The Handmaid's Tale

by Margaret Atwood

Paperback, 325 pages

English language

Published March 16, 1998 by Anchor Books.

ISBN:: 978-0-385-49081-8
OCLC Number:: 964816254

(8 reviews)

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 moth and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are only valued if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years 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 tour de force.

56 editions

Magnesium reviewed La Servante écarlate by Margaret Atwood

Not so speculative fiction

5 stars

I was warned this book is not a fun one. Indeed it is not.

You get to see the omnipresent fear and violence of a patriarchal surveillance state. You get to see how it got there, little by little, and how it got accepted. The disturbing part is that it is very much believable...

I hadn't seen since Orwell's "1984" the effect of a totalitarian system on an individual so well described, especially at an individual level. You get to see how a single mind resists or breaks when faced with such overwhelming brutal and oppressive environment.

It is definitely worth reading, especially when you keep in mind the fact that Atwood has been censored in several US states.

gabriel reviewed EL CUENTO DE LA CRIADA by Margaret Atwood

De las distopías más interesantes

5 stars

Content warning Spoilers de “El cuento de la criada”

El género de libros que más me ha interesado han sido los libros distópicos, el hecho que expliquen el mundo/país muy a lo futurista con tecnología diferente (“Un Mundo Feliz”) es muy interesante, contando con el punto de vista de un hombre que quiere cambiar o piensa diferente al resto; pero esta novela no se va a lo futurista y usa elementos de su actualidad, en el libro “1984” se puede decir que todas las personas eran víctimas al no tener pensamiento propio, en esta se centra en específicamente el maltrato que hacen hacia las mujeres, separándolas mediante su fertilidad o infertilidad; haciendo que las mujeres fértiles solo sirvan para concebir mediante una “ceremonia” que implica la la criada, la esposa y el comandante haciendo un acto horrible. Lo que no me gustó tanto, pero a su vez es un punto favor hablándolo narrativamente, son los flashbacks que cuentan antes de Gilead y la experiencia con las “Tías”; lo mejor fue saber poco antes de la protagonista (Offred/Defred) la cuál hablan sobre su familia y cómo fue el cambio tan repentino al poner la ley que las mujeres ya no pueden trabajar y no tienen control de su propio dinero. A mi opinión ocupa más mérito y hasta me culpo de no haberlo leído antes.

Lasairiona reviewed The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Meh

2 stars

I read the Handmaid's Tale yesterday, finally. I'm disappointed. I did not like the writing style at all, there was no real story, just descriptions. And then it just ended. No conclusion or anything.

My best guess it's because the TV show was so intense and well made (at least the earlier seasons), and the book was... Not? Episodes would stay with me for days, but I'm struggling to recall the book.

Maybe the book is supposed to be unsatisfying to go with the theme. Nothing much happened after Gilead was created, every day just kinda goes by. Sure there was some torture and death, but... Eh.

Maybe I was expecting too much after all the praise it got. It's my first Atwood book, and way way outside of my usual genre (fantasy, scifi, horror).

Stefano Costa reviewed Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid's Tale, #1)

a classic

5 stars

I read this classic just two years ago. It felt more relevant to the present than it may have been when it was written. This book is a revolutionary milestone in speculative fiction and probably feminist literature as well, but I found equally interesting that the text is based on progressive loss of innocence. The final chapter is incredible and left me very satisfied.