I liked it and did not liked, at the same time. I was fascinated and sometimes annoyed. I wonder what acts of author's personal life, pushed her to write this book? I'm not sure if this book is included in the required reading for high school students, but if it is, there are thoughts, views on life, ideology in this book that can be understood only from a maturity based on adult's life. Sometimes such books are not completely understandable even for some adults, not to mention teenagers.

I didn't realize this was a dystopian novel until I started reading it! I really thought it was very well written. Disturbing, but well done.

I read this book some time ago. I find dystopian plots (This Perfect Day by Ira Levine) to be thought provoking as well as entertaining. In the dystopian world, there has to be the strong and the weak, the dominant and submissive.

Anyone voting for Rick santorum or newt gingrich?

This book is horrid

The Handmaid's Tale is a first person account of the experiences of a young woman, Offred, who is placed into the society for the sole purpose of breeding. As the title itself suggests, it is written thoroughly in the perspective of Handmaid, who lets us see the petrifying Republic of Gilead through her encounters. Offred critiques this corrupted society and relates to the reader with justified views about to what extent to which the government controls its citizens subconsciously. The Republic of Gilead is experiencing a population downfall in the age of declining births; therefore only women with viable ovaries are valued. Meanwhile others are emplaced in a horrific hierarchical system that only treats them as objects and property of men. In such a dominating society, standard of living comes down to, sexuality, gender and race. This book is creatively written as well as thought provoking about the importance of feminist role in society. Vivid flashbacks to life before the dictatorship reveal problems that are easily identifiable with those faced today, with debates about abortion, women's rights, and religious fundamentalism. The author did a great job is writing this novel where she took feminism to such an extreme that it became an anti-feminist novel. This book predicts the upcoming of a society, not too far in future, where humans are treated with minimal respect and only freedom from the past is what keeps the hope alive. It seems hard to imagine a sudden transition in our modern society to such a backwards and flawed system, but as the author herself describes the genre of the novel as 'speculative fiction', it is a warning against the danger of those holding extreme power.

loved this book very much but i think it ends too abruptly

The news events these days reminded me of this book.

I enjoyed this first person narrative and thought Atwood did a good job of bewitching the reader in a believable dystopia occupied with credible and rich characters. She's a skilled story-teller. However, I craved extra details on what led to the current situation / formation of this bizarre society. She keeps these details scarce and we focus on our lead character which is of course where the action is. I wasn't "hopelessly" spellbound and rarely found myself rereading text so as to wallow in the prose but still, it was an enjoyable read if not an entirely bizarre story. I was also just a little let down by the final chapter.

Thought provoker so don't expect "light reading" or good sleeping. Well writen and griping though somewhat frightening. Although I felt it was lacking a little "punch" when there seemed to be opportuntiy, it was worth the read.