Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The Handmaid's Tale


I had high hopes for this book. I really did. I kept reading and waiting and yet....I just kept feeling like I was rereading 1984. Same basic structure: a major country has been overthrown by a controlling, murderous, and mysterious group. All who could not escape live in a world without freedom or privacy. The main character is Offred, who narrates the story of her life as a handmaid. At some point, most of the world has become sterile and so procreating is controlled by the government. Handmaids are young, hopefully fertile, women who are owned by higher ranking officers to become pregnant, give birth, and then be tossed aside so the wives can raise the babies as their own. The story is creepy, but the plot felt unoriginal, and the pacing was for snails. I know I'm unpopular with this opinion and Margaret Atwood is a highly respected author, but I don't feel like I can recommend it to anyone who has limited reading time when there are so many other great books to read.

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