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The Handmaid’s Tale (The Handmaid's Tale, #1)

Margaret Atwood

Start date: February 1, 2018

Finish date: February 28, 2018

Discussion: 2018 RT Tournament of Books

Why we're reading this: Contender for 2018 RT tournament of books, Round A
[close] Contender for 2018 RT tournament of books, Round A

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2018 RT Tournament of Books

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What Members Thought

Oct 25, 2018 Henk rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: owned

Akelig realistisch: een beklemmende waarschuwing uit 1985 aan onze moderne tijd
“Gewoon, zei tante Lydia, is dat waar je aan gewend bent. Alles lijkt nu misschien niet zo gewoon, maar over een tijdje wordt dat anders. Straks is alles gewoon.”

Wat een bleke wereld is Gilead, met troosteloze flashbacks en geen perspectief behalve bezwangert (“Wij zijn wandelende baarmoeders, dat is alles: heilige vaten, verplaatsbare kelken.”) of afgeschreven worden. Amerika na de derde wereldoorlog is deprimerend ( ...more

28 likes · Like · see review

Jan 31, 2018 Petra rated it really liked it

What a frightening story. Just the thought that such a society could exist is bloodcurdling. Such a cold, emotionless, suspicious world. To be so alone would drive one mad. I'm a loner at heart but I like my people time; this world offers none of that.
Offred's life is barren, society is barren, men are barren. Cold.
Slowly Offred tells her tale of her world, how it came to be and consequences for not following the rules. Each revelation is chilling.
Margaret Atwood wrote a marvelous story. Ever ...more

20 likes · Like · see review

Feb 04, 2017 Janice (JG) rated it it was amazing

What Atwood has managed to do with this novel is to somehow overcome time and space in such a way that no matter when or where this book is read - whether this century or the next, this country or the one across the sea - it continues to be relevant. It is, in the end, a story about the roles of men and women and how they relate to each other, and the story of women's roles, and how women relate to each other. And until something truly revolutionary takes place on this globe (I'm talking to you, ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Oct 18, 2017 Sarah rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: canadian-fiction, science-fiction, classics

I applaud the world building, but the enormous amount of inner monologue gets old pretty quick. This causes the plot to advance very slowly which I found frustrating.

A world with no laughter, or friendship, or adventure, and limited dialogue tends to not be my cup of tea. When you finally feel like you are going to get some action the story ends leaving you disappointed.

1 like · Like · see review

Feb 23, 2018 Joey Anderson rated it liked it · review of another edition

This novel is rather…ho-hum. It’s not a bad novel, but it is not a great one either.

What was a problem for me is that the dystopia presented in the novel (a modern theocracy dedicated to the degradation and destruction of women) is not as horrible as other dystopias I’ve read in which the treatment of women is the subject (a recent one I’ve read that seems to do a better job is The Book of the Unnamed Midwife if you want to see how ugly men can truly be, read that one). The situation is awful, b ...more

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May 08, 2020 Alison Starnes rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, dystopia, television

This was not the easiest of reads. Disturbing and yet at times almost scarily accurate, it gets inside the bones of a dystopian society from the perspective of a woman who longs for escape but feels this is impossible, having already failed once.

Are we meant to find Offred just another expendable member of society or actually care about her? There are times you feel sorry for her and others when she is simply too passive, or perhaps conditioned by her circumstances. You are left wanting somethin ...more

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