The Handmaid´s Tale
By Margaret Atwood
4 stars
The Handmaids Tale is considered a modern classic, kids read it in school, it is widely talked about and I just knew I had to read it, if only to just know why this book is so popular. After reading this book I understood why it is so popular, The Handmaids Tale deals with very serious topics and I believe it is very relevant in today’s world.
In the Handmaids Tale we follow a world, in the near future where Offred, a Handmaid is allowed out once a day to the food market, she is not permitted to read, and she is hoping the Commander makes her pregnant, because she is only valued if her ovaries are viable.
This book is hard to read, the world Margaret Atwood created is terrifying but has some viability to it. Talking first about the plot we have that The Handmaids Tale is not a plot filled book, this novel is slow, the author does a great job in describing this new reality to us and although not a lot happens the world building is amazing. This is definitely a character driven book and that is fine.
Like I said, this is a character driven book so let’s talk about the characters. The main character Offred is fantastic, it is so interesting to read about what goes on in her mind, how she tries to cope with this new reality while not wanting to forget about her past life is beautifully described. I felt so much sympathy for Offred, I think it is impossible not to feel sympathy for someone who is going through what she is. This book is written in the perspective of Offred so the reader gets a very detailed description of what she is going through, what she thinks about and how she interacts with her surroundings. The secondary characters are great but our impression of them are always through Offred´s eyes.
This book made me feel such anguish it goes to speak of how well it is written. Every aspect of this new reality is so hard to read about and like I said it is truly terrifying to imagine living in a world like that. This is a very short book but in just under 300 pages Margaret Atwood manages to perfectly portray what would happen if we continue going down this road.
Overall The Handmaids Tale is a book that deserves all the recognition is has received, it is a freighting portray of abuse of human rights, controlling government and sexism. This book is so important and relevant, and although it was very hard to read i am glad I gave it a chance. Margaret Atwood´s writing style is mind-blowing and I cant wait to read the long awaited sequel.
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