Rating: 
Summary: Surely there are cheaper ways to get kindling?
Review: I am another of those poor souls forced to pay for this junk and read it for college. There is nothing quite as vulgar to me as a novelist carrying an overt political prejudice into their work deliberately. It seems unfaithful to the craft of writing, dishonest and trashy. As others have said, this does not hold a candle to Orwell, though it tries shamelessly. Here's a possible reason why it stinks: Orwell was batting for the team: human kind. Not woman-left-wing-zealot kind.
Orwell's work is far more complete for many reasons, one of which is the transition from our age to a brutal totalitarian age is explained in full, in Orwell's work (it's called 'back-story' and it's handy in books.) The totalitarian state in 1984 doesn't magically 'happen' and have the processes of power hinted at by vague sweeping references to politically correct causes; the power shift is explained in plausible detail by an author who knows history, which is what makes 1984 powerful. This by contrast was a serve of the sullen feminist bitterness that, if propagated and revered, will marr the reception of all women's writing. That aside, by God it gets tiresome. Get over yourself, Ms Atwood.
Rating: 
Summary: A quest for personal freedom in the face of degradation
Review: Atwood's work is enjoyable on a number of levels. The first of these is in her talent as a storyteller. Her narrative constructs are rich in multiple layers that move through time with abandon, employing the use of flashbacks, dreams and distorted memory to go in and out of the story to re-examine the clues that are being left for us. Her work always has strong ties to the detective/mystery genre, even if the surface level would suggest otherwise. Here the story begins in a manner akin to film-noir, as we are thrown into a setting that we do not understand, whilst a myriad of stark and constantly free-flowing evocations are thrown at us in an attempt to leave us as bewildered and disturbed as the central character. It works. This subjective opening vignette was enough to persuade me to initially give up on the book as I waded into the unknown. Too ambiguous I though... too directionless. I stuck with it though, and gave the book my full concentration, so that by the time I'd reached the end of chapter two I really couldn't stop. I was engrossed.
The story is pretty much non-existent... in the same way that the story to such classics as the Bell Jar and the Lord of the Flies was an excuse by their author's for an emotional journey, so too is this. Our focus for attention is a mysterious woman known as Offred, who becomes our guide to this alien world, as we become her confidant. In the same way that Alex shares with us his exploits in A Clockwork Orange, so to does Offred, who shares with us her pain, her fragmented memories and her desire for some kind of escape. The central enigma is the discovery of her name before the construction of the colonies and the disintegration of society. This ties in with Atwood's other great talent, that being her fierce knowledge of social and political history. This gives her work an even starker emotional relevance that makes the usually far-fetched confines of science fiction seem almost like documented history. Her attention to detail in creating the world in which these characters inhabit is completely mind-blowing, being both an original, imaginative construct but also a horrifying reflection of our own world.
The book was first published in the mid-nineteen-eighties and we can clearly see the shadow of AIDS hanging like the sword of Damocles above the central social ideology and the aggressive treatment of sex and sensuality. There are also many allusions to the treatment of the Jews during the holocaust, the civil rights movement and unified segregation... all shot through with the many pretensions of that particular decade and it's "now" generation. The story builds slowly but we never feel bored by what is happening. Through the use of the slow-burning detective lay out, Atwood is able to get the reader interested in these characters and ask ourselves questions throughout the book... so, by the half way point I was demanding answers, moving through the book faster than any other I've ever read but at the same time trying to savour every last evocative detail. By the time I'd reached the closing chapters I was completely in love with the character of Offred... Atwood is able to embody this woman with a "real" spirit that makes us care about her like no other literary figure before (...a slight exaggeration, but you know what I mean!).
The dénouement of the book is a stunning example of Atwood creative use of storytelling. Not wanting to give anything away, I'll just say it's one of those endings that places an entirely new light on the proceeding work and leaves you desperate to go back to the beginning and start all over again. The whole book is tied together by Atwood's stunning use of language... honestly, if you ever get the chance to experience her poetry do so. The use of description here creates a kind of atmosphere that few books can equate, carefully setting up a level of mechanical degradation during the scenes within the colonies, whilst simultaneously giving the memories of Offred and her moments of tranquillity a down to earth beauty that is still totally real. This book moved and gripped me like no other, taking me on an intelligent and deeply compelling journey into the soul of one of the most significant tortured heroines ever created. To dismiss it as a copy of 1984 and Brave New World is a great injustice... as this book has an underlining degree of beauty that those works could only dream of.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Good Enough
Review: I have not read any other book by Margaret Atwood so this review is solely based on the writing in this book and what I got out of it, which was not much.
