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Original poster

The Handmaid's Tale - Any good?

62 replies

Flamesparrow · 10/01/2006 10:52

Title says it all really.

Saw the film the other night, and was wondering if the book is any good (Borders vouchers burning a hole in my pocket )

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NotQuiteCockney · 15/01/2006 08:05

The Wasp Factory is absolutely bloody incredible. Really really really.

Pruni · 15/01/2006 08:02

Message withdrawn

FrannytheQuinoaEater · 15/01/2006 07:05

I love Cats Eye, a wonderful book I very much admire. THT is too bleak for me to reread now - but I think you will be blown away reading it for the first time, fs.

The Wasp Factory is another blinder! Let us know what you think.

kiskidee · 15/01/2006 04:25

the Handmaid's Tale suggests a futuristic US society as it makes lots of parallels with historical American events and with present cultural phenomenons - like televangelists dominance of the military industrial complex. this book made me shudder when I read it.

Original poster
Flamesparrow · 15/01/2006 00:18

Thought I'd update you

Got THT as I decided that if just asking if it was any good created a whole discussion, then it was worth a read!!! Also ended up with The Wasp Factory, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (or whatever the title is), and The curious incident....

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Original poster
Flamesparrow · 11/01/2006 22:43

Gonna go to Borders at the weekend and look at them all.......

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cull · 11/01/2006 19:28

Though not AS good as Handmaid, Cat's Eye is good as well. Hits very close to home if you were bullied as a child.

Socci · 11/01/2006 11:50

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Meanoldmummy · 11/01/2006 11:49

can't choose... you'll have to get them all!!!

There's also The Edible Woman, which she wrote when she was 23 and it's really interesting to see how her writing started and how it changed as she got older....

Socci · 11/01/2006 11:49

Message withdrawn

Original poster
Flamesparrow · 11/01/2006 11:47

You are a bad bad person!!! I only have a limited amount of vouchers, and have other books on a list too...

Oooh, I know, I'll start a list on the computer, then when it comes to my birthday, I'll be all prepared

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spacedonkey · 11/01/2006 11:44

get them all fs!

Original poster
Flamesparrow · 11/01/2006 11:43

Ok... so I'm now buying THT and Alias Grace or Cats Eye???

Which of the second ones should I get?

I like this site - you all tell me books I've never heard of!!!

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Meanoldmummy · 11/01/2006 11:24

It's the way she writes - she stops to savour a word and play with the sound and meaning of it - that's true confidence in a writer I think, as well as a real love of language. It's like watching somebody eating a choc-ice really slowly

spacedonkey · 11/01/2006 11:17

Her writing is amazing isn't it - so perfectly detailed and vivid, I often have to stop to digest her images. There's a thread somewhere about The Blind Assassin - not everyone liked it, but if you're an Atwood fan you'll love it I'm sure

Meanoldmummy · 11/01/2006 11:15

Haven't read the Blind Assassin, is it good?

I highly recommend Alias Grace, it's a sort of murder mystery. Grace is a young Irish immigrant girl who narrates part of the novel from prison where she is locked up (as criminally insane)for the murder of her employer and his wife...it's a very intricate story and really draws you in. The characters are really vivid, especially the young doctor who is treating her. It's typical Atwood in that it's very polished and all the background and detail are perfect. I could not put it down.

spacedonkey · 11/01/2006 10:46

I must read this, I loved Cat's Eye and The Blind Assassin

Meanoldmummy · 11/01/2006 10:46

Alias Grace is amazing too and very disturbing.

Meanoldmummy · 11/01/2006 10:46

Cat's Eye is blinding!!!

Socci · 11/01/2006 10:22

Message withdrawn

CaptainDippy · 11/01/2006 10:15

Thought it was scary as hell, but worth a read though!!!!!

Original poster
Flamesparrow · 11/01/2006 10:09

Wow... didn't think that this would make such a long thread!!! I now have to buy the thing just to see who I agree with

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NotQuiteCockney · 11/01/2006 09:42

Sure, fennel, but when people say "that Canadian author", they always mean Atwood.

I like Michel Tremblay, Margaret Lawrence, Rohinton Mistry ... there are loads.

I think part of my objection is, if you want to talk about where society may be going, in such a transparent way, why not write an essay? It doesn't really stand up as fiction.

hana · 11/01/2006 09:29

another great Cdn author - Ann-Marie Macdonald, she has written Fall on your Knees and The Way the Crow Flies

Caribbeanqueen · 11/01/2006 09:23

Dreadful (only read it all the way through as it was a present).

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