Freedom: Vintage Minis

by Margaret Atwood

Can we ever be wholly free? In this book of breathtaking imaginary leaps that conjure dystopias and magical islands, Margaret Atwood holds a mirror up to our own world. The reflection we are faced with, of men and women in prisons literal and metaphorical, is frightening, but it is also a call to arms to speak and to act to preserve our freedom while we still can. And in that, there is hope.Selected from The Handmaid’s Tale and Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood.VINTAGE GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS.A series of short books by the world’s greatest writers on the experiences that make us human

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Politics, Short Stories, Philosophy, Classics, Literature

139 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 5, 2018

About the author

Margaret Atwood was born in 1939 in Ottawa and grew up in northern Ontario, Quebec, and Toronto. She received her undergraduate degree from Victoria College at the University of Toronto and her master's degree from Radcliffe College.

Throughout her writing career, Margaret Atwood has received numerous awards and honourary degrees. She is the author of more than thirty-five volumes of poetry, children’s literature, fiction, and non-fiction and is perhaps best known for her novels, which include The Edible Woman (1970), The Handmaid's Tale (1983), The Robber Bride (1994), Alias Grace (1996), and The Blind Assassin, which won the prestigious Booker Prize in 2000. Atwood's dystopic novel, Oryx and Crake, was published in 2003. The Tent (mini-fictions) and Moral Disorder (short stories) both appeared in 2006. Her most recent volume of poetry, The Door, was published in 2007. Her non-fiction book, Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth ­ in the Massey series, appeared in 2008, and her most recent novel, The Year of the Flood, in the autumn of 2009. Ms. Atwood's work has been published in more than forty languages, including Farsi, Japanese, Turkish, Finnish, Korean, Icelandic and Estonian. In 2004 she co-invented the Long Pen TM.

Margaret Atwood currently lives in Toronto with writer Graeme Gibson.

Associations: Margaret Atwood was President of the Writers' Union of Canada from May 1981 to May 1982, and was President of International P.E.N., Canadian Centre (English Speaking) from 1984-1986. She and Graeme Gibson are the Joint Honourary Presidents of the Rare Bird Society within BirdLife International. Ms. Atwood is also a current Vice-President of PEN International.

Reviews

[Sportyrod · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Sometimes the desire for risks leads to boundary-crossing and criminal activity, and sometimes the craving for safety leads to self-imprisonment.” - a fantastic quote from Atwood’s essay, “We Are Double-Plus Unfree”. It had me hooked, amazed, contemplative.

And then wham, the essay’s over and we get excerpts from two or three of her other published works. Anyone heard of “The Handmaid’s Tale”? Haha.

Apparently this is one of a greater collection of works by certain authors eg “Marriage” by Jane Austen, “Home” by Salman Rushdie, and “Desire” by Haruki Murakami etc.

Excellent writing of course but: all promise, no substance.

5 stars for the writing, 1 star for the collection fail: 6/10 stars = 3 stars. I rarely have the opportunity to show off the upper limit of my mathematical genius, so thank you.

Ps DNF at 32% for Atwood’s short story, “Cut & Thirst”.

[Hannah Wattangeri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This really seems like a book produced to take advantage of her current popularity. With a brief introduction by Margaret the rest is excerpts from Handmaid's Tale and Hag Seed. Despite that it is always delightful to read her work.

[Paula Bardell-Hedley · Rating 4 out of 5]

“'There is more than one kind of freedom,' said Aunt Lydia. 'Freedom to and freedom from.'”

I slid my battered copy of The Concise Oxford English Dictionary off the top shelf, rolled a chair up to my desk and (hands curled around a mug of frothy cappuccino) looked up the definition of 'freedom' – for no reason other than it pleased me to do so. I could have searched for the word on Google and would almost certainly have received a response within seconds, but I didn't wish to do that. Why use a search engine when it gave me greater satisfaction to peruse the pages of my old dictionary? In this matter, as in so many others, I have complete freedom of choice.

