• THE HANDMAID’S TALE
• by Margaret Atwood
• [rated by pbs readers as #34]
• 295 pages

I’m well aware that the most prominent theme of this whole project for me has been surprise. Surprise at every turn. So I knew I would be surprised by The Handmaid’s Tale. I just didn’t know in what way.

It took me a long time to open this one up. I don’t think I built up to it or anything. It just so happened that when I picked it this time, I didn’t feel as scared, so it seemed like as good a time as any.

Of course, reading this book is preceded by the images and dystopian world it conveys. Most likely due in large part to the amazing (according to others, I haven’t seen it yet) mini-series done only a few years ago. But to be honest, I knew what was in here before that. I think every woman knew.

We all knew because Atwood has given words and a story to all of our deepest fears. Well, not all of them necessarily but the woman slayed an awful lot of dragons with this one sword.

For that reason, nothing in the book really surprised me. So I guess my surprise was how not surprising it was. I knew what to expect, perhaps more than with any book I have ever read.

The writing is stupendous. Many times while reading it, I had the distinct sensation that I was reading poetry. I would blink and know that wasn’t true, but Atwood’s artfully and tersely worded descriptions felt deeply poetic.

Just to pick one, try this one out.

“Time has not stood still. It has washed over me, washed me away, as if I’m nothing more than a woman of sand, left by a careless child too near the water.”

Hello?!

Atwood’s ability to visualize and then have us see what she is seeing in this universe of hers is really second to none.

Would I read it again? I can’t see that happening. But it was a great read, that’s for sure. And strangely, for something as ceaselessly sad as this, I have a vague notion to see the mini-series. For two reasons. The first is to see how they visually constructed this story. Atwood left them an amazing trail of bread crumbs with the unspoken taunt that they better do it up right. From all the millions of awards it got, I guess they did.

Also, sitting in the center is Elisabeth Moss, so brilliant in Mad Men and then over to this in quick succession. That juxtaposition is a message in itself. Men have always tried to gain the upper hand in society after society. In doing so, they lose any advantage they thought they had.

Because ulimately, male dominance is not only an aberrant viewpoint – it just isn’t in the cards.

Additional Note: In the preface, Atwood mentions that nothing, no ritual, no practice in this book has failed to be present in one religious practice or another.

The Handmaid’s Tale is a living, breathing, daily cautionary tale. The gauntlet is right there. We ignore it at our own peril.