The Evolution of Science Fiction discussion

This is to discuss November's group read - The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.

This is another book I read many years ago, I really enjoyed it at the time so will be interesting to see if I still feel the same. I can't find my copy but the local library does have it so hopefully should be able to start reading it shortly.

I read The Handmaid's Tale several years ago. I think it's a must-read book. I've also read Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy. The Handmaid's Tale is Atwood's best work.

It's somber and chilling. The soft voice that Atwood uses in the writing of it is almost like reading a whisper.

I just had the pleasure of meeting Margaret Atwood yesterday. She gave a lecture at my university.

Anna wrote: "I just had the pleasure of meeting Margaret Atwood yesterday. She gave a lecture at my university."

Did she lecture on something specific or was she promoting one of her books? There have been quite a few articles/interviews with her in the press recently and they are always worth reading.

She came to Brussels a few years ago when promoting the MaddAddam Trilogy and was was really entertaining as well as knowledgeable and funny.

That must have been exciting, Anna. What university do you attend?

It was partly promotion, partly a discussion on how we should interpret predictions in scifi in general and climate fiction in particular. I can't say though that the lecture was very entertaining. It was brilliantly written, but she read from the paper the whole time, including puns and jokes. She wasn't very talkative at lunch either.

Rosemarie wrote: "That must have been exciting, Anna. What university do you attend?"

Iowa State. I was very excited before the lecture, that's true :) And I wasn't alone in my excitement. Our Great Hall was full, with some people sitting on the floor.

Well, about this book then. I had trouble in the first 1/3. The story develops very slow, with lots of back and forward moments in time. The writing style is like poetry sometimes - and I don't like poetry. I had to read some parts more than once. After a while I got used to it. Now I'm at 90% and I must say that it is a special book, I appreciate it more while reading on towards the end. In the beginning I thought it was not realistic, a society sinking that low in such a short time. Then I thought of IS. In Syria and Irak, similar changes must have appeared in a short time too. That's scary. This book is scary and depressing and makes me think and wonder, a big compliment.

I've been sick so i've only just started reading it. I like Margaret Atwood as an author and she can be quite varied in her subjects. I'm only about 30 pages in and I agree it does start slowly, she is quite descriptive/ detailed with the opening.

Just read that she also writes poetry.

She has also written a couple of children's books.

I've only just started this, too, as I have been reading a couple of other books in between various group-reads. I mention this because one of those books was Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle - a novel I've wanted to read for a while but had never quite got round to. Anyway, although the characters and circumstances of Merricat (Castle) and Offred (Handmaid) are very different, when Offred walks to the shops with Ofglen, her inner voice descriptions of the journey are highly reminiscent of Merricat's shopping jaunt in Castle's first chapter. Obviously I don't mean a copycat description - I think it's more to do with the poetic turn of voice and the keen observation of both characters who, caught up within their own isolating circumstances, replace outward speech with inner narrative.

Has anyone else read We Have Always Lived in the Castle?

Donna Rae wrote: "I've only just started this, too, as I have been reading a couple of other books in between various group-reads. I mention this because one of those books was Shirley Jackson's [book..."

I read The Handmaid's Tale 4 or 5 years ago and We Have Always Lived in the Castle about 2 years ago. The books, of course, are nothing like one another. I really can't remember the character descriptions well enough, but both Merricat and Offred are women living in a world out of their control. An interesting comparison.

Donna Rae wrote: "I've only just started this, too, as I have been reading a couple of other books in between various group-reads. I mention this because one of those books was Shirley Jackson's [book..."

I've read both. They both have powerful narrative voices, so I can see why you'd make the connection.

In fact, the narrative voice is the strongest point of Handmaid's Tale. I'm surprised that people didn't like the first third, because I thought that was the most compelling part of the whole book. The last third is the part that lost me, because I felt like Atwood forgot to have a plot.

I think part of my issue for the first third was more due to the fact I could not find my copy and had to borrow it from the library in French. I can read French quite well but it takes me longer to get into a book.

Funnily enough much as I enjoyed the Handmaid's tale it wasn't the book I was expecting. I read it many years ago and had a story in mind, but it wasn't this one or at least the ending wasn't. I think I somehow mixed this and The Gate to Women's Country.

The book has many plausible elements to it and really is a scarey future. It seems funny to me that this was written in the 1980's at a time when opportunities for women was growing (although equality not yet reached). I wonder if she wrote it as a warning as to what could happen if you don't continue to push for change.

I thought that as we were reading Margaret Atwood this month i'd take the opportunity to finish the last in the MaddAddam trilogy. They are both similar in a way, extrapolations of the present to see what could happen in the future. There are some good ideas in the trilogy but for me The Handmaid's tale is far better. I think maybe part of that, is that The Handmaid's Tale is just more believable.

Like to read this Maddaddam trilogy some day. Both Jo and Buck have no doubt that The Handmaid's Tale is Atwoods best work. I also found the book in some lists of top xx SF works. But the trilogy has similar ratings here on GR.

I loved The Handmaid's Tale, but it cuts a bit close to the bone- I can imagine this really happening in the not-so-distant future.

Thinking about future patterns of government and society are, to me, interesting. But I find fiction about the bogeyman of Christian theocracy somewhat old hat. Of much more relevance are books such as:

_Submission_ by Michel Houellebecq
_Osama the Gun_ by Norman Spinrad

Suki wrote: "I loved The Handmaid's Tale, but it cuts a bit close to the bone- I can imagine this really happening in the not-so-distant future."

I agree, Suki; it does seem to be a well-written cautionary tale on systems and societies built upon authoritarian gender/ class inequalities. And although, as Ronald has stated above, Atwood invokes a Christian theocracy, there are many other world cultures in which The Handmaid's Tale must already bear a deep resonance to some degree. But then, perhaps that was Atwood's point: by imposing such a regime upon a western culture in her novel, the plight of women (in particular) living within less liberal societies is thrust into the spotlight. As the novel was first published in 1985 - pre-dating both Gulf wars, and that in Afghanistan, which is the earliest I can remember women's issues within these cultures being truly highlighted - it might be the case. Who, other than Atwood, knows?

However, as much as I enjoyed her writing, I had to drop a star in my recommendations because of the ending: the lecture chapter at the end was totally unnecessary and rather 'over-egged the pudding'. Allowing the reader to wonder what the van means for Offred - for good or for bad - would have been far more enigmatic.