What then did my 1977 edition of the OED reveal? It established that freedom equates to 1. Personal liberty, non-slavery, civil liberty, independence, liberty of action, right to do, power of determination, independence of fate or necessity. 2. Frankness, outspokenness... 3. Exemption from defect, disadvantage, burden, duty, etc. In other words, I used the freedom I possessed to choose the source of my definition.

In the newly released Freedom from Vintage Minis – one in a series of 1,200 “short books by the world’s greatest writers on the experiences that make us human,” – Margaret Atwood reflects on freedom. She wonders, what does freedom mean, and asks: can we ever be wholly free? In order to help us answer these questions, she has selected several chapters from two previously published novels: The Handmaid's Tale (1986) and Hag-Seed (2016).

I have read Atwood's terrifying tale of life in a near-future, totalitarian, Christian theonomy a number of times over the years but have yet to find a moment to start the latter (a modern retelling of Shakespeare's The Tempest, set in a prison) since receiving it as a gift last Christmas. In neither instance was my familiarity nor unfamiliarity with these narratives a problem as I found her combination both artful and intriguing. Plus, I seldom tire of rereading her greatest novels.

Whenever I begin a book by Atwood, I am unfailingly lured into whatever commonplace or bizarre world she has created. She is a virtuoso storyteller, a perceptive gatherer of human emotions, and an eerily accurate prognosticator. No matter where she leads, I inevitably follow, even into this frustratingly brief (144 page) volume.

In case you hadn't already realised, I am a huge admirer of Margaret Atwood's work – both her fiction and non-fiction, long and short, old and new. It is therefore only fair to ask the question: if I was less of an Atwood enthusiast, would I be disappointed to discover there was so little original material in this book? The answer is: quite possibly. She makes limited if insightful observations on the meaning of freedom in her introduction, which may not satisfy some readers; much depends on their prior acquaintance with the reproduced extracts that follow. However, at a cost of only £1.99 for the Kindle version (£3.50 for the paperback), it may well prove good value to others. An Atwood taster, anyone?

As for me, I shall continue to believe that a mere morsel of Margaret Atwood is the literary equivalent of a heaped dish-full of many other writers and, having read this book, will henceforth make it my habit to search for definitions in the old-fashioned manner. Simply because I'm free to do so.

“The Kremlin has gone back to using typewriters for a good reason.”

You can read more of my reviews and other literary features at Book Jotter.

[Marcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Atwood schrijft een kort maar krachtig essay over vrijheid. Op haar eigen eloquente manier bespreekt ze een thema dat ons allemaal aan het hart gaat. Maar, helaas, telt dit essay slechts tien pagina's. Daarna volgen de eerste twaalf hoofdstukken uit The Handmaid's Tale - prachtig natuurlijk, maar ik heb dit boek al meerdere malen gelezen. Dus dat was niet erg vernieuwend. Het essay heeft me bovendien niet tot nieuwe inzichten bij dit fragment gebracht.
Tot slot lezen we ook nog een aantal hoofdstukken uit Hag-Seed, waar ik nu wel benieuwd naar geworden ben. Toch was Freedom niet helemaal wat ik ervan verwachte. Ik wilde meer interessante inzichten van Margaret Atwood, en diepgaander. Ondanks de mooie schrijfstijl heb ik van dit essay naar mijn mening te weinig opgestoken. En werd ik te weinig uitgedaagd. Voor het eerst in mijn leven stelt Margaret Atwood toch een klein beetje teleur (moet ik met pijn in het hart toegeven).
Mijn complete recensie lees je op Oog op de Toekomst.

