Reviews

The Handmaid's Tale, by Canadian poet and novelist Margaret Atwood, is a fictional first-person testimony about everyday life after a civil war that transforms the United States of America to a biblically skewed semi-religious theologically-based nation retitled as Gilead, where males are dominant, a police force is ever present, and females have lost their autonomy, rights, and position. A small group of self-identified patriots initiated this revolution because they believed in a new manifest destiny to prioritize procreation over all other national issues because biological reproduction was an apparent struggle for the world and species. This book includes the story of a handmaiden named Offred, formerly known as June before the revolution, who is still capable of giving birth to viable children. In this new nation, her societal obligation was to provide offspring for designated married couples within the ruling class to whom the government assigned her.
Since the election of USA President Trump and the release of the Hulu video series, I have read and heard from friends and unknowns that The Handmaid's Tale is a perfect read for today's time. I heard of the book before the 2016 USA election season, but I had not made it a priority to read it until recently because people are stating this book is revolutionary and relevant in today's news and circumstances. If this is true, I moved this book up my reading list so I could understand why people believe this work to be so important.
Having watched the first season of the Hulu video series and read the book, I am baffled why people are giving this much credence to this particular novel.
Atwood does write well and correctly, but the rhythm and style of the book are that of a poet. It's a more challenging read. It takes work from the reader to carefully understand what and how she writes. The commoner does not write this way. As I read this book, I also had the Audible narration walk me along, and this made consuming the book more manageable. I highly recommend listening and reading at the same time to improve retention and comprehension. The narrator alleviated the difficulty in following this writing style by controlling the gate and rhythm of reading sentences and paragraphs that are very awkward. The author does not follow convention with quotation marks, and readers will recognize where marks are missing when they should be present (the absence of such marks does not make sense, but suspect there is a reason I've not yet identified -- possibly because of the revelation at the end of the book).
To those who love this story, video or book, I determined there is a particular group of people who love it, claiming the nation is close to ruin as described by this story. I usually enjoy consuming dystopias, but this one felt off and not realistic in any way. The timeline bounces around like the video series. The setting is the USA, but such a rise would happen in the United States. Neither educated men nor educated women would tolerate such a violent and totalitarian surge in ignorance. Educated men are not necessarily passive or unarmed. Men who are armed and equipped are not necessarily stupid or submissive.
I gave the book 3 out of 5 stars. The Handmaid's Tale is an OK book. It is an alternative modern day American post-civil war story from a different perspective. It is not revolutionary or visionary. I certainly do not see it as relevant. It does challenge readers to see the world differently. There are no real warnings to the people of today in the USA (or Canada). We are nowhere close to approaching such a state. There is a lot not explained in the book, so the reader has to suspend too many beliefs and reason to believe this could be true someday.
To readers who believe otherwise, I would like specifics why some people think we may be close to such a world. A rational and reasonable person would not expect this to come true. There is too much in the way, and too many people would NOT tolerate such a dramatic change. A 

The Handmaid's Tale is a wonderful and enlightening story. Seems realistic, but at the same time, you can't believe what happens in this story. Great story. The show on Hulu is also amazing and I recommend watching that as well.

THE WORST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ. A BOAT LOAD OF NOTHINGNESS. IF THE US OF A EVER KNOCK ITSELF BACKWARDS 300 YEARS, THIS NOVEL WILL SERVE AS THE BLUE PRINT OF IGNORANCE. WE ARE TOO FAR ALONG THE PATH OF ENLIGHTENMENT AND PROGRESS TO ENTERTAIN SUCH A DYSTOPIAN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME.  

really touching

The Handmaid's Tale is the second Margaret Atwood book I have read. I really enjoyed Oryx and Crake , and was looking forward to this. I watched the movie with Natasha Richardson years ago, and liked it quite a bit.
This book was similar to Oryx and Crake in that the how society crumbled is not so much the story as are the people who are trying to cope with their present situation. Where Atwood effectively garnered sympathy for Snowman in Oryx and Crake with beautiful, descriptive language, the same was not true for Offred in Handmaid's Tale. Even though her situation was deplorable, the telling of her story did not generate feelings of sympathy. The story was told in a rather flat manner. It lacked, for me, the elegant diction that I expected.
Where Atwood was effective was in bringing attention to the issues that women face. As a man, I think it's easy to think that women don't face significant injustice and bias, but this story was eye-opening to the problems women face that society takes for granted.
As an African American, though, it was easy to see correlations between the message in the book as it pertains to women to my first hand experience as a part of the black community.
Overall, I was intrigued enough to learn what would be Offred's fate, but mostly I found Atwood's message came across very strong and detracted from my enjoyment of the story.  

Deeply imaginative while still very familiar, this book touches on themes that are often discussed today. Equality between the sexes and feminism are at the forefront of this story, which makes it more appropriate for high school kids. Not because of the subject matter, but because of the experience that is needed to really understand the emotions and morality that comes into question.  

BOOk
Great

Complex
Great for readers who like to interpret and infer. Loved the imagery and vividness in Atwood`s style.

The handmaid's tale
The absolute best book I have ever read!!!!!!

"The Handmaid's Tale" is an entrancingly written novel!