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Original poster

The Handmaid's Tale has ruined me...

39 replies

IsItMeOr · 05/06/2015 15:59

I didn't read it until a couple of years ago, and I loved it. I also read and loved Alias Grace, but found it hard to get into another one of hers I tried (Blind Assassin possibly?).

I also loved Never Let Me Go.

Are there other books that I can read which won't sorely disappoint?

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hesterton · 14/06/2015 12:57

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Zakken · 14/06/2015 12:48

I was going to suggest John Wyndham too - perhaps 'The Chrysalids'. I read them all years and years ago and enjoyed them then, so I don't mind that they are dated in some respects.

In a similar vein there is John Christopher: 'The Death Of Grass'.

You might also enjoy 'Shades Of Grey' (no! not that one!) by Jasper Fforde, which is a dystopian tale set in a world where status is determined by the colours that people can see. It's dark but also humorous. There is a planned sequel which is disappointingly slow in coming.

CoperCabana · 07/06/2015 21:36

Am feeling like I need to download all the MA ones to my Kindle. Have read most of thise mentioned, I know I enjoyed them but can't remember specifics so feel like I should read again!

574ejones · 07/06/2015 21:32

What about John Wyndham - none of his have disappointed me yet, and I am a big fan of Margaret Atwood.

marshmallowpies · 07/06/2015 19:06

The Robber Bride is probably my favourite Margaret Atwood; Alias Grace terrified me.

The Tenderness of Wolves was another book set in Canada I really enjoyed. Haven't read much other sci-fi/alternative future style books I'm afraid.

ComeLuckyApril · 07/06/2015 18:57

Chilling sci-fi centering women? Try some Octavia Butler!

freelancescientist · 07/06/2015 18:45

You might also like State of Wonder by Ann Patchett, or Bel Canto by the same author.
I also entirely loved Marilynne Robinson's books Gilead, Housekeeping and Home.

cuddybridge · 06/06/2015 18:52

I think that story is by Fay weldon, but I can't remember the name, although puffball rings a bell, but I'm not sure

JoyceDivision · 05/06/2015 19:50

Angela Carter is fab, I loved the magic toyshop, still have my copy from school.

Does anyone know who wrote the following short story (poss angela carter) : a woman breaks up with her married lover after she has had an operation which to remove some sort of cyst. I think either the man breaks up with her or his behaviour is so rubbish and uncaring she dumps him. Anyway she knows it either the wife's big birthday or a special anniversary, so she takes out teh cyst from teh jar she brought it home from the hospital in, dries it, covers it is cocoa powder and sends it to the wife for the party as she knows she likes truffles.... !!!

OOAOML · 05/06/2015 19:41

The Penelopiad by Margaret Attwood is good.

CosmicDespot · 05/06/2015 19:35

Flowers thanks guys, I'll get it wishlisted!

SolidGoldBrass · 05/06/2015 19:25

Oh blimey not The Passage - 600 pages and he still hasn't got to the fucking point!
It's not all that feminist-friendly either. But if you want dystopia/apocalypse I would also recommend World War Z (though the fact that it's all fragments with no real story arc might get on your tits after a while) or Birdbox (really unsettling). Or Station Eleven: I found it disappointing at the end but enjoyable most of the way through.

CornChips · 05/06/2015 18:58

I also prefer Prodigal summer to the Poisonwood Bible.

LOVE The Robber Bride.

Also love the Idea of Perfection.... devastating book.

mmack · 05/06/2015 18:50

I read The Handmaid's Tale for the first time this year and loved it too. Two others set in an imagined future that you might like are Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and The Passage by Justin Cronin.

KatharineClifton · 05/06/2015 18:13

And Kate Grenville. The Idea of Perfection is exquisite.

PotatoesNotProzac · 05/06/2015 18:11

Red tent is brilliant.

What about beauty by sheri teper.

OttiliaVonBCup · 05/06/2015 17:44

Burial Rites would be a good one.

KatharineClifton · 05/06/2015 17:43

The Red Tent is brilliant Cosmic and all her others.

Adds Anita Diamant to list :)

Original poster
IsItMeOr · 05/06/2015 17:40

Oh wow, thanks for all the responses. Flowers

I have a feeling I tried starting Poisonwood Bible and found it a bit annoying. Is that the one where the family from the US go to Africa to "save" the locals, written from the perspective of one of the daughters?

I think I will give Ursula le Guin a try first, and then work my way through the other recommendations.

OP posts:
nannyplumislostinspace · 05/06/2015 17:34

I also loved cats eye and the robber bride! Read them as a teenager and they became favourites.

CosmicDespot · 05/06/2015 17:21

The Yellow Wallpaper is tiny, but brill. I really enjoyed The Master and Marguerita, which is not tiny, but also brill. I have had The Red Tent highly recommended to me recently, but haven't looked it up.

Glittermud · 05/06/2015 17:20

Rose Tremain 'music and silence'

ChazzerChaser · 05/06/2015 17:16

The carhullan army

DoItTooJulia · 05/06/2015 17:13

Love anything by Kingslover, including the Poisonwood bible, but really enjoyed Prodigal Summer. Would really recommend that one actually.

What about Brave New World, Aldous Huxley and staying with the theme, 1984?

I liked Oryx and Crake, but really liked the Year of The Flood. I've got Maddadam and I'm waiting to get stuck into it!

PeterParkerSays · 05/06/2015 17:13

I loved Vikram Seth's An Equal Music if you've never read that.

If you know London it mentions places, and makes you think "oh, yes, I know where that is", but it's not essential to the plot if you don't.

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