Handmaid's Tale, The

Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" is a haunting masterpiece that delves into a dystopian world with poignant brilliance. Atwood's intricate narrative weaves a tapestry of oppression and resilience, forcing readers to confront societal reflections. The protagonist, Offred, becomes a symbol of defiance in a theocratic regime, challenging norms with quiet strength. The thought-provoking exploration of gender, power, and autonomy is both chilling and captivating. Atwood's prose is a literary marvel, leaving an indelible impression that lingers long after the last page is turned. This classic is an essential read, resonating with timeless relevance.

No wonder why this book is regarded as the classic dystopian novel. Based on an alternative world where the United States of America became "The Republic of Gilead". Women like Offred are the handmaids whose only purpose in life is to breed. Pulling down women to the level of cattle, subhuman. No rights, no identity, no voice yeah that's the kind of world we are talking about. It's not gothic or horror but the elements in the book will make a sure chill runs down your spine. It got everything that's just NOT RIGHT NOTHING BUT CRIME IN EVERY POSSIBLE WAY. talk about religious fanatism, extreme radical patriarchy, sex slavery in the name of serving God, separation of mother and child, life-changing in a second, just to name a few. This book made me uneasy, gave extreme discomfort. The intense slow writing made sure the pain gets elongated a bit more. It affected me in a personal way, every emotion, every thought of Offred became mine. I loved this book I hated this book. It made me sick in the stomach, made my moods go everywhere yet like an addict I crawled back to the book. This book is a must-read, even if you don't like reading. This book talks about possibilities that can happen like prophecy. This book is a WARNING OF LETTING THINGS TO HAPPEN WHEN YOU JUST DON'T RAISE YOUR DAMN VOICE.

Handmaid’s Tale was in my TBR for a long time. Much has been said and discussed about this book. It’s a well-known fact that it’s one of the best dystopian novel. It’s story of Offred, a Handmaid. In this distant, dystopian future, things change. Handmaid’s job is to “breed”. Other women are also put in roles like Wives and daughters of Commanders, Aunts to train new batches of handmaids and Marthas for household work. Every woman has to stick to her category, dress and act according to it. They are not allowed to read, go out on their own and even talk freely. Their every move is being watched by Guardians who have the power to give death sentence to anyone. This story revolves around Offred who is placed in a commander’s house to do her duty, breed. During this time, she meets Offglen, her partner for market visits who is also a part of a secret rebel group; Nick, her commander’s driver who is also helping her conceive and commander who is bored, sneaks her into his study room to play scrabble and talk. All these characters are presented from Offred’s POV, so we can’t be sure how they are actually as she keeps on changing /recreating stories as per her opinion. In the end, she is taken away by guardians in a black van but that leaves some air of mystery for us. This was my first dystopian read and as expected, I was disturbed. Plot and narration are, no doubt, brilliant. But even thinking about such life disturbs me to the core, where people are treated as cattle and they don’t even have the freedom of voicing out their opinion. What disturbs me more is the fact that if not in totality, this is happening in fractions, here and there, every now and then. Handmaid’s Tale presents a world of nightmares with no human rights. It paints a picture of a worst possible patriarchal society where women are ignored and they struggle for their basic rights. This multilayered, seemingly feminist dystopian novel will drain you emotionally and will haunt you forever. Once you read this, you can’t “unthink” what happens to Offred and others. Even though it’s a fiction, it comes close to reality in some parts and that’s a scary. Nevertheless, for the beauty of narration and a unique plot, I will recommend this to everyone. “We were the people who were not in the papers. We lived in the blank white spaces at the edges of print. It gave us more freedom. We lived in the gaps between the stories.”

I have this book in hardcover, in two editions. Both of them are absolutely gorgeous, and were delivered in excellent condition. The world created by Atwood in The Handmaid's Tale is a world out of a feminist's nightmare- a world that reduces women to their reproductive ability. The world builds slowly and gradually, as the story unfolds, and you realise, slowly and gradually, how horrible this world is. I fell in love with Atwood's style of writing. It's metaphorical, but not sugar-coated. Don't expect her to romanticise the horrific life that Offred lived; she's very straightforward. The prose is dark, quiet, rich with detail and drama bubbles under it. This book will disturb you. It will haunt you. In the best possible way. The ending is obscure. You might immediately dislike the book when you get to that part. It might even annoy you. But, for me, it worked. It gave the book a sense of reality, that I expect from such a heavy theme. The story will stay with me forever, and so will Offred.

