The Handmaid's Tale

freedomlover

Has anyone read this book?

I found it among a stack of free books that our library has out each week. It was a bestseller years ago.
It is a book I can't put down. The comment of the front compares it to "Orwell's 1984." Anyhow, I haven't finished it yet. Only about 1/4 of the book left.
It's awesome though.....thought I'd recommend it. It's set in the future....here's what the back of the book says:

Offred is a Handmaid i n the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markers whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie of her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnany, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable.

Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all that is gone now.....everything has changed......

luna2

That sounds really familiar. Who's the author?

freedomlover

the author is Margaret Atwood

MerryMagdalene

Hi Freedomlover!

I actually read that book years ago and found it presented a pretty frightening scenario. It was also made into a movie:

~Merry

luna2

That name is really familiar too. I read so many books that I sometimes have to read a couple pages or even a chapter to see if I've read it before. I might go see if they have it at the library.

caligirl

I have seen the movie, but never read the book.

freedomlover

I saw they had a movie....was it any good? I want to rent it when I finish the book......

blondie

I read the book many years before the movie came out. The movie was okay but the book is better. Plot Overview O ffred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian and theocratic state that has replaced the United States of America. Because of dangerously low reproduction rates, Handmaids are assigned to bear children for elite couples that have trouble conceiving. Offred serves the Commander and his wife, Serena Joy , a former gospel singer and advocate for “traditional values.” Offred is not the narrator’s real name—Handmaid names consist of the word “of” followed by the name of the Handmaid’s Commander. Every month, when Offred is at the right point in her menstrual cycle, she must have impersonal, wordless sex with the Commander while Serena sits behind her, holding her hands. Offred’s freedom, like the freedom of all women, is completely restricted. She can leave the house only on shopping trips, the door to her room cannot be completely shut, and the Eyes, Gilead’s secret police force, watch her every public move.... http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/handmaid/summary.html

confusedjw

What is a handmaid?

Do I need one?

blondie

Maidservant: Someone who waits on you hand and foot. Hagar is called a handmaid....

This is not just a job you can quit and walk away from but is basically slavery. Man, that sounds like being a JW.

The Handmaid's Tale

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