[Caroline · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this was a collection of essays it’s actually one essay and then big chunks of already published books

[Fatima AlSuwaidi · Rating 2 out of 5]

the book started with an essay about freedom in margaret atwood’s books and then before you know it, you’re reading excerpts from the handmaids tale and hag-seed. it was nice to reread part of the handmaids tale with the topic “freedom” in mind but it wasn’t as exciting when reading an excerpt from hag-seed, i was lost.
i wish there was more essays in those vintage mini’s than excerpts from books.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

So good, that in the month of August I am going to dedicate it to reading as many good dystopians books as I can. If you have any recommendations let me know ☺️☺️

[Mălina Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Manifestation really works in ironic ways. I was planning to reread The Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments this summer… and now I don’t need to. Freedom copy-pastes entire chapters from The Handmaid’s Tale, so if you’re familiar with Atwood’s work, this book will feel like déjà vu. Repackaged déjà vu.

There’s no new material here. No fresh take. No connecting narrative. Just fragments—well-written (of course, it’s Atwood), but disjointed and out of context. It feels more like a sampler tray than an actual meal.

In my defense, I did read the description before buying it. It said it “includes selections from The Handmaid’s Tale and Hag-Seed,” but I assumed that meant curated excerpts accompanied by new insights or commentary, something like what Elena Ferrante does in In the Margins. Instead, what we get is exactly what’s already been published elsewhere, without reinterpretation, analysis, or framing, except for one short essay (“We Are Double-Plus Unfree”), which is already available online via The Guardian.

I don’t usually write salty reviews, but this feels like a bit of a bait-and-switch. If you’re new to Atwood, maybe this will give you a taste of her themes. But longtime readers will walk away wondering why this was sold as a “new” book. I would’ve loved a new short story or essay on freedom from Atwood’s current perspective. Instead, this feels like a greatest hits remix sold as something new. A real missed opportunity.

[Nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kako oceniti nešto što je sastavljeno iz tri različita, već objavljena, dela?

Malo sam razočarana kakav je ovo ispao "money grab", a malo ne umem da čitam.

Privukle su me korice i tekst na poleđini, ali tek kad sam sela i počela da čitam, shvatila sam da ova knjižica ne nudi ništa novo. Sastoji se iz eseja, isečka iz Sluškinjine priče i isečka iz The Hag-Seed (prevedeno je i to kod nas, ali zaboravila sam kako se zove).

I sve je to lepo i super, ali čemu cela ta Mini Vintage edicija ako su samo štrpnuli odavde i odande i to strpali u knjižice?

[Abhidev H M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly excerpt from The Handmaid's Tale and Hag-seed. The essay ''We are double-plus unfree" is of contemporary relevance. Overall it's really a goodread.

[Stephan · Rating 4 out of 5]

i like the author :) i want to read more from her

[laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

i thought this whole book was an essay but i was wrong. first 10 pages were an essay that was not particularly interesting or had any depth to it. are we free? we got just as much freedom as our governments grant us and omg we are being surveilled all the time. she didnt say anything else and this essay was also published by the guardian so one could just read that online. then comes a 90 page excerpt of the handmaids tale, which i have already read…. but i do have to say i actually enjoyed this part, i read the handmaids tale when i was 15 and i gave it 3 stars and tbh if i were to read it again now i‘d probably give it 4 or 5. i really liked the story telling and i also believe i didnt quite grasp the reality of it at 15. and finally anotherrr (!!) super short excerpt of one of atwoods books, the hag-seed, which i found boring again. so overall this book is nonsense, i see that the excerpts are meant to question freedom and underline atwoods short essay but tbh it makes more sense to just read the books from beginning to end… another review said this book is just meant to make money and i kinda agree:)

[Aishwarya Rathor · Rating 4 out of 5]

What according to me is freedom?
Its free will, liberty and ability to give yourself your own laws.
Margaret Atwood is a genius when it comes to writing about liberation especially of women and by the women.
The book is a bit bizzare in a good way. It started with two chapters from the Handmaid's tale and few from Hag-Seed.
Can we be wholly free? This is the question she asked, and has answered in a very raw, delighful yet with emotions. The book is a masterpiece and satisfying ( more satisfying if you have read the two reference books).
The concept of freedom according to the author is thoughtful and accurate. She is a keen observation.

