From the Bookshelf of Nothing But Reading Challenges…

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

Margaret Atwood

Start date: March 22, 2014

Finish date: March 31, 2014

Why we're reading this: CLICK HERE to get to the discussion. We voted and this book won for March's Adult Sci-fi/Fantasy.…more
[close] CLICK HERE to get to the discussion. We voted and this book won for March's Adult Sci-fi/Fantasy.

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Aug 31, 2017 Gabriela rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-books-you-must-read, our-shared-shelf

A horrific mirage of humanity' darkest controlling systems

I was struck by the possibility that the world of Gilead could have been real at some point in history, it might have well been real which is even more striking. The author is a genius developer of thoughts and whishpers of the deepest kind, a picturesque illusion that the human soul can be salvaged in the face of horrific events. The amasing resilience of the mind and body against psychological rape of values and norms. I honestly could ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Jun 26, 2020 Andreea rated it it was amazing

More 4.5 but definitely close to 5.

Full review can be read on my blog.

This. Sh*t. Is. Scary.
And it is scary because I can actually believe it could become real…

With any other dystopian novels, I get fascinate by the worlds presented, and although I would never want to live there, I can imagine them and enjoy them in some way. With Gilead… I do not want to do that. It feels too close to reality and this is thanks to Atwood’s amazing way of spinning the story. The uncertainty that wraps around you ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Mar 28, 2011 Tien rated it really liked it

Shelves: canada, dystopia

It was just creepy... This is the third Atwood book I've read and so far, all three have given me the creeps. Each of them has been so dark and hopeless. So near and yet, so far away from the reality / truth. Atwood weaves such a story that both reality and un-reality intertwined and this is what gives me the creepy feeling.

This book is what today could have been except that society has regressed by centuries in making women, once again, obsolete. Women were housekeepers and child-bearers, basic ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Mar 31, 2024 Trisha rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classics, drama, dystopian

Intense, emotional, and frighteningly within the realm of possibility, especially given the current political climate. It was believable because the changes occurred gradually, rights were stripped little by little, until there was a defining moment, an overthrow, that changed the nation and created Gilead. It is also interesting to note that the author did base parts of the novel on actual events throughout history and in different cultures, that some of these actions and beliefs are based on r ...more

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May 05, 2018 Leslie King rated it it was ok

When I read this, I got lost near the end... Not lost, but I think it turned into a diatribe, which I get...but I was babysitting while reading it through nap time. . .so...not the best time for diatribe reading.

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