The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

" It was after the catastrophe, when they shot the president and machine-gunned the Congress and the army declared a state of emergency. They blamed it on the Islamic fanatics, at the time."

Let me begin with a disclaimer: my enthusiasm about Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is limited not because I do not appreciate the central message of the novel. In fact, I would prefer that of the two human genders the males were limited to reproductive functions (and of course the all important tasks of watching sports, drinking beer, and playing with guns) while women were in charge. I just do not like the novel much as a literary work of art. Similarly, while I have been deeply touched by the message of Orwell's 1984 I do not think it is written well. By the way, Atwood's book was published in 1985, just one year after Orwell's target year. Coincidence? (Just kidding...)

Ms. Atwood's dystopian novel is a classic so I do not need to provide synopsis of the plot, which can be found in zillion places on the Web. In the so-called Republic of Gilead (the term "republic" is used in the sense as in "People's Republic of North Korea" rather than that of Plato's republic) a caste of women called "handmaids" are kept "for breeding purposes" so that for them having "viable ovaries" is the basic social criterion. They are indeed crucial to the survival of the society as the birth rates have plummeted because of pollution and other factors. The policy is set and enforced by Commanders, a caste of males who actually own the handmaids, whose names are like Offred (the narrator's owner is Fred), Ofglen, or Ofwarren.

Among the many powerful and unforgettable scenes depicted in the novel the reader may find the Ceremony most shocking. This the ritual of fertilization attempt of a handmaid performed by her owner in presence of his wife (a higher caste of females). In perhaps the most sarcastic sentence in the novel Ms. Atwood writes that the term "copulating" would be "inaccurate, because it would imply two people and only one is involved." She uses a more fitting, seven-letter gerund. Other rituals that stay in memory are Salvagings (remember, this is Newspeak), Testifying, hangings of "criminals" on the Wall, and the most horrific of them all, Particicution, i.e., a participatory execution, a delight for those of us who feel empowered by administering punishment to convicts.

Some of the author's acerbic scorn is aimed at commercialization of religion, for example:

God Is a National Resource

We are introduced to a Women's Prayvaganza and to praying machines: a woman can use a sort of ATM-system to buy a certain number of machine repetitions of a prayer, and her account will be debited appropriately. Superb satire!

I certainly have serious problems with the purely literary aspect of the novel. It is overwrought, over-emotional, and - which is the worst - over-explained. The author seems to underestimate the intelligence of the reader. The images evoked by the prose are powerful enough: why not let the readers form their own opinion and "get the message" without being explicitly told what it is? Still, even if quite imperfect, it is a very important book, and I would be happy to have it among recommended readings for students.

Four stars.

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