Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

So, I finally got to read it. And wow, are there a bunch of different views about this book. Clearly I'm in the 'loved it' camp, and I didn't even notice the lack of quotation marks. Many reviewers seem to get quite outraged over bad editing or lack of quotation marks or what have you but it doesn't bother me at all. The story is everything, and this was one hell of a story. Or was it a story because, depending on where and when you live, it could be pretty damn close to reality.

Also, I didn't think that the reasons for the congressmen being killed and the constitution abandoned were important. This was all about one woman's journey and her fight to retain her sanity. While there was little outright grossness, the whole scenario was quite horrific. I don't think I could have coped as well as Offred, although the induction for the handmaids does include an amount of brainwashing - is this a kindness or mental torture? I'm undecided about this.

I also loved her internal discussions which is testament to Atwood's skill as a writer because this is normally one of my pet peeves. They are invariably dull and repetitive. But in this story they served to illustrate how Offred's world had shrunk - to her room in the commander's house and the view from her window. How does an educated and worldly person cope with that? How DO they retain their sanity? How, dear Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ readers, do you cope with being denied the simple pleasure of reading?

I also didn't think the book was anti-religion per se because what they practiced was not religion per se. It seemed to be an amalgam of religious and paternalistic practices tailor made, initially at least, to ensure the survival of the human species in the face of environmental degradation and rampant sterility and birth defects. It seemed to be saying that most people don't know what's good for them so 'big brother' will make your decisions for you, that all that free choice has led to the problems we find ourselves facing. There could be an element of truth in that but I do think we could come up with a better way to deal with it.

I'm trying to be a better, more thoughtful reader and pick up some of those 'must read' books. Like 1984 which, while I didn't love it I thought was very prescient. The Handmaid's Tale, written in 1986 is more relevant now than it ever was . What is the actual difference between a burkha demanded by the Taliban, along with no education for women and all the rest, and the incredibly structured life of the handmaids? We have no knowledge of exactly what happened to failed handmaids, those that didn't manage to produce and viable child, but we are lead to believe its nothing good.

There are signs if you care to look for them that women's rights are not as guaranteed as we'd like to think they are. Populist election victories, right wing rumblings, political upheavals in South America and continued unrest in many parts of the world. Rape culture, revenge porn and all the rest. Read this book and weep.