From the Bookshelf of The Jezebel Book Network…
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
No group discussions for this book yet.
What Members Thought
I've heard a lot about this book, and I finally gave in and read it. I read it all in one sitting, when I was supposed to be asleep, but I just couldn't close it.
The Handmaid's Tale takes place in a cold, disjointed, modern Puritan society. The government has crumbled in place of a theocracy and women are reduced to chattel. You can only hold so many positions- a wife of a Commander, an "econowife," a Martha (a servant), an Aunt, or a handmaid. A handmaid is a woman still fertile in a barren soc ...more
The Handmaid's Tale takes place in a cold, disjointed, modern Puritan society. The government has crumbled in place of a theocracy and women are reduced to chattel. You can only hold so many positions- a wife of a Commander, an "econowife," a Martha (a servant), an Aunt, or a handmaid. A handmaid is a woman still fertile in a barren soc ...more
I really wished Atwood would have spent more time going into the present rather than spend three quarters of the book in some sort of conscious-stream. It made sense when it turned out to essentially be a transcript from an audio recording, but I felt it took away from a very realistic fiction type of story.
I just want to read all the Atwood all the time! Something about her view of humanity - bleak, honest, not without humor - really appeals to me. And I don't know why, but I love an ambiguous ending.
...more
Jun 11, 2018
Shannon
added it
