An enjoyable dystopian with a lot of truth

4 out of 5 stars

With the release of the series on Hulu that was based on this book, I decided to give the book a listen before watching any of the episodes.  I told my wife to start it without me in case I didn’t like the book or couldn’t get through it.

I did have a hard time in the beginning of The Handmaid’s Tale.  Atwood’s writing style is the epitome of the books teenagers are “forced” to read in high school that makes them feel like they don’t enjoy reading.  It was choppy and incredibly descriptive.  For every description of something that Offred saw there were up to 5 lines about it in the book.

Honestly, that is the reason that I gave this a 4 out of 5.  The story is awesome, and being written as long ago as I’m alive — a lot of the main pillars of it are easily seen as coming true sooner rather than later.  I believe that Atwood wrote this as an enigmatic “future” tale, not putting a date on it to age it. And it was written well enough that Hulu decided that they wanted to make a series out of it.

Offred was one of those characters that you both feel bad for and not.  I think she was written this way so that you both feel pity for her and a little bit apathetic.  By far I would not wish what Offred had to go through on anyone but at the same time, the way her character was written made it more or less blasé.

The dystopian future that Atwood created was easily what kept me reading this.  It was interesting and deep.  I would read more books about the lead-up and the start of the entire fall from grace. I absolutely loved her descriptions and the way that she left other things up to the reader’s imagination.

I am going to watch the Hulu series with my wife, and I will be doing write up’s about it on here, so if you’re curious about the differences and how “true” to book it is — stay tuned for that.  If you’re curious if you should pick this book up — it really depends on how much you enjoy the story (or the writing).  Some people enjoy long and over-explained diatribes (millions of Stephen King fans for example). But, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Book Description:

The Handmaid's Tale (Special Edition) by Margaret Atwood
Narrator: Claire Danes
Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
Published by Audible Studios on April 4, 2017
Genres: Dystopian

About the Author:

MARGARET ATWOOD, whose work has been published in over thirty-five countries, is the author of more than forty books of fiction, poetry, and critical essays. In addition to The Handmaid’s Tale, her novels include Cat’s Eye, shortlisted for the Booker Prize; Alias Grace, which won the Giller Prize in Canada and the Premio Mondello in Italy; The Blind Assassin, winner of the 2000 Booker Prize; and her most recent, Oryx and Crake, shortlisted for the 2003 Booker Prize. She lives in Toronto with writer Graeme Gibson.

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