Book Review: The Handmaid's Tale

My book club discussed The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood for October. I was so disappointed in this book, I thought it had potential to be great, but it really fell short.

It is the story of Offred (pronounced Of Fred), a handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, a fictional, futuristic United States taken over by extreme right-wing Christians. In a world of declining birthrates, handmaids are assigned to top-ranking officials for procreation purposes. Women are strictly controlled in Gileadian society – they must dress according to their class, no social contact with men, they cannot own property, control money, hold jobs, or even read.

The book is billed as a ‘feminist 1984’ and it definitely had a 1984-knockoff feel to it. Instead of Big Brother, the ‘Eyes’ watch everyone, anyone defying the government is tortured and/or killed, the news is full of lies, the society is constantly at war, etc. From a literary standpoint, it was nowhere close to 1984, Atwood’s writing is pompous and self-indulgent and her character development is sorely lacking. From a feminist viewpoint (not that I really claim to be one), it’s a sad commentary on women in today’s society. First, that we would let ourselves be degraded to that point, and second that we would then be pleased with things as trite as black market fashion magazines and sparkly dresses.

One of the ladies in my book club suggested that we weren’t supposed to ‘like’ the story. I get that, I don’t think Atwood wanted to write an enjoyable story. But it should have left an impact on me, and it really didn’t. I didn’t care what happened to any of the characters, I didn’t care what happened to the society, I just didn’t care.

Using Greg’s rating system, I’ll say 2 Pultos out of 5. I really wish it had been better.