The Handmaid's Tale
Ratings1,726
Average rating4.1
Decidí leer el libro en lugar de ver la serie, para poder empaparme de los detalles que a menudo suelen perderse en la traducción a un producto televisivo o audiovisual. Y tras recorrer el relato entiendo perfectamente a quienes decidieron adaptarlo: es una historia absolutamente trágica, retorcida, que con el presupuesto y la visión correcta puede ser un espectáculo visual sin precedentes.
Fuerte, transgresora, profunda, la historia no se guarda nada para tocar la fibra más íntima de los lectores y hacerlos plantearse el mundo actual desde una perspectiva muy diferente.
Nothing makes me more at home in this world than a terrifyingly real dystopian novel. So oddly satisfying.
Atwood is a literary genius.
Executive Summary: This is one of the books that I'm glad I read once, but never want to read again. It was a pretty depressing read and I needed a palette cleanser after I was done. It started really slow for me, but sucked me in by the end.
Audiobook: Claire Danes does a fine job with this book, but nothing that makes this a must listen. I'm not a huge fan of celebrity narrators even if they are talented actors like Ms. Danes because that doesn't necessarily make you a great narrator. I think she does a good enough job that makes the audio a decent option though.
Full Review
This book has been on my radar for years, not to mention my owned and unread shelf. I probably got it on a daily deal nearly 5 years ago but I've never been in the mood to listen to it. The truth is I wasn't in the mood to read it now either, but I probably never would. With the popularity of the show I wanted to finally check it off my list.
I definitely struggled with the first part of this book. Somewhere along the way (TV show spoilers perhaps) I knew the underlying idea of the book, but it took so long (over 25% for it to be revealed to the reader). It's possible that if I didn't know what was coming I'd have been less anxious/found it less slow at the start.
Once the truth of OfFred's situation was finally revealed things seemed to pick up a lot. I liked how she mixed in flashbacks to flush out the world building. I probably liked those parts best of all, possibly because they were less hard to read than most of the rest of the book.
It's hard to believe this book was written over 30 years ago because it seems so timely for many things right now. The reality though (which is explored in the book itself) is that Ms. Atwood didn't really create the ideas of Gilead. All that she had to do was to explore our own history and pick and choose from all the awful stuff that past societies (or current societies for that matter) have done to women throughout time.
That's probably why apart from a few mentions of technology this book feels like it could have come out now rather than 1985. In all that time we haven't made much progress (and you might argue we've actually taken steps to move closer to the world she explores in this book).
Overall this book is a depressing look at the way that humanity and governments can be really horrible to each other/its citizens. It's one of those books I think should think everyone should read once, but have something fun/happy on standby, or maybe just someone to hug afterward.
J'ai adoré ce livre, je l'ai lu d'une traite, pas décroché une seule seconde. Le ton reste juste en 2018. Je l'ai lu suite à mon enthousiasme pour la série télévisée et je n'ai pas été déçue, intéressée par les similitudes et différences entre le livre et l'adaptation.
J'aime beaucoup le style de l'auteure, le lecteur est embarqué avec Defred, assis à côté d'elle sur son lit à sentir les voilages sur son visage, bravo !
Les hommes ne sont qu'une stratégie des femmes pour fabriquer d'autres femmes.
The handmaid's tale is a dystopian novel set in the -Not so far- future , in which giving birth is declining , and women who can give birth are considered a treasure . those women are captured , collected , trained to be Handmaids , sent to the commanders houses to have their children in an absolutely disgusting , humiliated and bizarre way. After watching the TV Show and loving it , i decided to read the book , and i was absolutely fascinated by it . dark . scary . sad . and almost real . when i was reading i kept thinking ‘This might happen ....this might happen !' .The writing was so good , i felt like i'm living with June while she was telling her story , i kept thinking about what would i do if i were in her position , and i always got the same answer : Nothing. and that alone gave me a terrible feeling , feeling of helplessness and injustice .It's been a while since i read a dystopian novel this good , it gave me the exact feeling that Orwell's 1984 gave me . the feeling that i was in a way trapped in that world the author created , which was horrible , and good at the same time ! . you know what i mean .So , overall , the handmaid's tale is a masterpiece and i think EVERYONE should read it .
So disturbing... very much worth reading. I'm going to try to watch the show on Hulu now... but it might be too much for me...
Read for the first time in many years. Still as powerful and disturbing as I remember.
Me ha gustado mucho, aunque ha sido demasiado reflexiva para mí, sobre todo la parte central.
Me he quedado con ganas de saber más cosas sobre el regimen y sobre su formación.
Eso sí el final me ha encantado, y el epílogo, ni te cuento.
Aunque la protagonista divaga muchas veces, es muy veraz su forma de actuar y de pensar. Al final en una dictadura donde te prohíben hasta respirar, lo único que te queda es desconfianza, soledad y supervivencia.
Margaret Atwood escribe de maravilla, seguro que van a caer más libros suyos.
I'm very happy to say that I really enjoyed The Handmaid's Tale! I admit, it took me a little bit to get used to the writing style since it's very different from what I am used to reading. However, I soon found that a stream of consciousness was the most effective way for Atwood to get her points across.
