September 2023 | The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood

[charred comet]

For the month of September, this forum post will be for the discussion of The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.

Please remember to use spoiler tags here and move to ⁠#1145787681087946813 once you've finished the book. There you can discuss the book freely and without spoiler tags.

Happy reading!

[median helm]

[floral patio]

[glad tendon]

lfg I'm so excited

[median helm]

Same. I’ve been wanting to read this for forever. I play to read the sequel in November.

[wary schooner]

Why am I always surprised when someone mentions the sequel

It’s like my memory wipes every night or something

[median helm]

Because it was written like 30 years later

[wary schooner]

Ohhh

One of those

[median helm]

Yup. But the sequel won the Booker in 2019 😂

[wary schooner]

It seems like that’s become popular lately, writing a sequel many many years later. Or maybe I’m just thinking of Harper Lee, which isn’t the same

[median helm]

Kinda weird imo

Yeah that’s a post-mortem publishing, which she didn’t want published.

Lae joining BOTM?

[charred comet]

i think it happens a lot when the book sells really well. we need to find out why she wrote a sequel lol although thinking about how this book ends...

[charred comet]

no i'm just the ghost haunting this place bc i created the thread and need to do the points later

[median helm]

[charred comet]

that's a cute ghoste fr

[median helm]

Cute enough to have you join?

[charred comet]

nopeeee

[median helm]

[wary schooner]

[charred comet]

omg cozy grove lol

[median helm]

Tink, your emote reminds me of a blend between Souls and Elemental by Disney

[wary schooner]

Ooo yeah I can see that

[charred kelp]

IMO the quality of the sequel really depends on why it was written because sometimes the author really feels like there is more to tell and other times it is just a cheap cash grab

[charred comet]

i don't know many people who've liked it lol

[median helm]

Yeah I guess. Atwood is pretty respected though and has a billion books already.

Just remembered I could favorite the channel. I was like… this is sooo far down the channel list.

[charred kelp]

you can? how?

[median helm]

Computer —> right click, favorite
Mobile —> hold down, favorite

[glad tendon]

whaaaat

[charred kelp]

thanks

[glad tendon]

game changer

[median helm]

Sure thing

Yeah I do it for #1056977903960723476 #buddy-reads and #book-talk

Buddy reads is helpful because it brings all your br books to the top

[charred comet]

i don't have that option

[median helm]

Eh. Wrong buddy reads. Mobile isn’t letting me type it

Android?

[charred comet]

yeah it's a struggle getting the forum lol

[median helm]

Ah. Do it on the comp

[charred comet]

i am lol

[median helm]

Wait then why don’t you have that option?

[charred comet]

dunno imma google

[median helm]

Looks like this

[livid axle]

Hmm i haven’t got the favourites option on mobile

It would be really useful

I’m iOS

[charred comet]

i have it now... did discord just add it lmao sus

yeah it's a new feature and i think we all will have it at some point lol but this convo is getting off topic now

[glad tendon]

you need to do it on #1056977903960723476

not #1145787273254805564

[wary schooner]

Idk how I feel about that

Like the pinning, but it removes the whole channel from the section. I feel like I’d lose stuff

Could be good for channels that I like but have the category muted

[floral patio]

[steel plinth]

OMG SO EXCITED

I'm reading too many books lol

[upbeat glen]

So excited!!

[floral patio]

ill start this mid september

[glad tendon]

Same got far too many things to read, this is a busy month for me in OBC!

[floral patio]

sameeee

[chilly dragon]

Finally I will pick this up again after temporarily DNF it for half a year!!!

[floral patio]

[hazy topaz]

Oh man, I'm actually really excited to finally read this!

I've wanted to read it for a long time but it seems like the kind of book that needs discussed so I guess I checked the channel at the right time 😁

[proud plume]

I’ve read the Handmaids tale but it’s been a while and I’m planning on reading the sequel so it’ll be nice to read it for a refresh

I love Atwood though

And I want to get a handmaids tale quote bracelet

[floral patio]

wow that'd be cool

[proud plume]

Nolite te bastardes carborundorum - Don't let the bastards get you down

[upbeat glen]

Starting this now! Will update when I have thoughts

[upbeat glen]

I've read up until chapter 6. ||If I hadn't seen part of the Hulu show years ago, I probably wouldn't be able to picture things as clearly. A lot of titles being thrown around and I'm having a hard time organizing who is who and their hierarchy. From what I've gathered and guessed, these Handmaids are some sort of concubine? I'm under the impression that the Wives are, well, wives, and the Handmaids are concubines that the men/Commanders(?) can breed (for lack of better word).||

[analog ingot]

I coulnd't wait till september, so I started it today too xD
||I had absolutely no idea what this book was about when I started. I have to agree with echo that I didn't understand anything at first, especially since English is not my first language. But since this goes more in a dystopian direction, which I actually like, I still hope that the book will change for the better.||

[median helm]

So did this start due to time zones?

