The Handmaid's Tale

Book 40 of my 2020 Reading Challenge

read from May 17 - 29

The Handmaid's Tale

by Margaret Atwood

Summary (via the book jacket)

published 1986

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 month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only 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 a 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.

My Opinion

5 stars

There is an introduction by the author in my edition of the book, written in 2017 as she reflects on what her thoughts were at the time of publishing and what has happened since.  She states, "Back in 1984, the main premise seemed - even to me - fairly outrageous.  Would I be able to persuade readers that the United States of America had suffered a coup that had transformed and erstwhile liberal democracy into a literal-minded theocratic dictatorship?"  Unfortunately for our society at the moment, the answer to this question is unequivocally yes, it is horrifyingly possible to imagine this happening.

The pages passed so quickly.  I wasn't worried about the conclusion since I'm reading this late enough in the game to know that there is a second book plus the series so I can't speak to if I would've felt frustrated at the open-ended ending if I'd read it before those continuations happened.

The way it ended was an interesting, unique way to wrap things up a little so I'm able to move past the "info dump" aspect and still give it 5 stars for the overall experience of reading it.

A Few Quotes from the Book

"There is more than one type of freedom, said Aunt Lydia. Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don't underrate it."

"I've learned to do without a lot of things. If you have a lot of things, said Aunt Lydia, you get too attached to this material world and you forget about spiritual values. You must cultivate poverty of spirit. Blessed are the meek. She didn't go on to say anything about inheriting the earth."