Book #27: The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood

[grav_ity]

I mostly read this book because I felt a bit silly after learning what it was about. You see, I had so much "literature" forced on me in childhood and high school that I developed something of an aversion to it. When I found out that The Handmaid's Tale was, in fact, science fiction (okay, it's not sci-fi, but it is dystopian, and that's good enough for me), I decided I should read it.

So I did.

This book is brilliant and awful and gorgeous and gross. It made me feel ill, it triggered the hell out me, it made me sad, it made me feel oddly hopeful, and then it made me sit up and think "GOOD LORD, THAT IS AMAZING. And also terrifying."

It's not the story of a revolution. It's the story of survival and of finding bravery again. There's some space for a revolution at the end, but it's the small, personal fights, like the ones that made Katniss Everdeen such a ridiculous improbable figurehead.

And then there was fake academia (which is why the book is sometimes classed as "satire", even though it's only the last chapter), and then one of the endings I've ever read in a book:

Any questions?

And unlike nearly every dystopia I've EVER READ, Atwood took the time to explain what was going on in Canada.

Comments

[fahrbotdrusilla]

I really loved that book, I keep meaning to read more of her work but haven't gotten around to it yet (I LIE I think she wrote the Penelopiad, which I also loved). It was probably one of the better dystopian novels I read around then (which was like in 2007 or 2008)

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

I'm going to tackle Oryx and Crake next, I think. We'll see. I have a lot to do. But I'm glad I took the time to read THT.

[midwifeonboard.livejournal.com]

One of my favorite books of all time. And starting to come to pass in the USA, apparently...

[melyanna.livejournal.com]

I tried reading one of Atwood's other books (Robber Bride, I think?) and just couldn't get into it, which disappointed me given that I loved Handmaid's Tale.

[oparu.livejournal.com]

I loved this book. It's really really brilliant. One of the first deep, challenging things I read. ;)

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

She's been writing for so long that I think it's quite possible that I'll only like The Handmaid's Tale as well. Her style is not something I usually go for. That said, I am really glad I sat down and read THT.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, that's part of the reason I finally sat down and read the book. I did like it though. I can certainly see a few other books that have probably drawn from it thematically, even in the Teen section.