Published: June . 2017 ( First published in 1985)
Genre: Classic | Dystopia
Pages: 325
Publisher: Anchor Books
What is it about?
The Republic of Gilead offers Offred only one function: to breed. If she deviates, she will, like dissenters, be hanged at the wall or sent out to die slowly of radiation sickness. But even a repressive state cannot obliterate desire – neither Offred’s nor that of the two men on which her future hangs.
Brilliantly conceived and executed, this powerful vision of the future gives full rein to Margaret Atwood’s irony, wit and astute perception.
Review
Thanks to Mridula @ecstaticyetchaotic..for selecting this book as a Read-along. I finally managed to pick up this book. I am not really a classic fan, but I try to pick one now and then. However, I was intimidated by this for a while now. I wanted to see the TV Show but decided to wait till I read the book. And finally here I am!
Firstly, I would say this book keeps getting better, every time I ponder upon its themes. It is one of those novels that hangs with you, terrifies you and provokes you to think about it long after you finish it.
I liked the book for how well it delivers its message, and how terribly uncomfortable it left me. It is a dystopian novel that warns us of the future we might bring if we aren’t too careful. It is probably every feminist’s nightmare!
Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.
Don’t let the bastards grind you down.
The book portrays a world where the rights of women are taken away from them until they are reduced to just being breeding stock. and the fertile ones become Handmaids and are assigned to upper class men. While I was reading this, I was in constant denial if these things will ever happen in real while it slowly grew upon me the realization of such suppression on woman already happening to some extent in certain parts of the world. I mean, we are already struggling with abortion rights when the world is already so over populated.
The writing is slow and bland, but on further retrospection does contribute to the theme of the story. I read an article about this book recently, and was surprised to know everything that happened in the book as happened in the past, before this book was published, which makes this more of a cautionary tale than just a dystopian novel.
“A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze.”
Overall, 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. No matter what your thoughts are , this books will either give you nightmares or a very scary reality check.
Rating: ★★★★
“Firstly, I would say this book keeps getting better, every time I ponder upon its themes. It is one of those novels that hangs with you, terrifies you and provokes you to think about it long after you finish it.”
Same experience. A lot of books tend to do that to me. They leave an impression that the readers can never seem to get out of his/her mind.
I love books those kind.