The first chapters are particularly innundated with incomplete sentences which usually give a sense of urgency to the reader. In this case, it just made the reading tedious. You do not want to read this book out loud because it will make you sound very annoying.
Even though I'm all for criticizing religious extremists, a better book could have made the point without insulting people's intelligence.
On the story itself, I just didn't buy it from the beginning so it was difficult for me to get into it at all. Here's why:
- The changes that must have occurred in this society are supposed to have happened within 10 years. This is too far-fetched, as it has been mentioned before. Anyone who has taken any type of sociology/anthropology/economics/politics class is being asked to forget all they have ever learned and just go with the flow. No society where everyone living under it(including top officials)is unhappy and breaking their own rules is going to be sustainable for long and much less enforceable for long. Drugs are too easy an answer.
- The main character is not really defined. In fact, for someone who was supposed to be a college grad, she's pretty stupid. She thinks of herself as timid and complacent and yet every now and then she would have an outburst of assertiveness. Like her sudden awareness of her sex appeal and manipulation of it toward the Commander in those secret meetings. She wasn't smart and that was a big turn off.
- There were so many opportunities missed from the very beginning of better story lines that never took off. Ex. Ofglen, her partner in shopping, was aware of some underground movement and yet Offred never asked anymore questions on the subject. Similarly, other handmaids during the 'birth day' had information that our hero never bothered to pursue. Maybe she liked being a victim and the life she led. Again, not a very smart or functional main character.
Although I didn't like the character of Moria (come to think of it, I didn't like any of the characters), I think I would have liked the book to be about her and her adventures better than Offred's. She got a better perspective of what was going on and she was not afraid to explore the possibilities.
I do not recommend this book. It asks it's readers to conform to a mediocre story just like Offred is being asked to conform to a mediocre life with no real justification.
Rating:
Summary: A Prescient Vision of the Near-Future
Review: I highly recommend this book to everyone out there in the ether. Read it closely-- this is what happens when the religious right wins. I am amazed that Atwood was able to see our future so clearly when she wrote this book in the early 1980s.
In "The Handmaid's Tale," the Bible Thumpers have overtaken our government, demolished the church-state barrier, and installed their own vile brand of theocratic fascism in the Republic of Gilead. (Take note: they rise to power by citing a constant threat of unnamed terrorists, necessitating police state measures.)
In Gilead, everyone is segregated into a strict caste hierarchy. Men may be the Commanders, who are in charge, the Eyes, who are the agents of the Panopticon who whisk away any deviants, the Angels who wage the faraway wars, etc. Women's options are more strictly delimited: they may be the Wives of the Commanders, Econowives of the lower ranks, the Aunts who dominate and control women of the lower ranks, the Marthas who do menial household chores, the prostitute Jezebels, and the Maids like the narrator Offred.
As a Maid, Offred's sole purpose in life is to breed with her Commander. The manner in which Commander Fred attempts to "fertilize" Offred simply must be read to be believed. Interestingly, the Gileadans cite Biblical precedent to support this bizarre method of surrogate conception. Maids are terminated if they prove unable to conceive.
Since Offred's life options are so severely restricted, most of the novel takes place in her head. She reminisces about the time before, when she was able to marry, own property, and have her own children, the gradual increase in restrictions, and her failed attempt at escape. The novel is crushing in its illustration of a life thwarted, stunted, and defeated, and a woman made into an empty childbearing vessel. Reading the book, I was reminded of prison memoirs-- Offred has no chance of an external life, and is trapped in a life of solitude and regret.
