Hardcover, 350 pages
English language
Published Jan. 1, 2006 by Everyman's Library.
A gripping vision of our society radically overturned by a theocratic revolution, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid's Tale has become one of the most powerful and most widely read novels of our time. Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, serving in the household of the enigmatic Commander and his bitter wife. She may go out once a day to markets whose signs are now pictures because women are not allowed to read. She must pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, for in a time of declining birthrates her value lies in her fertility, and failure means exile to the dangerously polluted Colonies. Offred can remember a time when she lived with her husband and daughter and had a job, before she lost even her own name. Now she navigates the intimate secrets of those who control her every move, risking her life in breaking the rules. Like …
A gripping vision of our society radically overturned by a theocratic revolution, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid's Tale has become one of the most powerful and most widely read novels of our time. Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, serving in the household of the enigmatic Commander and his bitter wife. She may go out once a day to markets whose signs are now pictures because women are not allowed to read. She must pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, for in a time of declining birthrates her value lies in her fertility, and failure means exile to the dangerously polluted Colonies. Offred can remember a time when she lived with her husband and daughter and had a job, before she lost even her own name. Now she navigates the intimate secrets of those who control her every move, risking her life in breaking the rules. Like Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Handmaid's Tale has endured not only as a literary landmark but as a warning of a possible future that is still chillingly relevant.
Stejnojmenný seriál mě zaujal, takže jsem si zákonitě musel přečíst i knihu. Ta odpovídá jen prvním dílům seriálu. Popisuje dystopický svět, kde se přestaly rodit děti a moc převzali muži, kteří z některých žen udělaly jen nádoby na plození dětí. Napsáno je to poutavě, čtivě a přitom člověku v hlavě naskakují různé otázky. Doporučuji.
Una novela interesante por tratar una serie de temas en intersección: cuestiones feministas que la propia autora matiza en la introducción a la obra y que dan pie a debates interesantes; la hipocresía y la fragilidad de la masculinidad; los peligros del autoritarismo leído bajo el claro prisma de la Guerra Fría y que ahora muta en la forma de las distopías. Leer esta obra permite que todos estos temas sean tratados y que las conclusiones formadas al respeto sean plurales y no por ello menos interesantes.
Tras toda la expectación generada alrededor de este libro, quizá me esperaba otra cosa. Abordé esta lectura sin haber visto la serie, por lo que iba completamente en blanco respecto a los detalles de la trama. La narración abarca un periodo más breve de tiempo de lo que esperaba y, en mi opinión, podría haberse aprovechado para hacer reflexiones más profundas, dar un mayor trasfondo a todo lo representado. En cambio, la acción se centra en torno a una protagonista a la que nunca llegamos a conocer del todo (y, en mi caso, tampoco a encariñarme). En general, la historia me ha resultado plana y no me ha dejado con un regusto intenso. El planteamiento es, por supuesto, muy interesante, pero no me ha resultado una lectura enriquecedora y, en cierto modo, me he sentido decepcionada.