[wary schooner]

I think so. It's September in most parts of the world

[median helm]

Excellent. First chapter. Seatbelt buckled.

[wary schooner]

Hold on to your butts

[median helm]

Ch. 1
||Interesting. The setting is within a school, most likely a high school. I didn’t expect that.||

[median helm]

Ch. 2
||Colors. Colors everywhere. Black, blue, red, green, white.

I’m intrigued by the various forms of communication. There’s a soundless mouth talking and then covert moments with “Marthas”. Possession and lack there of is important too. Not even just to the tangible. Words themselves—the versus my.||

[upbeat glen]

Chapter 6 ||Well, the descriptions of the hanging men... just wow. That irked me. I can deal with some gross and depressing stuff but hangings are where I draw the line. Just imagining people hanging by their necks... it makes me sick.||

[glad tendon]

Starting this today!! Vastly different to the genre I normally read. Excited to share my thoughts and read what others think!

[steel plinth]

I think I’ll start today

Four books at the same time, I shall do this and I must

[errant sundial]

https://tenor.com/view/ok-i-pull-up-gif-23163221

[livid axle]

Is anyone else audiobooking it? I’m listening to Joanna David’s narration and it’s pretty good so far.

[umbral parrot]

haven't gotten my copy of this one yet, may end up audiobooking it as well!

[analog ingot]

Read till chapter 14
||I found it really scary that her doctor would offer her such "redemption". But that also makes me curious about what would happen after a birth. I can't imagine she would be allowed to stay with the family and her child?

The flashbacks to her past are still a bit confusing, but I hope that the connections will be clarified soon.||

[median helm]

Ch. 3 and 4
||black market, interesting. I’m curious what happened to the world. We know that our main character had a family and a normal 20th century life with morning cartoons. Now there’s no “money”. I’m also curious if this lifestyle is nationwide/global (although there are rebels, so that’s interesting) or what because the men are also subject to permission to marry and acquisition of Handmaid(s), so it’s perhaps not simply a story of men taking power by physical strength—perhaps.||

I like the way the book opens up the story. ||It feels so personal and yet mysterious.||

[median helm]

Ch. 5
Okay okay so not ||global. It seems very regional in that there’s Japanese tourists come to the… compound? place? state? The USA states seem to exist as they did—California, Florida, and even other countries down south. Atwood’s writing is visceral. I too can sense… touch the words on the page. It’s a book in 4D.||

|| Freedom to and freedom from. ||
Haunting.

[median helm]

Ch. 6
Two quotes really stood out to me in this chapter:

|| It’s no excuse that what they did was legal at the time: their crimes are retroactive. ||
What a wild concept. It invalidates history or the making of history. Life changes, we develop. It’s disgusting seeing this.
|| This may not seem ordinary to you now, but after a time it will. It will become ordinary. ||
And this is a sad truth. Humans are ||adaptable, which can be our strength… and also a problem. Complacency. Although, I’m not sure that’s the right word. It feels uncomfortable to use it because I can feel Offred’s fire to rebel herself. Earlier she alluded to “true believers” being other than her. I’m still wondering how all this came about. Normally, I hate Puritan stories but I’m really into this book so far.||

[glad tendon]

Ch 1: || I like the setting! it's interesting to me how they've had to make arrangements for the women, it sets what sort of life they're in. I've no idea what time period this is set in but there's clearly a modern element to it, or rather there was. ||

Ch 2: || So the maids are Marthas? I like the concept so far that everyone has a different coloured dress for what they do I guess. I wonder why they use tokens instead of a currency. Has this gone away along with the community that used to be in the gym halls? ||

[median helm]

Wait are they? I thought the ||Handmaids were red and the Marthas were green||

[glad tendon]

then I need to look up what || a martha is xD ||

oh wait I'm seeing what you're saying. That's sort of what I'm saying. || There's a colour for the Handmaids, a colour for the Marthas, a colour for the commander and a different one for the commander's wife ect ||

