From the Bookshelf of The Challenge Factory…

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

Margaret Atwood

Start date: November 1, 2024

Finish date: November 15, 2024

Discussion: Archived-A Year of Banned Books

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 28 topics — 212 comments total

Archived-A Year of Banned Books

This topic has been closed to new comments.

* Reading List
By Erica , Quality Control Supervisor · 1 post · 97 views

last updated Dec 12, 2023 04:05PM

* A Year of Banned Books Info
By Erica , Quality Control Supervisor · 1 post · 122 views

last updated Dec 12, 2023 03:53PM

showing 10 of 85 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Jul 27, 2018 Ashleigh rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: series-books

The Handmaid's Tale , is a dystopian novel set in a near-future America where essentially women have no rights, and they are controlled and put into 'sections' by men. The options for women are: a Wife, self explanatory; a Handmaid, used solely for breeding purposes; a Martha, someone who takes care of the cooking and cleaning of a household; an Aunt, someone who 'trains' the future Handmaids and helps them settle into their new role; and an Unwoman, which is not a great position. An Unwoman The Handmaid's Tale , is a dystopian novel set in a near-future America where essentially women have no rights, and they are controlled and put into 'sections' by men. The options for women are: a Wife, self explanatory; a Handmaid, used solely for breeding purposes; a Martha, someone who takes care of the cooking and cleaning of a household; an Aunt, someone who 'trains' the future Handmaids and helps them settle into their new role; and an Unwoman, which is not a great position. An Unwoman is someone who cannot reproduce or serve any other purpose, and is sent away to the Colonies to rot, basically.

We follow a nameless woman, who after taking the position of a handmaid in her 3rd household, has been assigned the name Offred. She is allowed to leave her household once a day to walk to the food markets to exchange tokens for food for the household, and has to wear long heavy red robe-like dresses and headwear which almost cover her completely. Her face is obstructed by white wings which allow her to have a small section of vision, whilst also ensuring that no-one else can see her face. Oh, and she has to lie on her back, in between the wife of the household's legs, and allow (not really a choice here) the Commander to have sex with her and hopefully make her pregnant. This is Offred's life now, and she tells us her story, before, during and after the events that changed America, and it's a frightening tale.

So I feel like I was the last person on Earth who hadn't read this yet, and I'm so pleased I finally sat down to read it. It is hauntingly beautiful, and as I've mentioned, frightening and horrifying. I feel like this book is especially important in our current time, as it feels like at times this could be our future reality. A scary thought.

I really liked Offred, and while her choices weren't 100% well-thought, she was a flawed character, but I felt she 'coped' remarkably well, given her circumstances. (view spoiler)

Overall, powerful haunting story and I highly recommend it! ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Jan 08, 2020 Kerri rated it liked it

3.5 Intriguing. This is way outside the norm of what I usually read and I really don't know what to make of it yet. I think I need time to process what I just read. I loved the historical notes section at the end which helped clear some thing up nicely, however I'm still left with questions. Perhaps they are answered in The Testaments? Not ready to tackle that one yet, but soon will. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jan 01, 2020 Elina Mäkitalo rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Kuuluisa klassikko ja joo pidin tästä. Aluksi oli hieman sekavaa tietää missä ajassa kulloinkin tarinaa kerrottiin mutta ei sekään haitannut loppujen lopuksi. Kauhea dystopia. Loppu oli jotenkin jännä, enkä pitänyt siitä miten se loppui mutta Testamentit jatko-osa tukee hienosti tätä tarinaa.

1 like · Like · see review

Mar 30, 2018 Emma rated it really liked it

Shelves: one-shots-series-starters, 2018, 2018-novel, science-fiction, dystopia, classics

For a classic, this book is very easy to read.

Yes, The Handmaid's Tale is definitely a more modern classic than most, yet it is refreshing to be able to read something higher on the respectability scale than your run-of-the-mill YA book with such ease. This is not to say Atwood's writing style is simply written, rather, she is a good storyteller. For the most part, her writing flows very naturally. However, not using quotation marks when Offred is recalling a memory is bothersome; although it m ...more

Like · see review

Jun 26, 2019 Monica Shastri rated it liked it

Shelves: sci-fi, classics

This book left me with my own imagination and nightmares, for it's ambiguous ending. I will recommend this book as a must-read! Especially to both, who feel we as society and the world politics is heading in a right or a wrong direction rather. No matter what your thoughts are , this books will either give you nightmares or a very scary reality check. ...more

Like · see review