[Emma · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love Margaret Atwood, which is why I’ve already read both of the books which make up the bulk of this short. My own fault I suppose for not reading the blurb on the back, but I was very disappointed to find only the first 10 pages or so were the essay, the talk on freedom. The rest, excerpts from books I’ve already read. Feels lazy of the publisher to use a topic and a name to sell me a book (in a train station, that’s my excuse for not noticing) that’s made up of an essay, the first 10 chapters of Handmaid’s tale and a bit of Hagseed. Disappointed. If you haven’t read either of the books included, do that instead (they’re incredible) and find the essay online.

[Dana Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

My issue with this mini is nothing to do with Margaret Atwood’s writing (which is as acute and intelligent as ever), and more to do with the mini itself.

Perhaps I’m just stupid, but from reading the blurb, I assumed this would be an in depth essay with occasional short excerpts from a couple of Atwood’s novels. Instead, it was a 10 page essay (admittedly, a very good essay), and 100 pages worth of extracts from two of her novels. I was expecting a much longer essay, rather than excerpts from works I’ve already read.

2 stars, as I enjoyed the essay itself, but it’s criminally short and I didn’t really think that I would be spending money on this to reread works I’ve already read.

[Hestia Istiviani · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read in English but this review is written in Bahasa Indonesia

Keinginan untuk membaca buku kecil terbitan Vintage Minis ini sudah ada sejak melihatnya di Kinokuniya sekitar bulan lalu. Namun, tidak kunjung terbeli karena ragu apakah akan sempat dibaca (mengingat banyaknya tumpukan di sudut kamar). Hingga akhirnya, bersamaan dengan dibelinya satu judul Penguin Black Classics Mini, buku kecil Freedom bisa dibawa pulang.

Premis yang ditawarkan pada sampul belakang cukup menggelitik. Tulisanya jelas, Atwood mengajukan ide bahwa yang namanya "kebebasan" ada dua: "kebebasan untuk" dan "kebebasan dari" sebagaimana sudah ia tuangkan dalam novelnya, The Handmaid's Tale.

Bagi yang sudah membaca The Handmaid's Tales, pasti rasanya akan terusik. Mana bagian yang luput dari analisis kita sebagai pembaca awam tentang ide Atwood soal kebebasan.

How much of our own freedom must we sacrifice in order to defend ourselves against the deside of others to limit that freedom by subjugating or killing us, one by one?

Kutipan di atas bisa ditemukan pada esai pembuka dari buku ini. Berjudul We Are Double-Plus Unfree. Sebuah esai cerdas dan membuat kita tersenyum satir dari Atwood setidaknya membeberkan bahwa kita memiliki kebebasan. Entah itu kebebasan untuk melakukan suatu hal atau kebebasan dari suatu hal pula. Kutipan yang tersemat di atas setidaknya memberikan sebuah pertanda bahwa untuk mendapatkan kebebasan, manusia sampai harus membatasi kebebasan itu.

Sebagaimana yang terjadi pada Ofred dalam kisah The Handmaid's Tale. The Commander membuatnya ia "terbebas dari" bukan "membebaskan untuk." Sebuah paradoks yang disajikan oleh Atwood secara cerdas melalui cerita fiksi (iya, fiksi. Bukan manual instruction).

Masih dalam esai We Are Double-Plus Unfree, Atwood juga memberikan referensi pada buku-buku lain yang sebenarnya menyentil perihal makna "bebas" untuk hidup manusia. Dia mencontohkan apa yang terjadi pada manusia dalam buku trilogi Neuromancer karya William Gibson itu (salah satu karya distopia klasik yang terkenal). Bahkan juga menuliskan kalau Fabel Aesop sebenarnya juga membahas mengenai kebebasan manusia.