[median helm]

^^ yeah that. So I saw them as different. ||The Marthas seem like servants or house help like cooking, laundry, etc. there’s some mention of class differences in a later chapter that makes me think these are particular jobs assigned seen easily by cloth color.||

[livid axle]

Ch 4 -|| I wonder what happened to the other woman that used to be with Offrey that one day just didn’t show up anymore. The fact that Offrey prefers not to know is a sign that whatever happened to her, it wasn’t good at all ||

[median helm]

I’m entering into ch. 7 (but there’s no plot spoilers) and I just have a couple observations:

||The dialogue doesn’t use quotations. I think there’s two literary reasons for this:

. Memory
. Silent Speech

Memories are not perfect depictions or history. They are changed by feelings, unremembering, and trauma (and more). A quotation is in itself “what was said verbatim”. It’s an exactness. Memory is not exact. Secondly, the lack of quotations in the present is to represent the inability to speak as one wishes; the rules forbid it. One cannot even speak to openly to a paired Handmaid because they might be a spy. So again, the speech between women is not exactly as the individual would speak but how one must speak because of limitations. It’s false speech and therefore not truth like “quoted speech” is meant to tell the reader.||

I also like the choices made by Atwood in how she feeds us the world.

[median helm]

Ch. 8
||Yup yup. The more everyday conversation gets quotations when there’s no room for men to be in the room and it’s more open forum. Interesting style choice.||

[steel plinth]

Chapter 1-2: I like the introduction so far, I am curious and I want to know more. . .

[livid axle]

I’m getting 1984 vibes with this story so far.

[floral patio]

Chapter 1-3
||alr so I already knew parts of the setting and what's going on since I accidentally spoiled myself again . The introduction is really interesting; it sounds like she's reflecting on her situation (which I think is good, is a sign that she's not hopeless). I kinda love the emphasis they are putting on having a child to the extent that it doesn't need to be your own blood and flesh anymore. Ah also, the gossiping behind each other's back is so familiar, almost like a stereotype of female characters; I wonder how it will be executed here.||

[floral patio]

Chapter 4
||If I heard it correctly: widows wear black (which is a color of power and hearse, as mentioned before, and thus implies the decline of women's power and status) and there used to be more of them. I think they possibly either died or got reassigned other colors. ||

[analog ingot]

Chapter 15
||Somehow they are still religious, or forced to be religious. But I don't know to what extent one simply takes a section of the Bible and then builds a new form of society on it.||

Chapter 16
||It was really unexpected, that the wife has to be there too! But why are they even married? There seems to be no love and they don't really need eachother to make children. Does the government force them to be together? If so, why did they break Ofred (?) and Luke up, if they had already a child and could have made more? Where is this child and what are those Angels? Help, too many questions xD||

Chapter 19
||Wow, they are really talked about like pets||

[livid axle]

Indeed very interesting. I like it that you’ve picked up on that, i probably wouldn’t have but will now pay attention to it.

Up to ch 10: || enjoying it so far. It has an eerie cold tone. I wonder what the hell happened to go from normal life to that reality they live in now. ||

[livid axle]

Ch 11: ||ok the doctor wants to impregnate her to set her free. The word sterile is forbidden - only women are considered fertile or not fertile, nothing wrong with men - interesting. ||

[errant sundial]

Hello I have done my usual thing of accidentally almost read the whole book in one sitting but I have my tabletop game in an hour so I will not be able to finish tonight most likely- instead I will check in where I left off.
~Chapter 38
General vibes no specific spoilers but partial spoilers to different parts of the story so far because I can't cite specific chapters from memory and I don't have time to go back
||So I'm liking this better than I thought I would which is nice - I've been warned off from reading this by multiple friends who didn't like it for a number of reasons which I can also see their complaints too. I very much enjoy how the narrative flows and how we get insights to Offread's life with her mother, with her husband (whom she met from being his mistress), with her daughter and how life slowly changed to the one she lives now. I'll admit that I have to suspend my beliefs a little bit to go along with some of the things that are put forward - but this is speculative, dystopian fiction based on very real gender politics so I'm not having too hard a time with that. ||
Chapter 37
||MOIRA. SHE FOUND MOIRA THO.||

[glad tendon]

I’m on chapter 6 now. What’s curious to me is how || they’re still allowing tourists into the place, whenever they’re talking about war? At least this is the vibes I’m getting. Maybe it’s something political that’s happened instead? ||

[analog ingot]

