The Handmaid's Tale

By Margaret Atwood

Book Overview

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - An instant classic and eerily prescient cultural phenomenon, from "the patron saint of feminist dystopian fiction" (The New York Times) - The sixth and final season of the award-winning Hulu series starring Elisabeth Moss is now streaming

Look for The Testaments, the bestselling, award-winning sequel to The Handmaid's Tale

In Margaret Atwood's dystopian future, environmental disasters and declining birthrates have led to a Second American Civil War. The result is the rise of the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian regime that enforces rigid social roles and enslaves the few remaining fertile women. Offred is one of these, a Handmaid bound to produce children for one of Gilead's commanders. Deprived of her husband, her child, her freedom, and even her own name, Offred clings to her memories and her will to survive. At once a scathing satire, an ominous warning, and a tour de force of narrative suspense, The Handmaid's Tale is a modern classic.

Includes an introduction by Margaret Atwood

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 038549081X
• ISBN13: 9780385490818
• Release Date: March 1998
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.1" x 7.9"
• Age Range: 14 to 18 years
• Grade Range: Grade 9 to Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

A true masterpiece

I will never be able to adequately express my love for this book. I’m a big dystopian fan, especially of the works written before the 2000s that would theorize about what our modern world would look like to the average person. But Atwood truly presents this in a timeless way (which is probably why it so easily transferred to show-form). And the way she writes this piece is masterfully presenting it in a collective way for the reader. We never learn the main character’s name, she could be anyone. And this is the point. The voice she uses throughout the book varies from a true thought voice (seeing as a handmaid doesn’t speak much) and said thought voice narrating past events the way we would think about past event. And I love that we don’t get a conclusion for basically any story. We only know as much as the narrator, which really isn’t much. So much is left open to interpretation and pondering, which I feel aligns with the thought provoking nature of this book.

Haunting but thought provoking.

I was really disturbed by this novel, yet I also see so many parallels to modern life for women. The control exerted over the female body, and the expectation that it is for men's pleasure and procreation, rather than their body being their own. I had to read it twice to really appreciate all of the comparisons. Must read, and a great book club selection.

Worth the read

I liked the book better than the series. Would read it again at a future date.

Excellent

I love this book & movie

Perfect for these awful times we're in

Ya know, I didn't realize this book was written in the 80s? It was so relevant to today (especially with you know who as president) and read almost as nonfiction. I loved it!

Amazing

My book came in good condition. I look forward to re-reading this book!!

Beautifully written

This was my first Margaret Atwood novel, and I have no complaints. The book is beautifully written, poetic at times. Very happy to have read this and have it as a part of my collection. Highly recommended this one.

Creepily close to modern

This book was a little hard to read at the start as it's written in a sort of flashback type of way. Once I figured out how to read and understand the transitions into those parts, it was amazing. It's eerily creepy to some of the conversations and actions I've heard people talking about doing in recent years. Margaret has done a wonderful job with the descriptions of rooms, objects and feelings, putting right in the situations with the characters. I finished it March 7th, it's now March 18th and both my mother and sister have read and finished it. It's hard to put it down.

Terrifying and excellent read! As a woman…

Coming to the USA near you! Someone in Europe, please adopt me….

A great gift!

I gifted this to my mama and she loved it. I'm glad she enjoys getting a gift like this.

Blah

This was an awful book. I think the story could have been good but the writing was awful. One paragraph she was in the present and the next she was remeithe past but it was hard to follow. I found myself having to go back quite a bit to figure out what was going on. Could have been written better and then the story would have been better.

Poorly written

The ply is overly simplistic. Questions abound as to how a whole society can wipe out 50 % of its workforce, women, and fiscally survive, how any society can deny women to young males and survive and…. I do not know how this became so popular.

Good book

Good book, shipping was fast.

What took me so long?

