Book #46: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I read this many years ago, and didn't get on with it. Now that Margaret Atwood has written a sequel, I decided to give it another go. The novel is very well written, but it is also very difficult because it feels very dense in places.
So, as I understand it, the narrator, Offred, lives in a dystopian society influenced by very puritanical religious views. The "handmaids", including Offred, are intended only for breeding, so other women (who are infertile) can raise babies. Offred also appears to have lost both her husband, Luke, and her daughter, and it is unclear whether they are still alive.
This feels like a book that I would have to study in great detail to fully understand, but there were some great moments; for example Offred seeing some tourists, and commenting that one of the women has a very short skirt on (it falls down to just below her knees). The descriptions of how the handmaids dress are quite vivid, with their long, red dresses, and hoods that act like blinkers.
I am going to read "The Testaments" at one point, but I feel that I should see if I can obtain some sort of reading guide to both novels.
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