How did I manage to never read The Handmaid’s Tale? That is just astounding. Amy actually recommended it to me ages ago and I dutifully picked it up at the bookstore, but I’ll admit I was dragging my feet on actually reading it. You know how when one of your friends really urges you to try something, and somehow that makes you not want to? Like, what if it sucks and you have to reevaluate your opinion of their opinion; or it’s really weird and you wonder why they ever thought you would like it? Happily, as soon as I opened the cover I was SUCKED IN. (And I don’t mean in the bad way.) I just couldn’t put it down. At first it was just the insane curiosity of trying to figure out how someone who lived a life that doesn’t sound too unfamiliar to me could end up in a world so very, very wrong. And then once I did figure it out… I just couldn’t escape. Dear god, where would I fit in in this world? How could I survive? Every time I turned a page, I thought to myself, “I’d kill myself. I’d absolutely kill myself.” By the end there was just so much sadness. I’d have preferred it to finish without the little futuristic coda though. I don’t think it added much to the story for me, and there was just such a “Basil Exposition” whiff about the way the speaker talked about Gilead. I resented that it all had to be spelled out like that. Regardless, I closed the book thinking that it was really excellent.
Aaaaaand then I had to go and look it up on the Internet, and find out that it’s one of the books a lot of people get shoved down their throats in school, so there’s a lot of negative stuff about it out there. There’s nothing that kills a buzz faster than knowing that a lot of people think something you enjoyed was really, really lame. (See also: Silas Marner, which I also liked.) Ptooooey.
crumpet
December 18, 2006 — 11:57 pm
The very first paragraph of this book is one of the most brilliant ever. Sucks you right in. Margaret Atwood is amazing.
eileen
December 19, 2006 — 1:18 am
I read it in high school and still remember it vividly- it’s a really intense, though-provoking novel. I actually liked most of the books I was forced to read in high school; The Scarlet Letter being that one major exception.
Bex
December 19, 2006 — 8:04 am
I read this book in Year 10, and then it turned out I had to read it for English Lit in Year 11 anyway… at least i was ahead. I think I was the only person in my class to like it… arnt they turning it into a movie (or already have?)
Kris
December 19, 2006 — 8:05 am
Do either of you know if this book is representative of the rest of her writing? I’m wondering if I should pick up some more of her stuff.
Bex
December 19, 2006 — 8:09 am
Her writing is weird – I think I have the Blind Assassin somewhere if you want to borrow. I recommend Oryx and and Crake – very disturbing novel… ;P.
BTW you working tomorrow? Gotta bring you in something….
Rose Red
December 19, 2006 — 8:20 am
I haven’t read the Handmaid’s Tale but I loved the Blind Assassin. For some reason, Handmaid has never really appealed to me but maybe I should give it a go…
M-H
December 19, 2006 — 8:26 am
She is a brilliant writer; I’ve been reading her for about 30 years. I can re-read her books and get more out of them, which is The Test for me. I love Surfacing and The Edible Woman, but I think Robber Bride and Handmaid’s Tale are her absolutely best. Although Blind Assassin is right up there…
Max
December 19, 2006 — 8:38 am
Definitely a great book–I’d LOVE to get a chance to teach it. My grandmother, of all people, loaned it to me years ago. I really liked Oryx & Crake–it’s full-on sci-fi, but with warmth and soul (and round characters!) that sometimes goes lacking in the genre.
Kris
December 19, 2006 — 9:08 am
Great suggestions everybody. Thanks! (And yeah, I’m here tomorrow Bex. Just ask for me if I’m not out in the shop…)
Amy
December 19, 2006 — 7:59 pm
finally. we will have to have a good ole chat about it.
Robert
December 20, 2006 — 1:51 am
She is one of my all time favourite writers – my personal opinion of her best is “Cat’s Eye” – she so brilliantly captures the cruelty children display to one another. Alias Grace is also excellent, and I can’t recommend The Blind Assassin enough either.
Robert
December 20, 2006 — 1:53 am
Oh, and there is a film – Natasha Richardson plays Offred. It’s okay, and there’s a little part of me that both resents and likes the ending.
yazzy
December 20, 2006 — 2:39 am
To this day that book still haunts me. I picked up the book in high school, and loved it. It also scared me silly. Since then I’ve been a fan of Atwood. I’m reading the Blind Assassin now, which is fascinating.
Mia
December 21, 2006 — 7:51 am
The movie is pretty sad ( http://imdb.com/title/tt0099731/ ). It’s what sucked me into the book – at first, I thought that there was no way the book could be “better”. But I’ve read the book a few times and while I do love it, I try not to read it that much – it’s just really, really, reeeeeeeally sad.
Kris
December 21, 2006 — 10:25 am
I picked up Oryx & Crake today, and it’s already got me hooked! Thanks for all the suggestions.
Anonymous
December 22, 2006 — 3:49 am
You are so right about the ending! It kind of cheapened an otherwise good book.
(Actually the ending reminds of trashy TV soap operas where the characters talk out loud to themselves in order to let the audience know what’s happening, mainly because the show is too crap to convey it in any subtle way. But here the book was good so I thought the dumbed-down ending was totally unnecessary. Bad move Atwood!)
Brittanie
December 27, 2006 — 10:47 pm
My husband owns this book and has been recommending it to me for two or three years. I’m not a big sci-fi fan, but after readind the entry on Wikipedia you linked to, this looks right up my alley.
Also, I recently finished (and LOVED) The Red Tent, which is inspired by the same Biblical story many of the characters in Handmaid’s Tale are inspired by. I plan to start it very, very soon. Thanks for the push…
Kris
December 27, 2006 — 11:19 pm
Ooh, I’ve had people recommending that one to me for years! Hmm, maybe I’ll pick it up once I finished Oryx & Crake…