I know this book has been around for a long time. So has the movie. And I really like Margaret Atwood, but for some reason I kept thinking I'd already read this. But I ordered it and realized I hadn't read it before. It deserves all the accolades that it got (gets). Future women are categorized by their ability to reproduce; and the government tells them when and with who. Very 1984, and the lead character is sharp and intensely unhappy with the system and all of the "secrets" that get passed around. Very well written book; I read it in one sitting, which always indicates that the book flows naturally to a great climax.

Handmaid's Tale could easily be a sequel to Orwell's 1984

Very unconventional ending

Awesome Read

I'm really enjoying this book. It's chilling and well-written, and led to me watching the HULU series. I'm not quite finished, but I'm hooked from what I've already read. I definitely recommend giving it a shot.

Haunting, chilling & brilliant!

If you want to freak yourself with the possibility of what COULD happen in the near future then this book is for you! I was terrified reading about the fictional, totalitarian, quasi Christian state of Gilead. I had already watched all three seasons of the Hulu show but it's NOTHING compared to the actual book. It's very descriptive, painting a vivid image of the main character Offred and how her life operates in Gilead with flashbacks to the time before. Births are declining and it is up to Handmaidens to reproduce for the Commanders and their wives. The women in this dystopian novel can't read, write or be free to do the things we do today. It's a chilling read that makes me question events going on in the world today. Don't hesitate! Read this book and experience the brilliance of Margaret Antwood!

Great Read

I read this book on vacation and could not put it down! Margaret Atwood’s Storytelling is gripping and makes you feel Very close to Offred. I recommend this to anyone before watching the TV show!

Truly Great!

Yes, it's a sad story, but It's a truly great book! The writing is remarkable, the plot is nothing less than astounding! I am shocked by the thoughtless reviews it's gotten! I mean folks this is great literature! It doesn't get any better!

Never want to experience this way of living...

I read this with mixed reaction as I found it hard to follow the characters . I certainly wouldn't want to live in this lifetime where people are put into segregated groups..those with privileges and those without..Big brother always knowing where you are..family separations ...being forced into intimacy for procreation only...I don't know if I will read the next novel by this author..

What in God's name kind of ending was that?!

It had me from page 1...I kept thinking some sort of prince would come in and rescue her from her mundane existence or some sort of pretty ending would finish this dark dystopian novel but that was definitely not the case. I am excited to watch the series on Hulu though! Glad I read it....just wish it would have ended a little differently.

A Great Read

The Handmaid's Tale is the story of Offred, one of the few fertile women left in the Republic of Gilead, a dystopia at its worst. Toxic waste has left population levels dangerously low and religious leaders have taken control of the country, using desperate measures to repopulate the Earth. Offred is one of the many "handmaids" who are forced to live with a commander and trys to conceive a child with him once a month. The book chronicles Offred's life as she is living with Commander Fred (hence "Of Fred"). Atwood wrote this novel at a time when there was the possibility of religious leaders establishing a theocracy. She portrays the havoc that can come about when a democracy loses its control over the people. Atwood does this extremely effectively. Since the whole book is through Offred's eyes, the one-person limited view point makes you use your imagination to fill in the gaps left by her lack of knowledge. The book isn't so extreme that it's unbelievable and is so descriptively written that it almost feels as if it the events already happened in history. It was truly a great read.

