The Handmaid's Tale is a radical departure for Margaret Atwood. Set in the near future, in a locale that oddly resembles Cambridge, Massachusetts, it describes life in what was once the United States. Now, however, it has become the Republic of Gilead, a monolithic theocracy that has reacted to social unrest and a sharply declining birthrate by reverting to the repressive intolerance of the original Puritans, and has gone far beyond them. This regime takes the Book of Genesis absolutely at its word, with bizarre consequences for women, and for men as well.
The story is told through the eyes of Offred, one of the unfortunate "Handmaids" under the new social order. In condensed but eloquent prose, by turns cool-eyed, tender, despairing, passionate, and wry, she reveals to us the dark corners behind the establishment's calm facade, as certain tendencies now in existence are carried to their logical conclusions.
the Handmaid's Tale is A Clockwork Orange as seen by women: unexpected, funny, horrifying, and altogether convincing. the book is at once a mordant satire and a dire warning. this is Atwood in top form.
--front flap
It took me a while to get round to reading this book, but I'm glad I finally did. I figured I should at least read it before watching the TV show.
This is, at times, a harrowing story. There were moments of hope, but these were drowned out by the overall despair of the situation of Offred, the narrator of the story, who is the Handmaid referred to in the title. What was most interesting for me is the this book was written over 30 years ago, yet it spoke to many of the things happening in our world today. What I liked most about this book was that the reality of the world in which it was set was slowly revealed and that it wasn't all obvious from the start. I also enjoyed the way that the past, including how things got to how they were, was also revealed slowly, bit by bit. This made it a very interesting and compelling read.
I'm not going to get into the plot much, as I wouldn't want to give much away. It's worth the read and is a book that hasn't aged over the years since it was first published.
