tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275239266133000382.post6507680860784340909..comments2024-01-01T20:45:04.000+00:00Comments on Be Sol Be: Thoughts on The Handmaid's TaleSolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10518631542782309728noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275239266133000382.post-34199616389760271232017-03-23T17:20:16.555+00:002017-03-23T17:20:16.555+00:00I will have to see if we can rent the film on Sky ...I will have to see if we can rent the film on Sky TV. I think we will add it to the list anyway! Woo hoo lots of new to me books!Solhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10518631542782309728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275239266133000382.post-3434212714828421492017-03-23T06:38:21.690+00:002017-03-23T06:38:21.690+00:00Thanks for re-printing my review above, Sol, thoug...Thanks for re-printing my review above, Sol, though it does look rather paltry as compared with your own expertly delineated and profound thoughts. <br />Of course 'Handmaid' is "horrific", and anyone who doesn't think that must have had their minds elsewhere while going through the motions of reading it. However, that quality can't be used as a criticism of the book; we'd be vastly impoverished if ALL horror stories were to be withdrawn from circulation - it might take out up to half of all those published! <br />The novel is a cautionary and nowadays frighteningly plausible tale, far more relevant to today's world than that when it was written, and for that reason so much the scarier. <br /> <br />I'm surprised to read that the author is so reviled in parts of her own country, rather than admired throughout. That possibility had never occurred to me. I'm not aware of it being the case with the British public where I'm only aware of praise for her writings. Maybe I've missed the criticisms. But I do know that 'Handmaid' has engendered a desire in me to acquaint myself with her other books.<br /><br />Btw: I heartily concur with Margaret B. above in recommending Ishiguro's 'Never Let Me Go'. Quite as chilling as 'Handmaid' - and it was a VERY good film (2010) too! Raybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12424095016313843883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275239266133000382.post-60130782641156488992017-03-22T18:51:18.609+00:002017-03-22T18:51:18.609+00:00Hey Kymber, hope you are well. It is a really goo...Hey Kymber, hope you are well. It is a really good book. You should put your thoughts into a comment. I would love to hear them. Margaret is a pretty slick chick, right?!? I will be reading more of her literature for sure.<br /><br />Love to you and Jam. Keep warm!!!Solhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10518631542782309728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275239266133000382.post-83358192016650479732017-03-22T16:36:30.158+00:002017-03-22T16:36:30.158+00:00Sol - i think you nailed the entire book with this...Sol - i think you nailed the entire book with this post - Margaret would be proud!<br /><br />she is, and is not a feminist, according to her and everyone else - and has won many canadian awards for literature. she is also a very acclaimed poet. and she's canadian. she's just about perfect - bahahahah!<br /><br />she doesn't like it when Handmaid is considered science fiction - she has said in several interviews that science fiction is like talking squids in outer space, whereas she considers her science fiction to be more social science fiction.<br /><br />she is beloved and hated here in canada - it's one or the other.<br /><br />i have read Handmaid and many other of her books - she is an excellent writer and story teller.<br /><br />i would add my own synopsis of Handmaid except you pretty much blew yours out of the park. i really liked that Ray commented....always good to get a man's point of view.<br /><br />again, Margaret would be proud of this post.<br /><br />sending much love. your friend,<br />kymberkymberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02607117635648274823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275239266133000382.post-72844703894210768542017-03-22T15:38:49.752+00:002017-03-22T15:38:49.752+00:00Hi Margaret, thank you for the name of this writer...Hi Margaret, thank you for the name of this writer. I think I will read this myself. its very hard to find new material to read. Thank you for your comment.Solhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10518631542782309728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275239266133000382.post-59232128804175816772017-03-22T00:25:37.491+00:002017-03-22T00:25:37.491+00:00"Never let me go" by Kazuo Ishiguro is a..."Never let me go" by Kazuo Ishiguro is another thought provoking book of the same ilk.Margaret Butterworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01132595996801386452noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275239266133000382.post-6069860350336543712017-03-21T22:01:21.358+00:002017-03-21T22:01:21.358+00:00Hi Gwil, I am glad you are going to give Atwood a ...Hi Gwil, I am glad you are going to give Atwood a go. I was quite worried about having a feminist dystopian book for the read along. but am pleased ive read it again. I hope you like itSolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10518631542782309728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275239266133000382.post-42622160221718417722017-03-21T20:23:05.658+00:002017-03-21T20:23:05.658+00:00Sol, having read your review and a couple of other...Sol, having read your review and a couple of others since you brought it to my attention with a comment on my blog, I will try and locate a copy and give it a go, if it's not overwhelmingly long. I too have never read Attwood although I've seen her books on the shelves. For some obscure reason I thought they were detective thrillers. Had no idea she was into serious subjects. Many thanks! Gwil Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03305768121713053837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275239266133000382.post-9358014508809614522017-03-21T19:52:59.950+00:002017-03-21T19:52:59.950+00:00Hi Janie, I was 14 when I read this the first time...Hi Janie, I was 14 when I read this the first time. I remember the girls and boys having completely different reactions to it. the girls nigh on shreiking, on the feminist wagon. The boys asking what was wrong with it? Probably to get a rise out of the girls. A high emotion book that makes you dig deep. I am pleased I have read it again. I want my nieces to read it. Solhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10518631542782309728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275239266133000382.post-32015738921346544872017-03-21T19:42:44.829+00:002017-03-21T19:42:44.829+00:00I love The Handmaid's Tale. It's definitel...I love The Handmaid's Tale. It's definitely a book that high school students should read. <br /><br />Love,<br />JanieJanie Junebughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10573607241326291404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5275239266133000382.post-34475897820468268692017-03-21T12:54:07.102+00:002017-03-21T12:54:07.102+00:00I am adding Ray's comment from my previous pos...I am adding Ray's comment from my previous post right here as I think it is a really good read and also good from a mans point of view.<br /><br />Blogger Raybeard said... Ray's Blog can be found here http://raybeard.blogspot.co.uk/<br /><br /><br />Better to get this over with as I'm now ready to embark on 'Middlemarch'.<br /><br />I'd never read any Margaret Atwood up to now and I'm grateful that I did before it was too late. <br />I found 'The Handmaid's Tale' a most compelling read. I was aware of the story only through the 1990 film (Miranda Richardson, Robert Duvall, Faye Dunaway) which had left me half-perplexed, half-intrigued. I don't recall much of the detail of the film, which I haven't re-seen since its release, though I do recall the strangely creepy atmosphere it conjured up. This novel helps to put some flesh on that futuristic and scary scenario, while employing economy of words at an intensely readable level. It dispenses with explanations of the times it's set in, but plunges straight into the action, requiring the reader to fill in the blanks as we go along, which in this case did not require much effort. I especially like the cliff-edge ending, leaving us gasping for at least one big answer, yet witholding it from us, though with a hint as to the likelihood of which of one of two possibilities prevails, though one can't be absolutely sure.<br /><br />I was completely wrapped up in all the characters, especially that of Offred, the narrator, imprisoned in a time when a woman's sole use was being a reproductive instrument in the theocratic republic of Gilead (dreadful pre-echoes of the appalling kind of Caliphate which ISAL/ISIS wish to be enacted worldwide - something we thought was only a marginal, small minority view with little support to concern us when Atwood wrote this story).<br />I was completely caught up in Offred's plight, her keeping her 'rebellious' thoughts to herself (she can remember when recent times were 'normal, much as they are now), except on the occasions when she trusts anther young woman in the same position as hers. I was really nervously keen to know what their fate would be. <br /><br />One criticism I have relates to a lot of novels, written especially since WWII, is why the writers are so shy of employing standard punctuation marks to indicate what is speech and what is commentary or narration. It's particularly evident in a book like this where sometimes Atwood DOES use proper quotation marks while at other times she eschews them. I failed to see any logical reason for this. Actually nowadays most writers don't use them at all, though God only know why not!<br /><br />Unusually, I read the book in about a dozen smallish chunks rather than my usual practice of about 80-150 pages at a time. I don't think that affected my experience at all though I'd suggest it is possibly better read in a few more generously-sized portions. <br /><br />I said that this is the first Margaret Atwood I've read. I know it won't be the last because rummaging around I did find another unread book of hers which I have and had forgotten, 'Life Before Man'. It has a lot to live up to after 'Handmaid'. I'm looking forward to it<br /><br />20 March 2017 at 14:54 DeleteSolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10518631542782309728noreply@blogger.com