Direct Speech Conventions

[justanotheruser18]

Hello. I'm reading The Handmaid's Tale.
There are no speech marks (so far - page 30) when different characters speak.
I love this. The speech isn't so.. speechy.
It feels like a smooth read.
Why would an author not use speech marks? Does it happen often?
I'm not that well read so haven't come across it before.

I thought that 'Direct Speech Conventions' was the title of a book. Sounds interesting. It's about a Jonathan Franzen style dysfunctional family...

It's been a while since I read 'The Handmaid's Tale', and I can't remember there being no quotation marks so the absence didn't leave much of an impression on me, although I remember loving the book. But generally, I don't like lack of punctuation. Unless a writer is very talented (and, of course, Margaret Atwood is), it hampers clarity.

OP The Guardian did an article on this a while ago, seems taking out speech marks often done to make things read as if more vivid, immediate. Anyway the article's worth a read:

www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/feb/06/inverted-commas-unpunctuated-speech-fiction-reading

Thank you for the link @Dottierichardson. I'd agree that the writing feels more vivid somehow.