Rating: Summary: Disturbing but superbly crafted - a real thought provoker Review: _________ Fluff or not? Not. _________A futuristic look at all the main human faculties; love, hate, power, sex, and most of all fear. Atwood manages to pull off a plausible projection of our future while making a political point and carrying a host of strong characters in an amazingly engaging plot. I found myself involved from the very beginning and, upon completion, completely unable to immediately revert back to the present. This book will surprise you, shock you, and leave an impression - essentially do all the things a good book should. +: disturbing, frank, surprising, lyrical, plausible warning: not for the ultra-conservative, be prepared for anything
Rating: Summary: WOW TALK ABOUT DISTURBING! Review: Maybe it was the fact that im just a gcse student studying the book in english class, but i seriously found this book disturbing! I understand that Atwood wrote the book to show what our future could lead to. But to be honest thats a very scary thought!! Will our society gradually turn into such a disturbing dystopia?? In fact I agree with Conor Cruise O'Brien's view from The Listener-'Moving, Vivid, Terriying, I only hope it's not prophetic'
Rating: Summary: Beautiful Review: A remarkable alternative to _Brave New World_ and _1984_, Margaret Atwood masterfully crafts a tension and a hatred of everything statutary. The atmosphere of suppressed hope, coupled with intense and startling symbolism, gives the book a delicious gradual unraveling. An obsessive tale of the implosion of society, it brings to mind the ruthlessness of _Lord of the Flies_ and the kind of sheltered-innocence-cum-critical-revelation that sparks the mind into wandering down a path of philosophical daydreaming. All in favor of the lassez-faire, read this book. All in favor of the "thought police," here's your handbook.
Rating: Summary: Mind boggling but great for the adventurous reader!!!!! Review: I came across this book while studying for my English A levels and was taken a back by the way in which Margaret Atwood (the author) encourages the reader to question and analyse the text. The Handmaid's Tale is a story about just that, a tale written in a diary of sorts as told by a young woman who lives as what is known as a "handmaid" in this time under this new oppressive government. Basically, handmaids are young women whose primary purposes in life are only held for their reproductive capabilities, making them nothing more than pieces of private property. It tears away all that is uniquely democratic and possibly worthwhile from our society, and replaces it with something that is quiet [different] in its own rights. In fact, a direct correlation could be drawn from the USA's own constitution to the overthrow that occurs in this novel. The new government in The Handmaid's Tale has been founded by radicals, who suspended the Constitution after the United States fell into chaos, with their president having been shot and Congress wiped out. The radicals restructured society in the hopes of a more promising future, one where the burdens of women are uplifted and removed.
Rating: Summary: Implausible? I think not... Review: I felt compelled to respond briefly after reading some of the other reviews here. It is a chilling and infuriating novel, due strictly to the society portrayed. The book itself, speaking in terms of quality and content, is wonderful. And altogether believeable. Allow me to paint you a picture... I'm reading the book on my commute to work in downtown Chicago. The story Offred the Handmaid, veiled, her life and movements utterly controlled by men. Women in her world are no longer permitted to read, express themselves, form voluntary relationships, or move about at will. It is a moving book, which creates such anger and indignation towards the dystopia portrayed. I look up at one point, and see a couple farther along the train car. The main appears Middle Eastern, well-dressed and looking stylish and appropriate for this country. The woman is draped in traditional clothing, with everything covered other than a narrow strip for her to see out of. Seeing her leads to me think about Afghanistan under the Taliban: women risk death by being seen uncovered. They can no longer attend school. Their every movement and action are controlled by the men in their lives, and a small slip-up could result in an awful punishment. The similarities between The Handmaid's Tale and real societies in our world are strong and disturbing. The premise of the book is all too plausible.