Plain good literature

I have read "The Handmaid's Tale" a number of times, both in English original and in Croatian translation (a pretty good one). First time I read it, it was because I have found it in a library of a Women's Study Centre in Zagreb, Croatia, so I expected it to be "feminist literature", and was therefore a bit cautious about it, thinking it would be some kind of pamphlet for women's liberation. Of course, I did not know anything about Margaret Atwood back then. First thing this book taught me is that M. Atwood is, above all, a great author, and that "The Handmaid's Tale" is a piece of plain good literature.The somewhat circular narrative centres around and is being told from the perspective of Offred, a woman living in Republic of Gilead, the dystopian, future theocracy established on the teritory of today's United States of America. Gilead's government is organized by a group of very specific religious fanatics, basing their theology on a couple of chapters from the Old Testament, specifically the story about Sarah, Abraham's wife, who could not bear children, and therefore had given Abraham her handmaid, Hagar, to concieve children with her. Also written in that chapter is God's command to Hagar to completely submit to her mistress, and Abraham's observation that Sarah is to do whatever she pleases with her handmaid.That is the point from which the treatment of handmaids is derived in the Republic of Gilead. As the increasingly polluted land caused infertility withing majority of women, the fertile ones, especially those who have been either married to divorced men (theocracy of Gilead does not recognize divorce), or single, but not virgins, are taken as "handmaids" to be awarded to high ranking families without children. Offred has been given to the family of The Commander, one of the highest ranking officials of Gilead, married to Serena Joy, a bitter and slightly desillusioned fanatic. Her narrative focuses on describing daily routines in their household, her experiences and her memories of a past, normal life, with a husband and a daughter. Apart from political description of Gilead's ideology (which is given masterfully, without unneccessary and boring descriptions, yet with frightening details), the main value of this book lies in Offred's introspection. She is a person completely determined by her biological function as a woman and a child-bearer, completely deprived of any other individual merrits or rights. The way Offred deals with that is beautifully portrayed; sometimes in a flow that resembles free-association ("It's strange now, to think about having a job. Job. It's a funny word. It's a job for a man. Do a jobbie, they'd say to children, when they were being toilet-trained. Or of dogs: he did a job on the carpet...The Book of Job."), sometimes completely ripped-off of any emotions, yet almost physically hurtful with recognition and fear of it possibly coming true. Granted, Margaret Atwood did write about a woman deprived of her rig

Atwood's Masterpiece

"I wish this story were different. I wish it were more civilized. I wish it showed me in a better light, if not happiness, then at least more active." So says master writer Margaret Atwood regarding her tour de force, The Handmaid's Tale. Set in the present-day Massachusetts of the future, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is the chilling portrayal of a totalitarian society as told through the eyes of a Handmaid named Offred. Offred, who can remember the time when she had a home, a husband and a daughter, now serves as a "birth vessel" and is valued only for her powers of reproduction.Offred (her name was derived from "of" and the name of her own Commander, "Fred") is forced to live her life in a new dictatorship called the Republic of Gilead. Offred is allowed to leave her Commander's home only once each day; her freedom, like that of other ordinary civilians, has been stripped from her and she exists at the mercy of the heads of state who are known as the Commanders.The Republic of Gilead, however, is a society in the midst of crisis. Its land and atmosphere have been polluted by nuclear waste and all but a handful of the population has been rendered barren. Those infertile women, women who will never, or never again, reproduce, are known as "Unwomen," and are sent to the Colonies where they must toil as laborers with no privileges, working to clean up the nuclear waste. The only exceptions are the infertile Wives of the Commanders. Women lucky enough to still retain their fertility, like Offred, are considered a treasured "object" of society and one whose role is to bear children for the Wives of the Commanders who cannot. In the Republic of Gilead they have a saying, "There's no such thing as a sterile man...there are only women who are barren." Offred, though, knows that in this nuclear aftermath, sterile men do, indeed, exist, and so she prays for a baby; not a baby that she, herself, wants to love, but one that will keep her from the dreaded fate of the "Unwomen."Many of the events in The Handmaid's Tale are derived from the biblical story of Leah and Rachel and Atwood has chosen to use many biblical names throughout the book. There are Handmaids and Marthas, Angels and Guardians and many others.The Handmaid's Tale is written in Atwood's masterful prose but this is not a linear tale. Be prepared to drop back in time, then flash forward, then drop back again. The writing, though, flows effortlessly and Atwood, as always, manages to keep readers riveted to the page.Although many people might feel that The Handmaid's Tale is too futuristic to be plausible, many of the events depicted have happened or are happening somewhere in the world at this very moment. It doesn't take more than a few minutes to recall places where gender discrimination and human rights have all but been stripped away. Atwood, herself, said, "One of the things I avoided doing was describing anything in the novel that didn't happen in this world."Chill