The concept of the book is solid and frightening. It’s place in history, and to a lesser extent, the new life it breathes makes sense to me. The underlying themes are well worth exploring. Yet as written word, the thing from which I read to make that concept come alive, sputters, frustrates, and fails – by breaking the fourth wall. If I must stop and ask, “Atwood, what on earth are you doing?” the book becomes about her, not Offred. Which is unfortunate, as I know Offred had a more important story to tell than Atwood did. Instead, the book, like Offred’s life, left me feeling flat.

In terms of the feminist undertones, and feminists grabbing onto the book as though it were Gospel, I have seen that Atwood originally stated it isn’t. She doesn’t seem to be being coy about the whole thing; yet viewed from the current context of events, with a new push in politics to usurp women’s advancements, I can see how one would shake their head at Atwood and think: how can this not be a feminist novel? Atwood has clarified her position since the Handmaid miniseries aired, stating that her intent in writing was more in line with contemporary feminism, where she states that she didn’t intend for it to reflect an ideology where women are victimized to the point of rendering them unable to make choices, but instead wanted to demonstrate that the right of women reflects human rights, and their experience is central to the plot. Ok, then. It’s a contemporary scifi-dystopian feminist novel. Glad we cleared that up. It also smacks of a convenient double-play of marketing for different time-periods.

I don’t like Atwood’s writing in general, but this is one I liked more than others. The book deserves it's place in history, therefore I do recommend it as title to put in your queue. I advise to take the hype with a grain of salt, but the book can be respected for what it is.

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Created Apr 05, 2024 at 1:12pm • Submit your own review...