The Handmaid's Tale
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The description from the back of the book tells
a tragic tale of a world turned upside for a woman forced to give up the life and family she had to serve the new society formed after pollution and war devastate the United States.
"Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable.
Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now... everything has changed."
The Handmaid's Tale
The Handmaid's Tale: A Novel
Amazon Price: $10.17 (as of 05/17/2008)
""The Handmaid's Tale deserves the highest praise." says the San Francisco Chronicle"
Learn more about the plot of The Handmaid's Tale
The article includes an excellent summary of the plot line if you'd like the summarized version.
'''The Handmaids Tale''' is a dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, first published by McClelland and Stewart in 1985. The novel explores themes of women in subjugation, and the various means by which they gain agency, against a backdrop of the establishment of a totalitarian theocratic state. Sumptuary laws (dress codes) play a key role in imposing social control within the new society.
The novel is often studied by high school and college students.Summer Reading List, Watauga High School, NCReading List, Theodore Roosevelt High School, Kent, OH The American Library Association lists it in "10 Most Challenged Books of 1999" and as number 37 on the "100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990?2000" ALA List of 100 challenged books due to many complaints from parents of pupils regarding the novels anti-religious content and sexual references.
The Handmaids Tale won the Governor Generals Award for 1985, 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. It has been adapted several times into performance works.
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The best line ever:
And so I step up, into the darkness within; or else the light.
Margaret Atwood's official site
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- http://www.randomhouse.com/features/atwood/author.html
- Margaret Atwood's official site
Margaret Atwood on Wikipedia
Margaret Eleanor Atwood, CC (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian writer. A prolific poet, novelist, literary critic, feminist and activist, she is a winner of the Booker Prize and Arthur C. Clarke Award, and has been a finalist for the Governor General's Award seven times, winning twice. Atwood is among the most-honored authors of fiction in recent history. While she is best known for her work as a novelist, her poetry is noteworthy. Many of her poems have been inspired by myths, and fairy tales, which were an interest of hers from an early age. Atwood also wrote fictional stories in Playboy magazine.
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