The Handmaid's Tale
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4.4 • 926 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
An instant classic and eerily prescient cultural phenomenon, from “the patron saint of feminist dystopian fiction” (New York Times). Now an award-winning Hulu series starring Elizabeth Moss.
In this multi-award-winning, bestselling novel, Margaret Atwood has created a stunning Orwellian vision of the near future. This is the story of Offred, one of the unfortunate “Handmaids” under the new social order who have only one purpose: to breed. In Gilead, where women are prohibited from holding jobs, reading, and forming friendships, Offred’ s persistent memories of life in the “time before” and her will to survive are acts of rebellion. Provocative, startling, prophetic, and with Margaret Atwood’s devastating irony, wit, and acute perceptive powers in full force, The Handmaid’s Tale is at once a mordant satire and a dire warning.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Margaret Atwood’s 1985 dystopian masterpiece is having something of a moment, and we can't think of a more worthy novel. Elegantly told and absolutely unforgettable, The Handmaid's Tale is a chilling depiction of the United States as a theocracy where women are cast as subservient wives, household slaves, or gestation vessels for white babies. It's a decidedly apt cautionary tale for this (and any) time.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Equal parts gorgeous and horrifying, Nault's adaptation faithfully follows both the plot and style of Atwood's 1985 dystopian novel. Narrator Offred lives in Gilead, a United States that is both unrecognizable and too familiar: the government strips women of their freedom in the name of protecting them, discards the old and infirm, and loves fetuses more than the living. Offred says, "Everything Handmaids wear is red: the color of blood, which defines us." Nault's reds are rich and layered watercolors, rust to flame. In one frame, she draws hanged Handmaid bodies as drooping crimson flowers. Nault's semiabstracted interpretations of traumatic scenes are stronger than the story's more pedestrian moments, when it's hard not to feel the flatness of the pale characters' expressions. Painting life in Gilead's toxic, war-torn Colonies, Nault takes great advantage of the graphic form. In Atwood's text, exile is frightening because it is a void. Here the cancer-eaten jaw of an "unwoman" worker is on full display. Atwood fans may shrug at another incarnation of this classic, but it's skillfully done and likely to appeal to younger readers; the tale's relevance and Nault's talent are undeniable.
Customer Reviews
Classic for a reason
Beautiful and suspenseful with romance, humour and mystery.
Couldn’t put it down.
Not quite a cliff hanger
Fascinating theory and very descriptive. The momentum just seemed to get going when the book ended. Left with many unanswered questions.
Background is weirc
Not a fan of the black background and white text. Makes me feel cross eyed. However it is a great novel