Some people might say that such a future is unthinkable in our democratic society. I would recommend that you speak to any member of the extreme evangelical ministries, which view Jefferson's separation of church and state as a lie and an illusion to be abolished, and believe in the literal, inerrant truth of the Bible. I would also recommend that you read V.S. Naipaul's "Among the Believers," concerning the Islamic revolutions in Iran and Pakistan. Gilead's corporal punishments for heresy, dismantling of all democratic institutions like the press, and mandatory "Prayvaganzas" closely track what happened in Iran after the Ayatollahs overthrew the Shah.
I would place this excellent book on par with "1984" and "Brave New World." "The Handmaid's Tale" is necessary reading in this day and age.
Rating: 
Summary: The Handmaid's Review
Review: Jason Thibault Book Review 12-17
The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood. In the book the Handmaids Tale the main
character is Offred. A Handmaid that lives in Gilead. Offred who was a
Handmaid had the Commander as her man. His wife who was a gospel singer is named
Serena Joy. While Offred was having her monthly cycle she was to have sex with
the Commander while his wife Serena sits behind her holding her hands. There
are rules that the Handmaids need to follow. They are restricted to do things
that every other woman who wasn't a Handmaid could do. She cant leave the house
for normal foods shopping trips. The Gilead police kept a close eye on where
she was at all times. While the story is going on she really puts a little more
interest into the story she flashes back when things remind her of certain
things.
During these flashbacks there is the new world and the old world. In the old
world she had a affair with Luke who was divorced and married Offred and had one
child. Architects in Gilead took over completely, the military assassinated
the president and his followers of Congress and said they were taking over.
This age was where the woman were abused and used for prostitution. The Congress
decided that its time to tighten the rules for woman and having them not being
able to work or and have property. While this was occurring Offred lost her
husband and daughter through the mess.
Life while being the servant of the Commander was a lot different but always
the same. It was the kind of life that kept things the same and in the routine.
She sometimes takes trips with Ofglen to get some food. When she finally gets
away from the routine to go the doctor but it wasn't a good checkup he wants to
have sex with Offred to get her pregnant, but Offred refuses to have it because
if she is caught she could be send away. Then the Commander demands his gardener
Nick to go and see her. When he sees her he keeps going to see her on a regular
basis.
Ofglen who is Offred's friend tells her that she is a member of the "Mayday" a
group of people or organization trying to overthrow Gilead. She tries to find
the Ceremony that is different now that she knows the Commander. Then she
really is unhappy and she expresses her feelings to the Commander and he gets
mad and makes remarks that aren't very nice. Offred and the Commander had been
trying to have a baby for quite a long time and she really doesn't know what
else to do so Serena the Commanders wife tells her to go and have sex with Nick
his gardener. So when she has a baby with him she can say it was the Commander
when it really wasn't.
The novel ends by Professor Piexoto explaining that Gilead. Then he explains
how important Offred story but no on really knows what went on in the escape if
Nick helped or not and where did she go.
The Handmaids tale was a book that was a very good but book. But however it was
a little confusing for the average reader. When she jumped back and forth with
her flashbacks it was hard to follow if that just happened or if it was really a
flash back. I suggest this to any reader that tries or does read it because it
was a book that put the reader in the character's shoes more then other books.
It showed how terrible it was to be a woman
Rating:
Summary: Harrowing
Review: Margaret Atwood has redefined speculative and social fiction and brought it to a new level with THE HANDMAID'S TALE. When I first read it, some 10 years ago, I was stunned by not only the story but by the voice of the narrator. Now that I've just re-read it, I found the story more terrifying and harrowing. I imagine that it's twice as frightening for a woman. But as it seems to me that some of our Constitutional rights are quickly being challenged (whether justified or not) there is a new, palpable fear that resonates in the pages of THE HANDMAID'S TALE that wasn't there in the early 90's.I'll get off my soapbox now. THE HANDMAID'S TALE is a gripping and compelling novel of a nation out of control, and of male-dominance. While it is set in the not-too-distant-future, the feel is reminiscent of Nazi workcamps, as the female characters are subject to brainwashing, imprisonment, and sexual predation. No one I know who has read the book, even those of my friends on the far right, felt this to be heavy-handed or didactic. And no one I know who has read the book, put it down without reflecting deeply on our sexual/social relations. THE HANDMAID'S TALE is an impossibly brilliant book.