Chapter 25
||It must be really lonely to live like that. Not only for Offred, but also for the Commander and his wife. They seem to have no one else, no friends or family.||

Chapter 26
||Well, aunt Lydias perspective is really positiv and very naive. But in my opinion, if you only look at the future and not on the present feelings, I can understand, why she would think like that.||

Chapter 27
||Interesting, in the same chapter the rebellion and also its consequences are presented.||

[floral patio]

Chapter 11
||She didn't doubt the doctor to be an eye or a spy like she would if other people did something suspicious, but no, she genuinely considered the chance that the doc really was offering help.||

[median helm]

Yeah I thought this was ||odd as well. Maybe because being a doctor is pretty serious considering earlier chapters and their demise. Also the whole chastity situation, so for him to an Eye seems less likely due to all the security/hierarchy stuff that goes along with being a doctor in these times.|| Still agree that it felt irregular.

[steel plinth]

Up to Chaptwr 5

I’m liking this a lot OoO

I kinda want to read more stories like this, but I don’t know any like it

[wary schooner]

Margaret Atwood actually has a few speculative fiction books, you should check them out. They’re not all this good, but some of them are wild

[steel plinth]

OoO, okay

Which ones would you recommend

[wary schooner]

The Heart Goes Last was spec fiction/ dystopian. Much more modern than Handmaid’s Tale, it dealt more with like capitalism and economic dystopia. It offered people suffering form economic downturn lodging and food and everything and all you had to do was go live in a prison every other month. It was really weird and did not end the way I expected

[steel plinth]

OOO that sounds very good

[wary schooner]

Hope you like it! Sorry to get off-topic

[steel plinth]

Chapter 5: I really love the writing style. . . It's like Stephen King if he new how to write better women. ||The description of how women are "protected", but also how so many of them are trapped, in a way. It kind of reminds me of a goldfish in a bowl. They get huge, but the bowl contains them and doesn't grow for them, obviously. The faeces builds up and the water becomes poison and slowly starts to kill the fish and irritate it.||
Little TW for animal abuse

Not for the book itself, but what's within the spoiler tags

[analog ingot]

Chapter 28
||That was really painfull to read. That book is growing on me xD And I loved the quote: "We are not each others, any more. Instead, I am his."||

Chapter 29
||I think, the author intended to describe the Commander as friendly, but everything he does is absolutly nothing in comparison to what she had before||

[errant sundial]

https://tenor.com/view/peace-out-gif-22295199

Although I didn't discuss much here I'm heading to #1145787681087946813 It's not that I didn't have much to discuss, I was just reading big swathes of it and never got there quick enough to put my feelings because I moved on too quickly.

[floral patio]

till Chapter 25
||It's nice to see how the handmaids are secretly helping each other. House wifes often get sick, I guess they are pretending to be ill so they can get friends to come.||

[median helm]

Ch. 13
I don’t think I’ll see ||ancient paintings the same way again. Boredom on display.||

[floral patio]

Chapter 36
||Serena got the picture and she's likely to be in a network with Marthas. And there is a "we", as another handmaid said. Maybe Serena told them that Offred(I googled and got confused by her names, hope it's the right one) was seeing the commander.||

[floral patio]

Chapter 37
||I don't even know how I feel about the commander. There's definitely a lack of understanding and appreciation for the opposite sex in the world.||

[floral patio]

Chapter 44
||not Ofglen being changed||

[floral patio]

Chapter 46
||The ending is so grave but marvelous. It fells out of all my speculations. ||

[median helm]

Ch. 16
||Well, I expected this. Just like Genesis. I’m still amazed that the United States was founded by Puritans from England. I hear folks wonder how the USA could bend over backwards for religion with our laws; one need only point here.||

[median helm]

Ch. 17
||The use of butter is interesting. It’s their own rebellion as well as hope for better days. It’s a bit ironic in my head because I associate butter with the domestication of women—long afternoons of churning butter at home. The butter ceremony is the reacquisition of what it means to be female in this story.||

Ch. 18
||I’m so curious about how everything started. Offred continues to think about Luke but in an earlier chapter I thought there was a divorce—was this due to the dystopia or “normal” separation? Offred’s memories seem to land only on the good times between them, which just shows how poorly she thinks of the current time. That all the bad of their relationship doesn’t even register in her mind. At least so far in the story.