I am speechless after reading this novel. If i talk about narrative then it's totally different from any other novel and of course it's first person narrative as the protagonist narrates her daily life and what she goes through and why she goes through all that's happening around her. Though the novel is one of its kind no doubt about that. But i still find similarities between this novel and the novel "1984". The restrictions that are imposed on the handmaids or any one for that matter are similar to those portrayed in the novel 1984. And as one will progress the story will unfold infront of them. There are superfluous details which i thought made the novel more lengthy but then I can assume that it's the character's thought that the reader is reading and the thoughts can be very detailed and since there is nothing left much to do for the protagonist other than her daily walks, occasional breeading ceremonies and other minor works like eatingz washing etc, she is tend to project her thoughts towards the minute details of her surroundings or people. We get a direct insight of the protagonist's thought which is though not made public but still you have access to it.

BOOK REVIEW: HANDMAIDS TALE by MARGARET ATWOOD TITLE: HANDMAIDS TALE AUTHOR: MARGARET ATWOOD PAGES: 320 PUBLISHER: Vintage ISBN: 978-0099740919 GENRE: Contemporary Classic/ Dystopian IF I COULD REVIEW IT IN A SINGLE LINE: Offered you wonderous yet unknown creature THE REVIEW: Every once in a while we come across that has a very beautiful narration, a bang on plotline and an even better recommendation but it still just does not stick well. I’m sorry to disappoint you if you are of the many admirers of the book but it just does not my cup of tea. The book is set in a near future dystopian alternative US which is governed by army, there is no president but a union comprising just of men and in this land the women are second citizens, the army is called Republic of Gilead. Offred the protagonist who narrates the entire story is a handmaid, 33. Her only job is to breed, she is what remains of the only viable women in the state. It is her job, her duty, her virtue and her life. In this world women have no rights but rather are accessories I’d say. They are categorized as wives and daughters of the Commanders, Handmaids, Marthas and Aunts. They all have duties according to their faction and clothes according to their duties. They may either choose to abide or be sent to live beyond the perimeter in the land plagued by radiation. Offred is sent to live with a certain commander and his household, she had a daughter, a husband and a life; she remembers them fondly in her memories. Offred’s pair Offglen is her companion during visits to the grocery. She is part of an underground network of rebels but she eventually hangs herself. The commander starts spending more and more time with Offred and they are eventually drawn toward each other; on the other hand as Offred hasn’t conceived yet the wife suggests her to do so with Nick which turns into a passionate love affair. The last scene shows us Offred being taken away in a black van; what became of her we’ll never know. Now for what I did not like about the book. I’ve always been a fan of contemporary fiction and hence picked this book up because of the hype surrounding it. I tried to but couldn’t fall in love with it. The writing style and presentation was a tad bit edgy and factual or rather cold and aloof for my tastes. Everything else about the book was love. I loved the story; the climax and the beauty of a ending. The transitions between when Offred was in the present and when she was thinking of her past had me in and out of the sync of reading. Cover: 5/5 (I own the beautiful hardcover edition of this book) Title: 5/5 Characters: 4/5 Language: 5/5 Story: 4/5 Writing and Presentation: 2/5 Overall: 3.5/5 I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book for @thatbooknerdyouknow. This review is my own and hasn’t been influenced by anyone else.

The truly sad part about this remarkable novel is that it actually reflects the state of women in many societies even in the twenty-first century. Patriarchal societies really do continue to view women only as uteri. There is no place for a widow, an unmarried or a married but infertile woman in most places in South Asia, Middle East or Africa. Margaret Atwood has remarkably astute observation and wit. To a privileged world reader, she is able to convey the suffocating sense of what it feels to be a woman in a monotheocratic society. Unsurprisingly, all such societies consider women unworthy of any other job than being surrogates or maids. This novel brings the chilling, everyday tribulations of a woman into sharp focus. She leaves much detail open to interpretation, but it's not difficult to conceive of even a developed nation falling into extremist muck. It is a reminder to the developing nations that are seeing growing cultural tensions between majorities and the religious minorities. While women are increasingly empowered, the rapid undercurrent of conservatism and right-wing extremism threatens to subsume all progress. The Republic Of Gilead is definitely not a figment or a phantasm. Atrocities on women continue to be perpetrated, unabated throughout the world. This remains apt for the present day, as it was in 1985.

