The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

• Release Date: February 1986
• Pages: 309 
• Genre: Dystopian 
• Publisher: Anchor Books

Back in 2014 I read Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake and it ruined my vacation because nothing is better
on the lido deck then reading about child sex trafficking and chicken noobies ! I just figured I didn’t get Atwood. I left that book feeling bleh.

But I’ve had a copy of The Handmaid’s Tale for years and since it’s one in a list of zeitgeist-y books  getting the TV/movie treatment (I’m looking at you The Dark Tower and American
Gods)  I decided to give it a try, Also this is the only one that isn’t like . . .a thousand pages.

While I didn’t care for Oryxand Crake I could immediately see why  The Handmaid’s Tale resonates with so many
people, especially now. There is a lot to unpack about feminism, women’s rightsand sexuality in the Dystopian (Utopian ?) Republic of Gilead where fertile womenare trained to become vessels of birth or, Handmaidens to wealthy older couples.

 I don’t read a lot of literary fiction and I’m not sure what I can say critically about a book that has stood the test of time. I can say that I kind of wish I’d
first read this in high school, I mean I get why schools might be apprehensive, yes it is a book that is about sex, butnot in a titillating way. ..I mean no morethan a teenage boy ordering prostitute.. . just saying.

The ending has aTomato Surprise I wasn’t expecting and I thought was a smart way to reflect on the story. There are a ton of podcast talking about this book now but I kind of want to stew in my own interpretation for a while. I may check out the Hulu series because I’m curious how the creators will visualize some of the literary aspects of the novel.

Like this did leave me with some questions about Atwood,
like does having characters meet someone they see earlier in life on TV/Video a
thing with her?