I’m not yet sure how the breeding choices work. There seem to be ecowives which would mean there would be their counterpart males. Are lower classes sterile and higher classes spermed out (too much sex results in lower count per discharge—takes time to repopulate). That’s why the non-commander but still upper class mean seem to be keen to “offer their services” as a more reliable stud (apart from the obvious).||

Idk. I definitely want some grander answers soon.

[river fox]

chapter 3

|| it's so interesting that the soldiers are called "angels"... angels at the front lines ||

[charred kelp]

I will have to listen to this as an audiobook because my library dosent have the english e-book and after #1137378638879281232 im going to have to recover before reading another danish translation of a classic

[charred kelp]

Chapter 1 ||I really like the writing and narrator so far and im intrigued about this world||

[charred kelp]

chapter 5 ||I would not go out of the house if everyone started whispering and staring everytime they saw me just imagining it makes me want to hide ||

[glad tendon]

See, I can’t get into ||the writing style! The story and concept is super interesting though so I’m continuing to read, but it’s not something I’d normally go for ||

[charred kelp]

Even though I was hesitant to listen to it i think it helps the story since ||so far it has been told from the main characters perspective ||

[median helm]

Ch. 19
||Seems like we are starting to get some reasons for the new world: the filth/lack of care by humanity, radioactive explosions, earthquakes, and later Agent Orange (one of my cousins had this).||

[median helm]

Ch. 20
||Oh the names are “of the commander’s first name”: Of Fred —> Offred; Of Glen —> Ofglen.

I can’t seem to pinpoint whether Offred’s mom supported or opposed this. It seemed at first like this is what she helped begin but then I’m getting vibes that she was a more about female power in the modern sense.||

Ch. 21
||And she gave birth. I’m curious what happens to Commanders’ children. Do they get cycled into this? Also, are Martha’s previous Maid’s who are not Unwomen? Like they just can’t have children anymore so they help the next generation of higher class aka the single color clothing people?||

[charred kelp]

chapter 10 ||Okay so if i undertand correctly there used to be a problem of women getting raped so the solution is to restrict the women insted of punishing the men ||

[median helm]

^^ ||it does seem like men are also restricted as they can’t have sex with whoever they want. Sex seems to be approval based.||

[charred kelp]

chapter 16||Why did the wife have too be a part of it? also im tired and my brain cant really understand the position they where in but im sure as hell not going to google it my search history is weird enough||

[charred kelp]

||Yeah it just sucks for everyone you know its bad when everything has to be designed with suicide risks in mind ||

[median helm]

Very much so

[median helm]

It’s ||straight from the Bible in the book of Genesis. It’s supposed to be like the wife having the child rather than the actual person involved. It’s symbolism. In this particular case, I think the Wife is past menopause and therefore cannot have children anymore but the duty to continue bearing child exists for the husband/commander.||

[charred kelp]

So its symbolic? ||also the way that it's expected that the wife takes care of the handmaid after is so awkward like after that experience I wouldn't want to see the other person again in atleast a week||

[wary schooner]

I think it’s cause ||the commanders and the Handmaids aren’t supposed to like fraternize? Like basically no one should be enjoying this, cause that’s against puritan values, and nothing kills the mood like your wife I guess?||

||Shes like a chaperone||

[median helm]

Oh I didn’t see it that way. I read it like (Ch. 16) ||the epigraph from Genesis 30:1-3||

[wary schooner]

Could be both

[steel plinth]

I'm on Chapter 7 OoO

OR WAIT

NO

Wait nevermind lol

Yes, I'm on Chapter 7, and I am really enjoying this book. Like, how did I not read this earlier LOL

[charred kelp]

In theory it could just be ||Atwood having a weird kink ||

[wary schooner]

Yessss this is obviously the right answer

[floral patio]

are we all liking this?? ill start this after 15th (exams)

[charred kelp]

im really liking it so far

chapter 20 ||i wonder if how they portray pornography is actually how it was or if its just propaganda||

[steel plinth]

I’m liking it so far OoO

[solid panther]

looking to start today! 1st time reading

[median helm]

Ch. 22
🤔||Scrabble Night. Idk if it’s just my suspicious mind or what but I went to: they are looking to sort out the most intelligent Handmaids via this game. Her words were those of a well-educated person. The kiss though… obviously it’s weird but also like Atwood says: sad. I still feel like we know nothing about how we went from the 1960’s to this model of society. Tell me more, Atwood.||

[floral patio]

i cannot wait to start this

[charred kelp]

chapter 33 ||Since the comander talks about a we it seems like he might have been a part of the whole take over that led to the society they live in||

