syinlim

This book was rather complicated. I did enjoy it. It made you think aboout things. Margaret Atwood really poses the question "What if...?" in this book. She takes it pretty darn far too. However, as she argues in An Interview with Margaret Atwood on her Novel The Handmaid's Tale : "...there isn't anything in the book not based on something that has already happened in history or in another country..." The key phrase in that statement, I would venture to say, is "based on." Even so it is a scary thought that somewhere in history or in this world, fragments of the society in the book exist or existed in some form. It reminded me very much of 1984 which I read in high school Advanced English (or possibly it was actually AP English at the time...I think so.) I believe it might have been junior year, but it actually might have been sophomore year. Either way, I came away from reading that book, thinking - the future is a scary place. I feel much the same after reading this book. Obviously 1984 was the past when I read the book, even so it represented a future world. This book in a similar way, although not stating exactly a year or time, felt like it could have been set in a year in the recent past...so it felt more like a near future society. Not that I actually believe something like this could happen...who would ever want to think that?! The story is told through a first person point of view. It skips around in time. The main character reveals limited information to the audience. "The curtain is drawn back slowly" says the interviewer at the end of this version of the novel. It is not an "easy" read. If you chose to read it it. Beware - it will confuse you, and make you think. Little explaination about my rating: 3/5 stars I didn't love it. It was ok. I guess I liked it. It was very well written and I have the utmost respect for anyone who can write such a complex story.

2023-03-08 06:01