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Recently finished The Handmaids Tale. What next?

23 replies

thesnootyfox · 10/02/2013 22:22

That's it really. I'm currently reading The Tribes of Britain but finding it a bit dull so thinking of getting another fiction book. Any recommendations?

Thanks. Smile

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SerenaJoy · 10/02/2013 22:25

The Handmaid's Tale is one of my favourite books of all time. What about something by Sarah Waters? I loved The Night Watch and The Little Stranger (the latter very spooky, if you like that sort of thing).

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thesnootyfox · 10/02/2013 22:30

Spooky is good. I don't think
I have read anything by Sarah Waters. Thanks for the recommendation will pop down to Waterstones tomorrow (cheaper than
paying my extortionate library fine!).

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drmummmsy · 10/02/2013 22:32

jeanette winterson's 'the stone gods'?

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thesnootyfox · 10/02/2013 22:35

Just googled that one too DrMummsy - sounds good will add that to my list too.

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RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 11/02/2013 20:15

Liz Jensen - especially 'The Ninth Life Of Louis Drax' or 'My Dirty Little Book Of Stolen Time.'

Winterson's autobiography (can't remember what it's called but it's Why Be something or other when you could be Normal?) is pretty good, especially the first half.

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formallyknownasloveydarling · 11/02/2013 20:16

Have you read any Huxley? You might enjoy 'Brave New World'.

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Porkster · 11/02/2013 20:17

Never Let Me Go, following the dystopian theme? Or Cloud Atlas.

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Takver · 11/02/2013 20:27

YY to Never Let me Go. Have you read other Atwood? I don't like Oryx & Crake but many people do. I really like The Edible Woman which was one of her earliest novels.

Also apologies if you've read these, old ones but:
Woman on the Edge of Time (Marge Piercey)
The Dispossessed (Ursula le Guin)
Native Tongue (Suzette Haden Elgin)

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AliceWChild · 11/02/2013 20:29

Oryx and crake, year of the flood. Both Atwood. They're same thing with different protagonists.

And yes to woman on the edge of time.

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Porkster · 11/02/2013 20:29

I LOVED Atwood's Surfacing and Alias Grace.

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openerofjars · 11/02/2013 20:30

Ooh, I was going to say "Woman on the Edge of Time"! Love that book.

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RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 11/02/2013 20:39

I don't like Oryx And Crake at all but quite liked After The Flood. Hated Never Let Me Go.

If you want a 'post-modern' dystopian, then 'World War Z' is great fun, but not at all high literature!

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TheOneWithTheNameChange · 11/02/2013 21:19

The book of new eve by Angela carter, or any carter really. Strong feminist themes, literary, turn-the-world-on-its-head type of tales!

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sooperdooper · 11/02/2013 21:27

Alias Grace and Lady Oracle, both Margaret Atwood

Remus, it's 'Why be happy when you can be normal' by Jeanette Winterstone - absolutley brilliant, read it not long ago

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TheDoctrineOfSciAndNatureClub · 11/02/2013 21:29

Cats Eye is my favourite Atwood.

The Cleft by Doris Lessing?

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drmummmsy · 11/02/2013 21:45

oooh quite fancy some of these

'why be happy when you can be normal' is super, as is woman on the edge of time

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thesnootyfox · 11/02/2013 22:14

These sound great. Thank you. Smile

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Cooroo · 18/02/2013 15:16

Nice to know I'm not the only person who remembers Woman on the Edge of Time fondly. Must dig it out and re-read - does it stand up to it?

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ArcticRoll · 18/02/2013 15:36

Cat's Eye is my favourite Margaret Atwood.

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Portofino · 18/02/2013 15:41

I recently did a run on Ira Levin - The Stepford Wives, A Kiss Before Dying and Rosemary's Baby. I was surprised how "fresh" they were considering they were written quite a while ago.

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MissAliceBand · 20/02/2013 20:43

The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks is very good.

Or The Road by Cormac McCarthy - though I was a bit traumatised by that one. It's dark and heavy and doesn't let up. I did enjoy it though, saying that and many of his books are not so 'happy'

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LittleFriendSusan · 21/02/2013 07:31

YY to The Road & the Wasp Factory. I made myself finish Oryx and Crake but found it quite hard work... Loved the Handmaid's Tale though, and the Edible Woman.

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betterwhenthesunshines · 23/02/2013 20:19

You've all got here first: The Road, Brave New World...

you may also want to try The Children of Men by PD James. I haven't read it yet, but have enjoyed others of hers and Children of Men is a similar situation re reproduction. the Road is a fantastic book (and film) but very bleak.

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