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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 )

OP posts:
foundintranslation · 11/01/2006 09:15

I run a university English book club and have put THT on the agenda for next month.
Will report back on what my students think.
Haven't read it since having ds and am dreading it a bit. Think I will find it even more upsetting.

harpsichordcarrier · 11/01/2006 09:14

OO it is about a relgious dystopia - it is set in the future in the US where the country is ravaged by ecological disaster and the religious right have schieved power and subjugated the women. Most women are unable to have children and those that can are "handmaids" - given to powerful men to breed.
it is a kind of post feminist, post apocalyptic sci-fi cautionary tale.
a laugh a minute

alexsmum · 11/01/2006 09:13

i am stunned that anyone can describe the handmaids tale as dreadful. i just think it's brilliant.
i first read it an university and as someone said ,now i have had children find it even stronger .
as i said previously, i can imagine this kind of thing happening- especially with the current bush government. scary.

oliveoil · 11/01/2006 09:11

sounds depressing to me

fennel · 11/01/2006 09:11

nqc - Alice Munro, Carol Shields, both also well known canadian authorss.

fennel · 11/01/2006 09:10

i like all Margaret Atwood though haven't been able to face trying Oryx and Crake yet after the reviews made it sound heavy going.

for other feminist sci-fi stuff, "Woman on the edge of time" is fairly unforgettable. Ursula le guin does some interesting stuff too.

NotQuiteCockney · 11/01/2006 09:07

It's a story about a future world in which most women have fertility problems. Surrogacy is normal, and surrounded by some odd rites.

(I think I mind people liking bad Margaret Atwood, as she is "that Canadian author", the only Canadian author that English people know of as Canadian.)

lazyanna · 11/01/2006 09:06

The Handmaid's tale is one of my favourite books, I have read it about once a year since I first found it.

oliveoil · 11/01/2006 09:06

What is it about? Never heard of it.

NotQuiteCockney · 11/01/2006 09:04

Unquenchable Fire is about having kids, too. It's just a more interesting, subtle story.

harpsichordcarrier · 11/01/2006 09:02

I think about the Handmaid's Tale a LOT
I can remember some of the prose so well
but I haven't read it post children, not sur eI could bear it

NotQuiteCockney · 11/01/2006 08:12

In my opinion it is. Really didactic and heavy-handed.

A lot of Atwood's books are quite upsetting, but I find that she works better when she stays away from SF.

Pruni · 11/01/2006 07:57

Message withdrawn

NotQuiteCockney · 11/01/2006 07:30

Ooh, and they've gone and named an award after James Tiptree for gender-related SF. And come out with an anthology of short stories by award winners!

NotQuiteCockney · 11/01/2006 07:29

Or if it's SF with a gendery theme, I'd read ... hmmm ... Unquenchable Fire by Rachel Pollack. Much much more interesting.

Or maybe some James Tiptree Jr (she was a woman) if that's still in print?

NotQuiteCockney · 11/01/2006 07:25

It's a dreadful book. Not even vaguely subtle. This is what happens when mainstream authors try to do science fiction ...

Really, Atwood has written much better books. The Edible Woman, for one.

christie1 · 11/01/2006 02:23

The book is 100 times better than the film Well worth the read. I read it years ago and still can remember it and sometimes find it eerily prophetic.

blueshoes · 10/01/2006 22:10

Read it yonks ago, but it still remains with me. Good

hana · 10/01/2006 14:58

yes, is a fab book, so much better than movie
is on so many school reading lists!

kate100 · 10/01/2006 14:56

Brilliant book, the film is dreadful in comparison. The film was too literal, for me the great thing about the book was the things that were unsaid, the film spelled them out for you.

cull · 10/01/2006 14:38

One of my top 10 fave books. I read it once a year. Probably Atwood's best. (Makes me proud to be a Canuck!)

Meanoldmummy · 10/01/2006 14:11

It was on my A-level syllabus 11 years ago!

Lucycat · 10/01/2006 13:50

It's on this year's A level syllabus but I seem to think it's being replaced next year - could be totally wrong of course!

Meanoldmummy · 10/01/2006 12:48

Brilliant book, un-put-downable

I would say it's a woman's book but a man's film

foundintranslation · 10/01/2006 12:37

It's a great book. Haven't seen the film.