Rating:
Summary: The Handmaid's Tale Reveiw
Review: Saverio Montecalvo
English 12, 2004
The Handmaid's Tale
Book Review
This story is about Dystopia. It is the author, Margaret Atwood's view of what her real world Dystopia would be like. The story is about what could happen if the government and the people lose control of what they have. It shows what could go wrong and what life would be without order. There are not that many details when reading the book, of why the world had been turned upside down so quickly. You have to make up your own ideas on what you think happened and why it happened. I believe that the author left it that way so the reader could be creative when reading this book. You begin to ask yourself question on why, would the world would turn into such a religious society, which was once so sane, and peaceful. This society slowly takes over and eventually they run everything, even sex. All the women are given the choice to either be sent to "the Colonies," or become a handmaid. The Handmaids wear red robes, white blinders, and do there own shopping. At this point of the book this does not seem to be a life or death situation for anyone. You try to keep your head and not let the society take control of you like they have done everyone else, however this will shortly change. The worst is yet to come. I will try not giving away all the major details in The Handmaid's Tale. In the new society, you are not allowed to see your previous kids, family, porn, or the other handmaids. One of the parts that I didn't like was all the flash backs that she was having during many of the parts of the book. I found them to be very confusing and hard to figure out, what was going on. I had to read some of the passages a couple of times, some times more than others. However I liked how the author used the past to create a background of the main character, Offred. You may think that the names are weird know, but once you read the book, in the later chapters you will find out what the Handmaid's names mean. I also like the great detail in which the author described in the book. It felt like you were in the room, you know where everything was; it was like you wanted to reach out and touch something.
The only thing that I would change was, I would give it a proper ending as it does not have one and it is frustrating not knowing what happens. You will know what I mean when you finish the book. I felt like there should have been another chapter, on what had happened to the main character Offred and to the rest of the Dystopia.
I would recommend it because it is so different and interesting from anything else.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Read
Review: The Handmaid's Tale is the story of Offred, one of the few fertile women left in the Republic of Gilead, a dystopia at its worst. Toxic waste has left population levels dangerously low and religious leaders have taken control of the country, using desperate measures to repopulate the Earth. Offred is one of the many "handmaids" who are forced to live with a commander and trys to conceive a child with him once a month. The book chronicles Offred's life as she is living with Commander Fred (hence "Of Fred"). Atwood wrote this novel at a time when there was the possibility of religious leaders establishing a theocracy. She portrays the havoc that can come about when a democracy loses its control over the people. Atwood does this extremely effectively. Since the whole book is through Offred's eyes, the one-person limited view point makes you use your imagination to fill in the gaps left by her lack of knowledge. The book isn't so extreme that it's unbelievable and is so descriptively written that it almost feels as if it the events already happened in history. It was truly a great read.
Rating:
Summary: A life of sex while hanging on to hope
Review: The Republic of Gilead is a place where no woman would want to be summoned for it is a place where certain women, called Handmaids, are used as sex slaves. A woman given the name Offred explains her life as being a Handmaid and how she once had the life as a wife and mother. Now she can only think of her past and appreciate what she once had and hope one day that she will regain some of it back. Offred continues to explain through out the book how she was forced to live with a man, known as the Commander of the household, and his wife to be used solemnly for her ability to give birth. As interesting as the life Offred is now living, she surprisingly slowly shares information of her past and how everything came to be. As the book prospers, you can't help to want to know the future of Offred and her past. As things become unbearable in the Republic of Gilead, it is as if you also seem to slowly lose hope of ever gaining change. The best part is not quite really understanding what is happening in the novel, yet wanting to understand.
I believe The Handmaid's Tale was fantastic. I liked how the author only allowed Offred to tell certain parts of her past at random moments. Because I am a woman and the fact that Handmaids were being used for there abilities to give birth made me want to find out if Offred would escape from her, so called, destiny. Knowing that Offred wondered what had happened to her mother, Luke, daughter, and sometimes Moira, also made you curious on what had happened to them. There were moments through out the book that would make you think there was hope on yet escaping but then around the corner was just the opposite. As the reader, I just wanted to know what would come of Offred. For example, there was a time where you thought maybe the Commander, of the household Offred was sleeping in, would be Offred's ticket home. Then there are many women of Gilead who, like Offred, are against what has happened which could possibly lead to an escape. Of course there was the possibility of Offred becoming pregnant. The Republic of Gilead amazes me from the arranged marriages to the hangings in town. The Republic of Gilead is an awful place as described by a woman given the name Offred. However, just as Offred's new life in Gilead prospers so does her outlook on life and her heart and mind is swarmed with mixed feelings and soon yours are too.