[median helm]

Ch. 25
||The Fall collection! The best! Although, I do love a good winter coat. I can’t help but think Fred is pumping Offred for intel on how they deceive the people above reproach.||

[median helm]

Ch. 27
||Possibly a new friend! or a spy.||

|| What I feel is relief. It wasn’t me. ||

[steel plinth]

I really like this book

I'm 50 pages in now lol,sorry for reading so slow

[marsh kite]

I'm 50 pages
in now lol,sorry
for reading so slow

- Smeagy the Ringwanter 38/50

[steel plinth]

SHUSH

[median helm]

Ch. 28
||Imagine shooting the president and Congress and the suspending the law of the land. Sounds totally unique 👀.

This book feels so real for right now.||

Ch. 29
||We do seem to be venturing towards getting answers. Offred has now bargained for knowledge—sorta strange considering he could just get a new girl. I’m curious what Fred likes so much about her.||

[charred kelp]

||I could be wrong but i think that much of the reason that he does all these things is to appease his own guilt in his mind he can tell himself that since he is doing these nice things its okay for him to use her||

[median helm]

||Hmmm. Perhaps. I get a dissociation feeling from him. More that she’s a science experiment than him seeking reparation.||

[median helm]

Ch. 31
||Is Nick a double agent? Curious. I like that Serena is getting more involved in the plot. Also, smoking while trying to get pregnant—gotta love the 80’s.||

[charred kelp]

||Well im pretty sure they knew it was bad for the baby which is why its forbidden but by doing this she is rebelling ||

[median helm]

Oh huh. I just thought it was a vice and disallowed.

[coral harbor]

Chapter 8 ||"They can't help it, she said, God made them that way but He did not make you that way. He made you different. It's up to you to set the boundaries. Later you will be thanked."||

I really like the book so far

[coral harbor]

Whoa that makes so much sense

[charred kelp]

Sorry if i come of s disagreeing with everything you say im really not i just think this book is a great for debating the motivations of the characters which makes it a great book to analyse

[livid axle]

Onto chapter 18: has it yet been revealed who is || kidnapping and murdering these people? I don’t think it has but i’ve been mostly audiobooking it whilst out and about so i could have missed it although i am doing me best to stay with the story (which is pretty good so far) ||

[analog ingot]

||It seems to be the government||

[median helm]

Nah what are you sorry for? Disagreeing is all part of book talk. A lot of my comments aren’t really personal opinion as much as pointing something out (saving that for the completed thread).

Ch. 31 ||I’m actually more curious whether the health of the baby matters for the Handmaidens. Does getting pregnant itself clear oneself from gaining the title Unwoman? I’m not sure how it works yet, but it sorta seems like Marthas are older women who can no longer can have children but still do the care for younger generations. If a child comes out deformed is that a sign from God that the woman is sinful and therefore doesn’t deserve the title of “Woman”? In 1957 it was first published that smoking was bad for pregnancy, but it wasn’t until the 70’s that rallies started and advocates pushed doctors to alter their language. Just under 40% of women smoked during pregnancy at the time and through that decade it was reduced to just over 10%. I’m assuming this is the 1980’s because of book’s publishing date but perhaps it’s a bit earlier and not as contemporary as real time. I do think Serena has sinister intentions behind her actions. I just don’t think the reason for not smoking is purely because of baby making. I think overall it’s considered a vice for women and would include older women who biologically couldn’t reproduce.||

Ch. 35
||Serena slipping Offred a Polaroid of her daughter is extensively cruel. I’m curious whether it’s meant as an erasure of Offred as a person—“look, you had nothing to do with this person being raised. You’re irrelevant and replaceable.” Or if meant more as “here’s something you can’t have.” Offred says herself that it would have been better to not have seen the photo at all. Sort of an homage to “ignorance is bliss”.||

Ch. 36
||Ummm. Why do I feel like she’s about to become a stripper for a bunch of Commanders?||

[charred kelp]

about chapter 31 ||I asome that if the baby comes out as deformed it wont give them clearence from being titled as an unwoman since when they give birth to a deformed baby they get switched over to the nect household||

[livid axle]

Ah thanks, i thought it was something like that, like the ||deep state. ||

[median helm]

Ch. 37
||Well, it’s not quite what I thought, but this club is certainly a twist that both surprises and feels familiar. A speakeasy of sorts. Also Moira!||

[median helm]

Ch. 38
||Interesting story about Moira’s introduction to Jezebel’s. That last line hit hard: “because I never saw her again.”