Rating: Summary: Good reading, bad pleading Review: Margaret Atwood is a Canadian writer and poet of some substance, judging from her many literary awards. She is a self-described activist who is not afraid to part ways with the Left when she chooses. Still....there are problems that must be addressed. For one, many of her works leave one cold and perplexed though the nature or this particular work seems to have addressed at least the latter problem. Let's start with the basics - this is science fiction writing at its worst, the kind that features extremely unlikely scenarios without reference to historical or contemporary trends. Despite this, it is also a very good story even if in that inimitable, ackward stilted prose that seems an Atwood trademark. The idea of a future classroom studying an American theocracy is not so much insulting as ridiculous since any oddsmaker will give the chances of an American fundamentalist coup at 100,000-1. I thought at first that this was a parable but the moral message was somehow omitted. In any case, it is a tale of a young lady, a handmaid to the wife of a powerful leader in the regime. The ruling class resembles not so much religious fundamentalists as those believers of secular religions (socialism, fascism, etc). Despite their almost worshipful reliance upon Old Testament teachings - absurd in the light of rampant Bibical illiteracy - the rulers are almost uniformly corrupt and hypocritical. In the end Offred manages to take her just revenge, escape and join the Revolution. Atwood had difficulty deciding the paramount issue - feminism, religion, politics, economics...all were involved in some literary diatribes. Men, religion, acquiescent women, rulers and the market economy seemed to take it on the chin as a matter of course. The problem in the end is that Atwood (or any so-called "activist") fails to offer an alternative society in which they not only have all the material goods they want but are equally able to offer protests whenever they like. They may do one or the other, it seems, but not both.
Rating: Summary: gag me with a spoon Review: The main character's name is Offred. As in "of, Fred." That's about all you need to know. What's a shame is that this a half-decent dystopia, if not for the fact that the author's male-hating, religion-hating bias comes through in spades. Heck, there's no better way to rally feminists than to write an entirely implausible novel, and slap a "this could happen to you," label on it. It's also humerous to read the explanation as to how the world got the way it is. However, there's a huge gap between "woman can't use her credit cards" and "woman is inhuman reproductive slave" that never really gets explained. Pity, I would love to write it down for future reference. What's a shame is that this this seems to be peddled as 1984 for the "21st century."
Rating: Summary: Has it been this long? Review: I read this book the summer before junior year in high school (about 3 years ago). I fell in love with it. The writing is wonderful and the story is amazing. The lifestyle seems far from reality, but the book captures you. All I could think was, "what if this was now?" I recommend it to anyone - men and women, and even those who aren't feminist. It's a lovely read.
Rating: Summary: Frighteningly moving novel Review: I was assigned The Handmaid's Tale for a class a few years ago and was, admittedly, not looking forward to sitting down and reading a book I hadn't myself chosen. Not 30 pages into it, though, I was captivated. I could not put the book down, and when my professor asked us not to read ahead, I had finished it in less than a week. Margaret Atwood lets us peer into the life of a handmaid whose family has been ripped apart so that she might bear the child of a commander, whose wife is barren. As flies on the wall, we try to understand what the central characters are going through and what has led up to the current state of affairs. I at once fell in love with Offred and her plight and I found myself shaking with rage over the injustices the women in this book suffer over and over. The plot at first seemed unbelievable and over-the-top, but I quickly realized how easily it could mirror real life (our class also was studying the women and the culture of Afghanistan at the time). This is a frightening story and one you won't be able to put down or, for that matter, stop discussing with anyone else who has read Atwood's tale. This book may fill you with anger, but you will not regret picking it up.
Rating: Summary: Better than the 'Turner Diaries'!!! Review: RAHOWA is here! You better get used to this lefties, because this is the future of America whether you like it or not. I know. This book is 100 times better than the 'Turner Diaries.' This book really involves characters that grab onto you and don't let go. We really care about what happens to them. I don't know when this was written but Atwood clearly did some very serious research into racial activists like Ben Klassen. 'Handmaid's Tale' very accurately depicts our plan. "Special Treatment" is not planned for everyone. We will make use of those we have uses for. The part where all the women yell at each other for having abortions is classic! It's funny to read the other reviews on this site. I'm not sure how Phyllis Schafley and Jerry Farwell could create a future like this. It's the lefties that want speech crime, and life unworthy of life legislation. They also recommend George Orwell's '1984.' Which they cite as being anti-Nazi. However '1984' has nothing to do with National Socialism, it was an anti-Communist book. Also anyone who researches Orwell knows he was a white supremacist who supported the KKK's most famous member Margaret Sanger, another of the Left's heroes. Sorry to burst your bubble of denial. So please read this book. It will help you prepare for tomorrow.
|