The Handmaid's Tale is a dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, published in 1985. It is set in a near-future New England, in a strongly patriarchal, totalitarian theonomic state, known as Republic of Gilead, that has overthrown the United States government. The central character and narrator is a woman named Offred, one of the group known as "handmaids", who are forcibly assigned to produce children for the "commanders" – the ruling class of men. The novel explores themes of subjugated women in a patriarchal society and the various means …
The Handmaid's Tale is a dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, published in 1985. It is set in a near-future New England, in a strongly patriarchal, totalitarian theonomic state, known as Republic of Gilead, that has overthrown the United States government. The central character and narrator is a woman named Offred, one of the group known as "handmaids", who are forcibly assigned to produce children for the "commanders" – the ruling class of men. The novel explores themes of subjugated women in a patriarchal society and the various means by which they resist and attempt to gain individuality and independence. The novel's title echoes the component parts of Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, which is a series of connected stories (such as "The Merchant's Tale" and "The Parson's Tale").The Handmaid's Tale won the 1985 Governor General's Award and the first Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1987; it was also nominated for the 1986 Nebula Award, the 1986 Booker Prize, and the 1987 Prometheus Award. The book has been adapted into a 1990 film, a 2000 opera, a 2017 television series, and other media. The ebook version was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.A sequel novel, The Testaments, was published in 2019.
Brossura, 320 pagine
Pubblicato il 01 Agosto 2011 da Vintage Books.
Je ne savais rien de ce roman – je n'avais pas vu la série – si ce n'est que c'était une dystopie. Et j'ai été impressionné par la qualité et la profondeur de l'écriture. Ça confirme ma conviction qu'il vaut toujours mieux lire un livre avant d'en voir une adaptation.
I read the Handmaid's Tale yesterday, finally. I'm disappointed. I did not like the writing style at all, there was no real story, just descriptions. And then it just ended. No conclusion or anything.
My best guess it's because the TV show was so intense and well made (at least the earlier seasons), and the book was... Not? Episodes would stay with me for days, but I'm struggling to recall the book.
Maybe the book is supposed to be unsatisfying to go with the theme. Nothing much happened after Gilead was created, every day just kinda goes by. Sure there was some torture and death, but... Eh.
Maybe I was expecting too much after all the praise it got. It's my first Atwood book, and way way outside of my usual genre (fantasy, scifi, horror).
I read this classic just two years ago. It felt more relevant to the present than it may have been when it was written. This book is a revolutionary milestone in speculative fiction and probably feminist literature as well, but I found equally interesting that the text is based on progressive loss of innocence. The final chapter is incredible and left me very satisfied.
I read this classic just two years ago. It felt more relevant to the present than it may have been when it was written. This book is a revolutionary milestone in speculative fiction and probably feminist literature as well, but I found equally interesting that the text is based on progressive loss of innocence. The final chapter is incredible and left me very satisfied.
Anche qui forse 4,5 e non 5 - ma comunque un libro davvero bello, forte e evocativo. Una distopia adulta, vista dall'"interno" (non dal punto di vista di un eroe) dove l'associazione di cui avevo sentito parlare con 1984 non suona così improbabile.
Prima di questo libro (precedente e non poco come stesura) avevo letto Vox (che affronta aspetti simili, con un tono e uno stile però davvero molto differenti) ma se di quel libro avevo avuto riserve de Il racconto dell'ancella il consiglio di lettura è assolutamente certo e scontato.
Molto bello. Scritto con pacatezza, quasi distacco, affronta temi importantissimi sulle donne e i regimi totalitari e avvince il lettore con l'attesa di qualcosa che aleggia nell'aria e sembra sempre in attesa di colpire. Tutto scorre lento e scandito da ritmi precisi. Il racconto descrive un tentativo quasi delirante di creare una società migliore, descritto dalla stessa protagonista, quasi come se lo vivesse dall'esterno o in un altro tempo. E in un certo qual modo ciò è vero, come si scopre alla fine del racconto. Ci vogliono un pò di pagine per farsi coinvolgere, ma il risultato è raggiunto!