It’s interesting to me that Atwood selected the Quakers as part of the rebellion. I think they were also a factor in the American revolution.||

[wary schooner]

They were strongly ||abolitionist too iirc||

[median helm]

^^

[river fox]

chapter 8
the book is so 1984 so far. || why do I think Ofglen is gonna do something heroically crazy. ||

[charred kelp]

Has anyone watched the tv show?

[median helm]

I waited to read the book first ^^. I’ll be watching it this autumn or winter I think.

Aaaaand done! Moving to #1145787681087946813 !

[charred kelp]

I'm just curious on how they expanded this book since they probably didn't stretch this book for 5 seasons

[median helm]

Yeah I’m not sure! There is a sequel published in 2019 called The Testaments. I’ll be reading it in November. Maybe it expands into that story?

[livid axle]

Ch 26 - so the reason for || supposedly the government creating this strange reality is because the population numbers are very low??||

[solid panther]

finished chapter 6 now up to part 3 Night .. || reading this while pregnant is even more infuriating 🤣 .. I haven't really gotten all too far into the story but certain things are making me angry as a woman ||

[livid axle]

Has anyone got a favourite character so far? Apologies if this has already been discussed.

[solid panther]

up to ch 21
|| oh god that scene was so uncomfortable with the Commander attempting to get Offred pregnant?! i can't imagine how the wives feel .. having to legit watch that, geeze. you can't blame them for their negative feelings honestly. the memories of Offred going back to remembering her daughter has been a gut punch, i just can't imagine living/partaking in a world like this. || im really enjoying the story and wanting to remain invested with MC and to know where things all end up

[livid axle]

What’s MC?

[charred kelp]

main character

[solid panther]

^^ thank you ❤️

[ocean turtle]

Chp 1: ||damn i didnt realise this chp would be so hard to read. i need to go through every single word to actually understand what the narrator is saying||

[steel plinth]

So far I’m only up to Chapter 13

I love all of the description

I like deep, descriptive stuff that describes down the dust particles lol

[floral patio]

Up to Ch 30 ||the Lord’s prayer being taken apart is interesting and disturbing. We know for sure (if we didn’t already) that Offred has a rebellious streak in her. Also is Atwood critical of religion in real life?||

[median helm]

Hey good catch! This is what Atwood said in response to this exactly (contains spoilers though) || https://annaczarnikneimeyer.wordpress.com/2017/05/02/i-asked-margaret-atwood-about-religion-and-this-is-what-she-said/ ||

[floral patio]

Good find! It’s a nuanced view but I get it. Speaking of which, I’ve read The Crucible (by Arthur Miller) which explores a similar theme.

[ocean turtle]

Chp 5: ||so basically, this is either a futuristic world (but not too much into the future) where things have progressed backwards, or is it just this one place (because those japanese tourists look normal enough)?||

[ocean turtle]

Chp 6: ||wait luke isnt dead?||

[ocean turtle]

Chp 13: ||wait i thought this ‘camp’ thing with the Aunts was about empowering women||

[coral harbor]

I'm 65% done, this book is really good, I really like it

[steel plinth]

Chapter 14:

https://tenor.com/view/apple-gif-25135002

[livid axle]

What happens in that chapter? I don’t remember.

[livid axle]

Finished the book. Currently digesting it.

[solid panther]

woah, finished .. heading over to the other spot to share thoughts!

[ocean turtle]

Chp 26: ||im pretty sure this camaraderie between the Commander and Offred is probably not going to end well, but it would be nice if they remained friends.||

[ocean turtle]

Chp 30: ||…im sry, but how are you so chill about luke killing the cat?||

[coral harbor]

I guess ||it's because they were already in a state of emergency and their own life was in danger, so they were in fight or flight mode to properly process it or something?||

[floral patio]

Ch 34 ||more quoting from the Bible and the context that the narrative is set in makes it all sound wrong.||

[coral harbor]

I'm done with Chapter 35 || so far, the book can be easily interpreted as "Oriental/Asian culture is repressive" (Arranged marriage, modest clothing, etc), and I hope to God that was not the intention of the author 😭||

[steel plinth]

Okay I love this so much. When this is done, woudl anyone care to do a buddy read for The Testaments?