Dengan sebuah pengantar yang menarik, buku dilanjutkan oleh cuplikan dari The Handmaid's Tale. Untuk mereka yang sudah membaca keseluruhan bukunya, rasanya tidak akan bosan. Dalam buku ini tidak dikutip semua. Melainkan hanya sebatas penekanan pada bagian manakah Atwood menyisipkan pesan tentang kebebasan.

There is more than one kind of freedom, said Aunt Lydia. Freedom to and Freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don't underrate it.

Namun, bagi yang belum membaca novel The Handmaid's Tale, juga tidak rugi. Cuplikan dalam buku ini sama sekali tidak mengandung spoiler. Malah, akan bagus sebagai pemantik yang mendorong pembaca untuk membaca keseluruhan novelnya. Dibantu dengan pemahaman awal mengenai ide dasar Atwood soal kebebasan, aku rasa pembaca pemula pasti akan lebih memahami The Handmaid's Tale jika sudah membaca Freedom.

It was our hands that supposed to be full, of the future; which could be held but not seen.

Freedom ditutup dengan cuplikan salah satu novel Atwood yang lain. Berjudul Hag-Seed, sebuah kisah tentang pentar teater yang ditayangkan di saluran televisi penjara. Ya, penjara. Sebuah tempat di mana kita kenal sebagai pembatas kebebasan. Lagi-lagi Atwood membawakan paradoks kepada pembaca. Mr. Duke sebagai sutradara, mengajarkan kepada para aktor (yang mana adalah tahanan/napi) The Tempest karya Shakespeare. Mereka diminta untuk berekspresi sebebas mungkin dan bisa menampilkan yang terbaik hingga pertanyaan selanjutnya muncul, apa yang terjadi pada tokoh Caliban?

***

Freedom dari Vintage Minis merupakan bentuk ringkas dari ide Atwood. Dan bisa dibilang, sebagai sebuah bacaan yang agak ringan sebelum nantinya benar-benar menyelami novel-novelnya. Setidaknya, bagi pembaca pemula, bisa mengukur dahulu sekeren apasih ide cerita Atwood & cocokkah gaya menulisnya dengan selera pembaca.

Namun, untuk yang sudah dulu kenal Atwood, buku ini membuat kita sadar, Atwood memang jenius.

[Athirah Idrus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've always been a fan of Atwood's writing so I picked up this book, thinking it'd be an essay or a collection of her thoughts/her take on Freedom.

Perhaps I should have perused properly before getting this one because it was quite expensive especially considering the size (got this copy from Word on Water).

The book consists of a foreword by Atwood and two excerpts from her books, 12 chapters of the much loved Handmaid's Tale and three chapters on Hag-Seed. 

I have read both of these books and enjoyed rereading the selected parts, particularly those with relevance under the theme of Freedom. However, I expected there to be a commentary on the selected chapters, perhaps on why Atwood chose to talk about freedom in a certain way or what the characters symbolized.. 

The book featured the excerpts just as they are, and other than the foreword which did give us a very brief introduction by Atwood (which was less than 10 pages), there's nothing much to this book and readers are better off just buying the two books separately. Maybe this is a good intro for readers who have not read Atwood before but I still think it's not worth buying. I also thought that the chapters chosen for Hag-Seed were too short, and if I hadn't previously read the book in its entirety, I'd probably question the relevance of it being featured in the first place.

[Samah (samahcanread_) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed with this one. I thought it was a collectation of essays, turned out, it was only one essay, which i enjoyed, and selections from other Atwood's works, The Handmaid's Tale , and Hag-Seed

I am familiar with The Handmaid's Tale , which i read three (?) years ago. The other one leans heavingly on The Tempest by William Shakespear, which i didn't read, so I didn't care about what was happening and didn't know what was going on.

One thing I got from this edition is re-reading a book with a new prespective, and realising how white Atwood works are. It's not inclusive, and the language used didn't stand the test of time.

