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
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[close] May 2024 - Bookshelf Catch-Up
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MODERN / POPULAR READS

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What Members Thought

Dec 02, 2020 Indira Giovany rated it it was ok

Typically the dystopian novel starts on an already established world, where normal life was some sort of distance faraway tale, a mythic almost. But this novel took place on the first generation, the transitional generation as the book put it. The thing with starting there is, you have to make it believable. The coup d'etat, the resistance, the force, and finally the establishment of the new government. This book fails miserably at this.

Are we suppose to believe that they just forget normal lif Typically the dystopian novel starts on an already established world, where normal life was some sort of distance faraway tale, a mythic almost. But this novel took place on the first generation, the transitional generation as the book put it. The thing with starting there is, you have to make it believable. The coup d'etat, the resistance, the force, and finally the establishment of the new government. This book fails miserably at this.

Are we suppose to believe that they just forget normal life that is not even that long ago exist? Their own name? How things were? "There used to be an ice cream store, it had the name of a man, I just can't remember", blergh!

And how easy it was, the transition. They laid off all women, froze their bank account, and no resistance? Round 'em up, put them on boarding school and told them they're now a baby machine, and the majority is not even fighting back? The women didn't even beaten half death into submission. They just concur. What kind of fuckery is this. If this book is suppose to be a nod to feminism, well it failed at that miserably, too.

And what's with women hating each other? Marthas hate handmaid, Wifes hate handmaid, really? "You got it all, huh?" Rita the Martha said at one point. "You could have left me something.. just like the other one. A slut. You'll end up the same." Said Serena the Wife. Who are these women? Who cannot comprehend the choicelessness of a Handmaid, a fellow women, a human?

And what's with this obsession with face cream? Moira forced into prostitution yet all she got to say is "They even give you face cream." Women is not that shallow.

The whole concept of this world just doesn't make any sense to me. They subjugating all fertile women to the point of depression and then giving them to elderly men in the hopes of pregnancy. How's that make sense? On top of that, they forbid USG and deny that man can be sterile. But if the goal is to procreate, isn't it stupid to deny than man too can be sterile? Why would a group of men clever enough to take over a country create a world that is so ineffective and inefficient in achieving their collective objectives?

Oh and awful awful naration. Not at all enjoyable. The first half of the book consists only of inner thoughts and feeling, purple proses and cheap melodrama with no real storyline nor dialog. It goes on and on about flowers and oranges.

In the prologue, the book tries to offer a logical explanation of the world it created through how the future academia view Gilead system. "To institute an effective totalitarian system or indeed any system at all you must offer some benefits and freedoms, at least to a privileged few, in return for those you remove.", indeed what are they offering exactly? "To tear a man apart by their bare hands every once in a while?"

All is implied, to say that it is far fetch is an understatement.

What this book is trying to say is "Look, this is what men will do to women if we're not careful! They will oppress and reduce us!" A dire warning, so it says. What it actually says is "Women are easy to opress, they won't resist as much or questions a lot, they will just obey. Oh and they can't even conjure up enough empathy to empower each other, even in extreme condition they will always hate and envy one another like a bunch of high school girls."

A mere insult, is what it is.

Unless the intention is to insult women into feminism, I would have to give this book two star. ...more

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Jun 27, 2015 Wendy Kalthoff rated it did not like it

I could not get into this book at all. I read up to page 110 and kept waiting for the book to get better but it doesn't. I finally decided to give up on it. There was too much violence and sexual scenes involving forced rape for me to enjoy it. I hate not finishing a book but this one I gave up on reading!need to retry to read this book now. ...more

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Jun 18, 2022 Brodie rated it really liked it

Tone and content seem to perfectly weave 1984 with The Scarlett Letter. Really well done narrow perspective world building that reveals and hides enough to keep the reader in the driver seat. An excellent example of the dystopian police state cannon with a well needed gender flip.

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