It’s the sequel to this book

[median helm]

I’ll be reading it during November

But I’ve pretty much gotten noes as responses xD

[charred kelp]

i would be up for joining a br

[signal wadi]

The audiobook but Elizabeth Moss is so good

[ocean turtle]

Chp 34: ||did i read this right? is this whole ceremony abt 14 year olds fucking? (im genuinely asking, i think i zoned out)||

[steel plinth]

|| https://tenor.com/view/handmaids-nolite-te-bastardes-carborundorum-gif-11911855 ||

Light spoilers

[coral harbor]

I've finished reading

It is def one of my favourite books

But the ||suspense ending!!!!||

[median helm]

Hey congrats! Make sure to read the historical notes (it’s the epilogue)

[coral harbor]

Yes I've just read it, they provide a lot more context

[river fox]

spoilers till chap 39
|| so moira got out - her escape from the red centre & then afterwards was kinda unrealistic - very movieish. i feel so bad for Janine. the abuse, degradation and all the shit she went through, my heart breaks for her. ||

mayday partings || i knew her walking partner was sus!!! they're in a secret rebel society - unfortunately I'm 80% done with the book and not much has happened on that front||

the commander & the wife || the wives snatched janine's baby from her and gave it to that commander's wife - to pretend like she was the one that gave birth....& acting as if they're one body one mind during sex?? it was so baffling || the way they treat the hand maids reminds me of how surrogates are often treated... i remember this one actress referring to her child's surrogate as "it"...

[steel plinth]

Up to chapter thirty fucking five and this book may very well be in my top 10 favs. (MAJOR SPOILERS) ||Offred seeing the Commander is a very interesting part of the story and I want to know where it’s going. How the hell is everything supposed to be tied together in the end? Ofglen, I hope she does something with Offred, like escaping together to Offred’s daughter and taking her and escaping to Canada. I dislike Serena Joy with a burning passion. Speaking of burning, I hope Offred burns down the house and escapes, or maybe she’ll set Serena on fire of something||

[river fox]

im finally done! ill post my final thoughts in the finished thread

[cedar tide]

just started this now!! elisabeth moth is an amazing narrator i love her voice sm

[cedar tide]

chapter 9: ||"she's over 60, her minds made up" I'll admit that made me laugh a little, like so true ||

[cedar tide]

this. is defo fucked up jesus-

[floral patio]

Finished the book today, heading over to the other thread

[steel plinth]

I'm watching the series with my mom OoO

Also, up to Chapter 38

||MOIRA MOIRA MOIRA MOIRA YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYY YOU'RE BACK MOIRA MOIRA MOIRA MOIRA MIORA MOIRA MOIRA||

[median helm]

That seems awkward. How’s that going?

[steel plinth]

It is going good

[charred kelp]

I watched Fifty shades with my mom It was to boring so i couldnt get past the first book/movie

[median helm]

I haven’t watched or read that but my mom’s a total prude, so it would be very awkward.

[steel plinth]

https://tenor.com/view/wtf-marion-cursed-gif-26333665

Jk, but FIFTY SHADES? Anyways, Handmaid's Tale

[median helm]

I’m mostly curious how the tv show stretches out the book. I’m curious if it dips into the sequel

[steel plinth]

It is! A sixth season is coming out involving The Testaments

(i think, correct me I'f I'm wrong)

[median helm]

That’s the name of the book. Not sure about the tv show at all

[steel plinth]

I finished earlier today at school 😭🫃

Time to move to the other thread

[cedar tide]

im not even sure what to say in reaction to this book, all i can say is "what the fuck" LMAOOO

ive not quite finished it yet but im gonna finish it up now!!! up to chap 31, but i love how just. disconcerting all of this is. id argue this is a horror novel in its own right

i also have a really bad feeling about ||the friendship... thing? between the commander nd offred... like theres no way thats gonna end well smth has got to happen there||

[cedar tide]

damn I hadn't even thought of that!!! personally I don't think it is I think it's more of ||a reflection on society, nd like commenting on the treatment of women, as opposed to being specifically aimed at Asian/oriental culture||but that's just me

chap 40: ||"I wish I was shameless. I wish I was ignorant. so I would not know how ignorant i am" is such a hard line I love it sm! personally I think, the part about ignorance could also apply to the fact that she was alive for a while before everything went badly whereas when her nd the other pregnant women give birth, they'll know nothing about how life used to be||

[cedar tide]

alll done!! gonna head over to the other thread

[floral patio]

so i started today lets see if i can finish it

[tame socket]

Did you finished it Sha?