The characters were intriguing. Each played an integral part in the course of the novel, and it was fascinating to see how each contributed to the conclusion. One important thing to mentioned is the apparent lack of character development. Personally, I felt that the only character who experienced any remote development was Offred. In my opinion, this novel was much more plot-driven so this didn't bother me, but it is certainly something to note, especially if you are more of a character-driven reader.
The relationships between the characters were also satisfyingly complex, and yet they were not so overdone that the reader was unable to imagine some details as well. Personally, I found the relationship between Offred and Nick to be the most interesting, especially when looking at the way in which it evolved throughout the novel.
I love the premise of this novel. I feel like it is very original. While I don't believe it would ever happen in our own society- and I sure hope not as well!- I enjoyed reading about this theocracy. Atwood seems to have labored over creating this society. It seems so detailed and multifaceted. I also commend her for the few, if any, plot holes that are present within this novel.
Despite the fact that the ending made me mad due to its loose ends, I understand why Atwood wrote it the way she did. As a reader, I often prefer to have my endings cemented and in stone, but I do believe that this was an effective means to end this book. Open endings are only bad if they are done incorrectly, and I must say- this was done very well.
Really, the only thing holding me back from giving this five stars is the beginning. It was extremely slow and took me so long to get into. It was also a bit confusing and jarring since you are directly thrown into this world with no explanation. Of course, you later receive this explanation, however I think a short prologue at the beginning with a brief explanation of what had happened would have been beneficial. After all, I began reading this novel with little to no prior information on it.
Would I recommend The Handmaid's Tale? Of course. I would also love to get my hands on the Hulu television series and see how it holds up against the novel.
I loved the concept of this book, it's dark and troubling and has some excellent scenes. I struggled with it in parts, mostly due to it being a bit dry - still very worth the read and an excellent twist at the end - quite different in places to the TV Series.
Angst, desperation, dark tones. If you like dystopian novels, then this one is for you. In the days of North-Korea, the Taliban and ISIS it makes the story believable.
There's a lot to like about this book. I liked the plot, feminism, historical awareness, dystopian setting, and afterword. Not a fan of the writing style.
I give up. The writing is just not a style I enjoy or am easily able to digest. If I hadn't watched the Hulu series first, I'm not sure I would have even understood what I was reading before I abandoned the book. :\
Excelente libro. A veces drenante, especialmente en estos tiempos; a veces espantoso y aterrador.
Offred no es una protagonista perfecta, pero eso la hace mas real, mas profunda.
Definitivamente, le recomiendo a todos que lo lean.
Me ha costado mucho terminarlo. Tal vez no lo hubiera leído nunca de no ser por el Club de Lectura, pero, bueno, acá estamos.
Defred me ha desesperado a más no poder, piensa demasiado pero hace muy poco. Si hubiera hecho la mitad de lo que pensó tal vez esta historia hubiera sido más interesante. Creo que hubiera disfrutado más de la historia con Moira como protagonista, ¿quién sabe? Eso sí, el concepto distópico es espeluznante desde donde se vea, una terrible realidad que esperemos esté lejos de ocurrir.
The last 100 pages blew me away, and I honestly didn't expect the ending (although I really should have). The Handmaid's Tale was completely different to anything I've read before.
I wanted to highlight so much of this book I would have ruined it with pages full of yellow ink.
Part of me wishes I'd first read this alongside the other classic dystopias as a teenager, but I think it has more horrific impact for me now.
And now finally I can social media without spoilers for/from the tv adaptation.
Oh, Goodreads, when are you going to give us the luxury of half-stars?
This was a 2,5 for me.
Interesting premise, decent execution, meh editing from 65% on - and a major letdown for an ending.
Claudia, Claudia,
I trust you're well. Hopefully you didn't find time to read this book?
How did we ever decide to read it in the first place?
There are a lot of themes in the book that might have more impact from a woman's perspective. Please do consult a scifi lady before absolutely disregarding this novel.
Story: 3 / 10
Characters: 4
Setting: 8
Prose: 3
Themes: Forced egg donors, religious dystopias
A 4.5/4.8 star read. Only just missed out on a 5 star rating for me as I didn't have a gut reflex 5 star response. Deeply haunting and startlingly relevant read. A disturbing dystopian novel (but when is a dystopian ever anything but disturbing right?). A must read for any Feminists. Atwood writes beautiful prose and has a wickedly vivid imagination. It's a world that you become immersed and invested in. A must read novel for not just Atwood and dystopian fans but anyone who wants to read a multi-layered story that provokes many questions around morality and ethics.
I'm fucked up, fed up, and furious. I hope someday women will be able to read this book and not understand how it could feel so eerily possible to the women reading it today.
I honestly don't see what all the fuss was about. I felt like it took me way too long to get through. I get that it's scary because it can actually happen but I just found the whole thing kind of boring.
I feel like the ending was like a quick little patch job to cover any criticisms that people might have. Like “Oh you didn't think that was believable? Well it's just one woman's account of what happened, so of course there will be tons of questions.”
I hated the lack of quotation marks during speech, which I guess again is “explained” by the fact that this was a recording but it really made some of the dialogue hard to follow.
I found that I really couldn't feel bad for the character and there wasn't really that much back story to her so I couldn't really get attached to her so I didn't care much about what happened to her at the end. Overall I was happy that it was over.