‘It isn’t running away they are afraid of .We wouldn’t get far. It’s those other escapes, the ones you can open in yourself, given a cutting edge’ Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood was in my TBR list since long. Thanks to one of online book club,I read recently and really amazed with it. Plot: As it is well-known fact that it’s a story set in distant future in dystopian USA. Country’s President is killed and parliament has been dissolved. Army takes over charges of entire nation. It is not regular army but Republic of Gilead.Its totalitarian regime governed by men only. Entire story is narrated by protagonist Offred through tape recordings. Offred is Handmaid. She is thirty -three. Her only job is to breed. Offred is not her real name. In Gilead society, all the basic human rights and freedom from women is taken away. They become second citizens. They have been categorized into Wives and Daughters of Commanders,Handmaids,Marthas and Aunts. Their functions and clothes are fixed according to their category and strictly watched by Guardians. If they don’t follow their duties, they are either hanged on wall or sent out to die slowly of radiation sickness. Story begins when Offred is newly posted in a commander’s house. She lives with commander, his wife, two housemaids and driver of commander. Offred continually remembers her past throughout the story. She has a husband, a five year old daughter, a mother and a best friend. What became of them, she does not know. Handmaids are allowed to go for walk and grocery shopping once in a day in pair. Offred is paired with Offglen. At the begging both they pretend as real believers of Gilead but as time passes they realize they are haters. Offglen is belonged to underground network of rebels who help people to cross border and disappear.She eventually hangs herself. As the story progress, commander asks Offred to spend some time with him during night in his cabin in his wife’s absence. They talk,play scrabble and he asks for goodnight kiss. On the other hand, as Offred is not yet become pregnant,so commander’s his wife asks Offred to conceive child through his driver, Nick. This one night stand turns into passionate affair with Nick. They are not in love but they make love every single night. But at the end, a black car of Guardians arrives at commander’s house to take her away. So why she has been taken away? Who has made call to Guardians? What become of Offred eventually?? My Musings: As story is set in dystopia, it is obviously disturbing read. But I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was quite comfortable read for me unlike Disgrace by J.MCotezee which was not even dystopian novel. Handmaid’s Tale is considered as modern classic. But unlike other dystopian classics, this novel is narration driven rather than plot. Margaret Atwood had fascination towards dystopian set-up since her early days. She has read and great fan of Orwell’s 1984, Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Huxley’s Brave New World to name a few. Offred seems real character. She hates her present and wantsto escape but does not have courage. As she has only one job of breeding and she is being taken care of by housemaids, she has plenty of time to spare. So she observes her surrounding and takes notes in mind. She has sharp observation skills. She remembers each and every minor detail of her daily routine and memories from past. She makes love with Nick without guilt as she feels something humanly in it in that in-human world. She even tells her real name to Nick. There are other characters but all are narrated through Offred. So we may not get their real persona. They might have come out as with different personalities if story would have been narrated in third person. The strongest and best part about the whole book is flow of lyrical narration. Lyrics are sad yet beautiful. Once in a while,we come across such rhythmic narration in fiction.It never loses its pace for a moment during entire story. Author has used so many fabulous illustrations ,metaphors to describe the pain and heaviness of situation. For example: “The newspapers stories were like to dreams to us, bad dreams dreamt by others. How, awful, we would say ,and they were, but they were awful without being believable. They were too melodramatic; they had a dimension that was not the dimension of our lives. We were the people not in the papers. We lived in the blank pages at the edges of print. It gave us more freedom.” (Page 89) The only part I did not like is its open ending.Author let readers to imagine the ultimate fate of Offred.It would have been great,if we could know Offred’s destiny. After reading this book I felt so grateful that I live in a world where such things are only on papers! So grab this book if you want to witness dystopian painting of pain painted by one of the greatest artists alive today.