[Ely · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, I probably should've read the reviews of this before picking it up. The first ten pages are an article Atwood wrote in 2015. Honestly, it was a really good article. She made a lot of great points. I'd easily give it a 4 star rating.

The rest of this is just excerpts from The Handmaid's Tale and Hagseed. That bit kind of felt like a rip off. I was expecting a full essay, or maybe a few small ones. I'm kind of annoyed knowing that I also bought Race by Toni Morrison when I could've just found these articles online.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really sure what i was expecting but it wasn’t this. I think when i bought this (years ago) i had thought it was an analysis of freedom using Atwood’s various work (The Handmaids Tale, Hag-Seed and an article published in the Guardian), but it was actually just extracts from these works.

While the work themselves probably merit a higher score (especially the Handmaids Tale which I plan to read in full), on this basis I’ve only given it 3 stars. If anyone knows of/ would recommend any analytical prose type novels around the concept of freedom in literature/ The Handmaids Tale let me know!

[Giulia · Rating 4 out of 5]

prima cosa che leggo della Atwood e il suo modo di scrivere mi piace molto. Il saggio iniziale è molto attuale (uscì nel 2015) e mette in luce in modo molto semplice gli aspetti principali del concetto di libertà contemporanea. Il resto del libricino sono estratti da The Handmaid's Tale e Hagseed a tema.

[Morgan Johnstone ❤︎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s hard not to love Margaret Atwood’s work, however this is just a collection of extracts from her books. Having read the two books in question, this book itself felt a bit pointless. The short essay at the front was well written.

[Houria Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

“A snippet of Margaret Atwood work”
Would’ve prefered if this booklet was presented that way. Even though I was more looking for an elaborate perception about freedom from the author, it did make me avid to read The handmaid’s tale. So? Probably did come out with something.

[Luana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Absolutely loved the essay We Are Double-Plus Unfree, which makes you think about the present situation and encourages you to take action. I also loved the excerpts from The Handmaid’s Tale and Hag-Seed and I will definitely read the books soon. However, I was expecting some sort of discussion with the regards to the selected chapters because if I wanted to read the original story I would have picked up the actual book instead.

[Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess it’s on me for just picking up something with Margaret Atwood’s name on it without knowing what it is, but I didn’t realize that this was really just a couple of excerpts. I love the Handmaids Tale so I was pleased to reread it, but it wasn’t too much new content. Hag-seed was good but I was disappointed that it was so different from Atwood’s typical style.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting essay at the beginning of the book but then it’s just chapters of the handmaids tale and hag-seed which seems a bit lazy

[David Stefan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don’t buy, read the original books.

[Lorin Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like Atwood but I don't like this Vintage Mini format of excerpts and found it a frustrating read.

[Eryani N. Yulita · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't read The Handmaid's Tale and Hag Seed, so I thought I can take a peek of what is going on inside those books while in the same time knowing more about Atwood's essay of freedom. I take it as a bonus for me for not reading her other books (The Handmaid's Tale & Hag Seed) yet since this book basically consists only around 10 pages of her essay and the rest is excerpts from her other books.

Anyway, I really like her essay about freedom even it was just 10 pages only, I really wish she could talk more about it. Freedom to and freedom from. In the same time it makes me reflect on how I interpret freedom. How important it is to me? and can we ever be wholly free?

Meanwhile the excerpt from The Handmaid's Tale gave me goosebumps just to imagine living in a world like that. It gives you a different feeling on how important a single word called freedom can be. Since I haven't read the referenced book, this book is a good enough start for me.

[Lea Dokter · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was definitely not what I was expecting. Instead of an actual narrative, Freedom contains one of Atwood's essays (We Are Double-Plus Unfree) and excerpts from her novels The Handmaid's Tale and Hag-Seed. I have read both, so the only part that was new to me was the essay, which took up a whopping 10 out of the 130 pages (and, additionally, can easily be found online). The idea to connect the three based on the theme of Freedom is solid in theory, but honestly this little book just seems like an easy moneygrab for Vintage.