 The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret AtwoodMy rating: 5 of 5 stars This is a modern dystopian classic and a cautionary tale. It is insanely depressing to read because we are simply a pandemic or natural disaster away from something like this potentially happening. The fundamentalist religious right already has so much power, if our country were to splinter, civil war could erupt allowing pockets of this kind of evil to proliferate. This book is about cultism on a grand scale imposing itself on a helpless populace before it could organize itself. So, while I loved this book for its attention to detail, for its bravery and insight, I also found it so difficult to read because there is not a moment of brightness in the protagonist's life. It is unrelievedly wretched, and rightly so. Atwood's prose is starkly poetic and mesmerizing, only sometimes verging on purple prose. Claire Danes' performance on the audio book is spot on: perfection in every way. I highly recommend her dramatic reading. This should be required reading. I should not have taken so long to pick it up. View all my reviews
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11/22/2014 08:52:12 pm
Have you only recently read this? A friend gave it to me years ago, and it clearly meant a lot to her - which, for some reason, gave me pause in starting it. (Probably was worried I wouldn't enjoy it / appreciate it as much as she, which is always disappointing for both people!) Yes. Just finished it about a month ago. It has been on my tbr list for quite some time. I used to be a voracious reader, but mommy-ing and writing usurp that time. Now I live for audio books. I can fit them in while driving my kids around and doing chores. If it's not on audio, I'm unlikely to fit it in any time soon. : )
I read this when it came out, in 1988 I believe. Gosh, it was depressing/distressing. Thinking about it again reminds me of the time I started to read first book of The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant series, and got so angry when practically the first thing Covenant does when he arrives in The Land is rape a young girl. I was so torqued off that I tore the book in half and threw it into the trash. Days later I dug it out of the trash and started reading it again, steaming all the while. Gosh, that Covenant character was the most annoying protagonist in the history of English literature. I only lasted until book 3 of the series. There were 10 books, by the way. Leave a Reply. |
Jennifer Foehner WellsI'm an author of the Space Opera variety. 
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