The Handmaids Tale
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The Handmaids Tale
by Authors:
Margaret Atwood
Released: April, 1998
ISBN: 038549081X
Paperback
Sales Rank: 8,146
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Average Customer Rating: 
The Handmaids Tale >
Customer Review #1:
 A fascinating and horrific look into the future...
I had this book on my bookshelf for three years before I finally decided to read it. Now Im kicking myself for waiting so long! The Handmaids Tale is awesome and it has completed my favorites list of 2002. Highly recommended.Margaret Atwoods story is set in the future after the United States has undergone a nuclear war and the government has been destroyed. In place now is a strict and dangerous political scene, where any type of crime can result in an execution and a public hanging on The Wall. Not only that, but women are made secondhand citizens and are no longer able to hold jobs, make money, read or write.
The Handmaids Tale is told through the eyes of Offred in the former state of Massachusets, now called the Republic of Gilead. Offred is a Handmaid, or a surrogate mother of sorts, who is appointed to an infertile couple in order to get pregnant and help boost the population. However, it isnt as easy as that since the only legal way to get pregnant is the old-fashioned way, which causes jealousy and tension throughout the household. And with the rigorous government, Offred isnt allowed to complain or refuse unless she wants to be shipped off to clean up toxic nuclear waste for the rest of her life.
I absolutely loved this book and will recommend it to all my book friends. The Handmaids Tale is the perfect book for book clubs as it will evoke numerous discussions on feminism, nuclear war, radical government policies, slavery, etc. Margaret Atwood poses the question of "what if?" and one can only hope that this tale remains fiction. Excellent, thought-provoking, fascinating and heart-pounding -- this novel will never be forgotten.
The Handmaids Tale >
Customer Review #2:
A Brilliantly Original Dystopian Tale
I literally finished this book minutes ago, and I must say that I enjoyed it. This is the second book of Atwoods that I have read (Cats Eye being the first) and I believe that The Handmaids Tale is the better of the two. On the cover of my edition, the book was compared to Orwells brilliant 1984, and I suppose that it could be considered its counterpart. However, where Orwell was attempting to make a devastatingly profound point about government and its influence, Atwoods work takes on the nature of human instincts. Both books have immense resonance for the reader, and Atwood paints an excellent picture of a pseudo-religious, paramilitary junta government and its social restraints. The ending is very well done and leaves the book rather open-ended, something I usually decry, but it works well in this literary masterpiece. The ending itself will remain a mystery to even the most analytical reader. The appendix at the back of the book is quite, if casually, infomative, though there should have been more than one to fully explain the nature and conjuration of the Gilead government. A book definately worth the readers time and a fine, fast, fantastic read. Check it out, and enjoy!
The Handmaids Tale >
Customer Review #3:
Mind boggling but great for the adventurous reader!!!!!
I came across this book while studying for my English A levels and was taken a back by the way in which Margaret Atwood (the author) encourages the reader to question and analyse the text. The Handmaids Tale is a story about just that, a tale written in a diary of sorts as told by a young woman who lives as what is known as a "handmaid" in this time under this new oppressive government. Basically, handmaids are young women whose primary purposes in life are only held for their reproductive capabilities, making them nothing more than pieces of private property. It tears away all that is uniquely democratic and possibly worthwhile from our society, and replaces it with something that is quiet [different] in its own rights. In fact, a direct correlation could be drawn from the USAs own constitution to the overthrow that occurs in this novel.
The new government in The Handmaids Tale has been founded by radicals, who suspended the Constitution after the United States fell into chaos, with their president having been shot and Congress wiped out. The radicals restructured society in the hopes of a more promising future, one where the burdens of women are uplifted and removed.
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The Handmaids Tale >
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