If you have an interest in novels that are based on the feelings and emotions of one certain character, you will enjoy The Handmaids Tale. I definitely recommend that people read this novel because it keeps your interest and it makes you think differently about life. After I had read The Handmaids I appreciated my life more. The Handmaids Tale has excitement, mystery, unhappiness, paranoia and even romance. If you want to experience the life a woman who has lost her past and now must live a life of sex, pain, love, and hope you should read The Handmaids Tale.
Rating:
Summary: truth is stranger then fiction
Review: This was an engrossing tale.
I read it about ten years ago....and it really left an impression on me.
I hadn't thought about it tho till today when I read this stroy from germany....and ladies...
I gave me the chills that this could be happening in a modern 'civilized country. This is from the telegragh:
'If you don't take a job as a prostitute, we can stop your benefits'
By Clare Chapman
(Filed: 30/01/2005)
A 25-year-old waitress who turned down a job providing "sexual services'' at a brothel in Berlin faces possible cuts to her unemployment benefit under laws introduced this year.
Prostitution was legalised in Germany just over two years ago and brothel owners - who must pay tax and employee health insurance - were granted access to official databases of jobseekers.
The waitress, an unemployed information technology professional, had said that she was willing to work in a bar at night and had worked in a cafe.
She received a letter from the job centre telling her that an employer was interested in her "profile'' and that she should ring them. Only on doing so did the woman, who has not been identified for legal reasons, realise that she was calling a brothel.
Under Germany's welfare reforms, any woman under 55 who has been out of work for more than a year can be forced to take an available job - including in the sex industry - or lose her unemployment benefit. Last month German unemployment rose for the 11th consecutive month to 4.5 million, taking the number out of work to its highest since reunification in 1990.
The government had considered making brothels an exception on moral grounds, but decided that it would be too difficult to distinguish them from bars. As a result, job centres must treat employers looking for a prostitute in the same way as those looking for a dental nurse.
When the waitress looked into suing the job centre, she found out that it had not broken the law. Job centres that refuse to penalise people who turn down a job by cutting their benefits face legal action from the potential employer.
"There is now nothing in the law to stop women from being sent into the sex industry," said Merchthild Garweg, a lawyer from Hamburg who specialises in such cases. "The new regulations say that working in the sex industry is not immoral any more, and so jobs cannot be turned down without a risk to benefits."
Miss Garweg said that women who had worked in call centres had been offered jobs on telephone sex lines. At one job centre in the city of Gotha, a 23-year-old woman was told that she had to attend an interview as a "nude model", and should report back on the meeting. Employers in the sex industry can also advertise in job centres, a move that came into force this month. A job centre that refuses to accept the advertisement can be sued.
Tatiana Ulyanova, who owns a brothel in central Berlin, has been searching the online database of her local job centre for recruits.
"Why shouldn't I look for employees through the job centre when I pay my taxes just like anybody else?" said Miss Ulyanova.
Ulrich Kueperkoch wanted to open a brothel in Goerlitz, in former East Germany, but his local job centre withdrew his advertisement for 12 prostitutes, saying it would be impossible to find them.
Mr Kueperkoch said that he was confident of demand for a brothel in the area and planned to take a claim for compensation to the highest court. Prostitution was legalised in Germany in 2002 because the government believed that this would help to combat trafficking in women and cut links to organised crime.
Miss Garweg believes that pressure on job centres to meet employment targets will soon result in them using their powers to cut the benefits of women who refuse jobs providing sexual services.
"They are already prepared to push women into jobs related to sexual services, but which don't count as prostitution,'' she said.
"Now that prostitution is no longer considered by the law to be immoral, there is really nothing but the goodwill of the job centres to stop them from pushing women into jobs they don't want to do."
[...]
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