From the Bookshelf of EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club…

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

Margaret Atwood

Start date: May 1, 2024

Finish date: May 31, 2024

Discussion: MODERN / POPULAR READS

Why we're reading this: May 2024 - Bookshelf Catch-Up
Group Pick for May '19 - Bookshelf Catch-up
Group Pick for Dec '17 - Bookshel…more
[close] May 2024 - Bookshelf Catch-Up
Group Pick for May '19 - Bookshelf Catch-up
Group Pick for Dec '17 - Bookshelf Catch-up
Group Pick for Nov' 16 - Modern Classic/Popular

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 226 topics — 6,095 comments total

MODERN / POPULAR READS

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous - *SPOILERS*
By spoko · 8 posts · 51 views

last updated Aug 26, 2025 11:57AM

The Alchemist — *SPOILERS*
By Joanna Loves … · 105 posts · 512 views

last updated Aug 25, 2025 02:19PM

showing 10 of 48 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Sep 30, 2016 Amanda rated it it was amazing

I first read this book many years ago, and while the dark and oppressive feeling the book evoked stayed with me, the plot details didn't. So I reread it in preparation for watching the new Hulu version on TV. This is a tightly written and constructed story, so powerful and thought provoking, but also a page turner. You can't put it down or look away. I guess it is a commentary on feminism, patriarchy, race, gender politics and on our society in general told from the POV of a powerless Handmaiden ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Oct 27, 2018 Laurel Bradshaw rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audiobook, daytimers-book-club, science-fiction, dystopias, canadian-authors, color-rating-purple, waterstones-big-jubilee-read

I expected to not like this book, but I chose it for my bookclub because of the Hulu TV series (which I have not yet seen) and political events of the past two years which made the creation of a conservative and Biblical dystopia all too chillingly possible. My definition of a classic is a book which transcends the time in which it was written, in this case still relevant over 30 years later. I'm not a fan of dystopian fiction, finding it depressing, but the writing here is luminous, engaging, t I expected to not like this book, but I chose it for my bookclub because of the Hulu TV series (which I have not yet seen) and political events of the past two years which made the creation of a conservative and Biblical dystopia all too chillingly possible. My definition of a classic is a book which transcends the time in which it was written, in this case still relevant over 30 years later. I'm not a fan of dystopian fiction, finding it depressing, but the writing here is luminous, engaging, thought-provoking, and highly quoteable. There is so much to think about. The author just throws you into the story, without giving lots of background information. You won't learn how and why this happened, but as Offred gives us flashbacks into her life as she experienced it, you feel as if this could happen. And the ending is open-ended. We don't know what ultimately happened to Offred - only that she escaped long enough to dictate her story onto cassette tapes, yet it remains unfinished. We end with some future society, discussing the "document" in an academic setting. That in itself is a fascinating look at how we look at and evaluate cultures like Iran, where women wear hijabs, and have everything in their lives proscribed and controlled by men.

To those leaving all the 1 and 2 star reviews, I wonder how old you are? My book club of older women loved this, and we had a fantastic discussion. One woman commented that she read this when she was younger and didn't like it and didn't "get it." But she read it again for this book club and said "Now I get it."

Audiobook narrated by Betty Harris.

Book description: Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the days before, when she lived and made love with her husband Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now.... Funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing, The Handmaid's Tale is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and literary tour de force. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

May 02, 2019 Genevieve rated it liked it

Shelves: 2019-reading-challenge

The story is definitely going to be with me for a while, but I don’t think I’ll recommend it to many to read.
Parts of it were just too frustrating and I don’t have any desire to read it again.
She made a very interesting world though, for sure. Again, it is a well worn world that seems to have been beaten to death. I tire of stories where religious zealots ruin society.

Like · see review