of women was very interesting, it made the female characters less flat. The satirical emphasis placed on government, religious right and women in general is difficult to comprehend. But from a viewpoint of when this book was written, Atwoods premonition of now present society had its flaws, but is still very scary in its truth.

Rating:
Summary: A Truly Clever Novel
Review: The Handmaid's Tale is a frighteningly realistic novel. Atwood combines historic events and societies to create futuristic society that is highly possible. The novel is one of both social and feminist criticism. The ideas presented in The Handmaid's Tale forced me to evaluate my own beliefs as well as the morals of the society in which I live. Additionally, the plot, diction, and symbolism are clever and highly effective. I recommend this book to anyone who would enjoy reading a psychologically thrilling novel.