The back-cover says this is a satire and a dire warning. Not really a satire to me: it is chilling to see how a system can develop. Many events in the book resemble the things that happened when Persia was turned into Iran (not that Persia was heaven, in that time), and the pictures I still have in mind of the hangings executed there and in the book added to the impression that this could become true wherever society runs out of control/ gets in the grip of control.


I will not let go of this book forever, but I started a bookring so everyone can read it.
Bookring participants:

Erna
Dutch-flybaby
Riemke
ElisabethPM
Nrrdgrrl
Aaratnayake
Fenna
Wildspitz
Plinius
Nefertete
Maupi
Blacklilith
Juje

and back to Jgralike, home.
The book returned after years of travelling and has since been quietly sitting on its shelve, happy to be home again!

Released on Friday, April 04, 2003 at in the mail to fellow BookCrosser in in the mail to fellow BookCrosser, In the mail to fellow BookCrosser Netherlands.

op weg naar erna dus, na weging op het postkantoor: het is net wel of net niet 250 gram....

conclusie: 264 gram, helaas, dus er moet 2,25 euro op.

Ontvangen met de post, een paar dagen geleden (sorry dat ik het niet eerder registreerde). Bedankt, jgralike!

Released on Sunday, May 25, 2003 at brievenbus in Amersfoort, Utrecht Netherlands.

Wordt doorgestuurd naar de volgende op de lijst!

Vond net (19.08 uur) het boek in de brievenbus. Ik overweeg om 'm mee op vakantie te nemen volgende week naar Turkije, maar ik stuur 'm wel netjes door in Nederland hoor!

Just (19.08 hrs) found this book in my mailbox. I'm considering taking this with me on holidays to Turkey next week. Don't worry, I'll send it on the next person on the list in the Netherlands!

(for english version see below)

Ongeveer een uurtje geleden de laatste bladzijde gelezen in dit boek.
Oh oh, ik zie dat ik de eerste ga zijn die wat over dit boek gaat schrijven en ik vind zelf dat ik dit niet zo goed kan. Maargoed, bij deze mijn poging.
In het begin dacht ik 'wat is dit voor iets raars ?' Wat voor een samenleving wordt hier beschreven ? Een soort islamitische ofzo ? Later in het boek werd me duidelijk dat een fictieve samenleving 'in plaats van de Verenigde Staten' wordt beschreven die is ontstaan uit een samenleving die bijzonder gericht was op sexuele bevrediging. Van het ene extreem naar het andere; van doorgeschoten vrijheid naar een religieuze samenleving zonder vrijheid.
De hoofdpersoon heeft nog de 'oude samenleving' meegemaakt en blijft zoeken naar mensen die zij in haar leven kende; haar moeder, man, kind en vriendinnen. Ik vond het wel mooi zoals zij het zelf omschreef; het was een samenleving geworden waar geen plaats was voor liefde. Alles ligt vast in omgangsvormen, voor emoties is geen ruimte.
Dit is niet een boek dat ik zelf snel zou uitkiezen om te lezen qua onderwerp. Ik vond het een interessant boek. De stijl van schrijven ligt me ook wel. Toch leuk om gelezen te hebben.
Ik ga de volgende op de lijst PM'en.


I finished this book about an hour ago.
Oh, oh, I see that I'm the first to review this book and I'm afraid I'm not very good at it. Anyway, here's my attempt.
At the start of this book I thought it was a weird story. What kind of society is this ? Some kind of islamic society ? As I read on it became clear that this was an imaginary society 'instead of the US' which developped from a society very much based on sexual satisfaction. From one extreme to the other; from too much (sexual) freedom to a religiously based society without any freedom.
The main character has lived in the 'old society' and keeps searching for the people she knew; her mother, her husband, child and friends. I thought it was touching the way she described it; a society without love. Everything is based on etiquette, there's no room for emotions.
I wouldn't normally choose to read a book like this. I thought it was interesting though. I liked the style in which it was written. Nice to have read this book.
I'm going to pm the next person on the list.

Released on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 at Main postoffice in Ede, Gelderland Netherlands.

Vandaag het boek op de post gedaan naar Riemke. Happy reading!

Mailed the book to Riemek today. Happy reading!

this bookring-book arrived today. thanks dutch flybaby.
i hope to have time soon to read it. i suppose i will, because of a back-injury i'm bound to my bed for too much hours every day. but that's okay for reading of course :-))

the book was fascinating and horrible. once I started, I couldn't stop reading. the society described seems unbelievable, but several elements are visible in different cultures all over the world already.
the life and thoughts of the main character show how difficult it is to be an individual ... and also that is recognizable for all of us. the end of the book I found somewhat constructed... looks like a happy end but still open. so it left me a bit disappointed.

thanks Jgralike for sharing one of your favorites with me through this bookring :-)

Released on Tuesday, July 29, 2003 at mailing to a fellow bookcrosser in Den Bosch, Noord - Brabant Netherlands.

Riemke heeft me dit boek onlangs gestuurd, en ik ga het nu lezen. De eerste hoofdstukken zijn veelbelovend, maar wat wil je ook met een boek van Margaret Atwood.

Ondanks dat de boodschap in dit boek de grootste rol speelt, is het een spannend, ontroerend, en goed boek. Zoals te verwachten van Margaret Atwood.

nozzing in ze hands... nozzing in ze sleeves...
elisabethpm shares a different network with me, so she was able to totally surprise me with this book as she had no need to ask me for my address. hey presto!

as seems to be a normal pattern, ring books are arriving here in a clutter these days after weeks of silence. so i'll try to read this one in a reasonable amount of time, i.e. four weeks max, and send it out if i can't finish it in time.

imagine the women of the taliban, symbol of loss of basic rights. imagine, too, the men in guantanamo prison, held without trial for over two years now. imagine, especially, any group of religious fanatics getting strong enough to take over your government, your country, the way you live, the way you move, the way you think, the way your future looks.

the events that followed the attacks on u.s. territory two years ago made this more than ever a hauntingly realistic outlook. but atwood had her vision in the reagan era, well before dubya gained office. his group is just a bit more blatant than his dad's at justifying the loss of civil rights and pretending they know what's best for their citizens.

atwood wrote a well thought out, and surprisingly well told story of a woman stripped of all her rights and, worse, of all the people she loves. i found the idea a bit unoriginal but it's just done properly.

i'd never read anything by atwood before and i think i need to check out her other work. after the first twist she had me hooked - right after the describing part, of which i was starting to think 'seen the gimmick, now let's get on with it'. that's what atwood did, and some more. she avoided some easy traps, kept developments plausible and managed an ending that added to the story. well done!

Release planned for Thursday, September 11, 2003 at controlled release in hilversum, noord-holland Netherlands.

on it's way to aaratnayake, surface mail: arrival should take 8-12 business days.

Received it in the mail today. i am looking forward to reading it. looks very interesting.

This book had me hooked right of the bat. then i got futher into it and loved and hated it at the same time. I would get so angry at how life is that i would have to put it down for the rest of that day. what a great story and a scary concept. such restrictions, can't read, can't talk, can't smoke, can't drink. having all your family stripped from you. i couldn't imagine how i would fare in thoes circumstances. The strangest thing to me was the beleif structure. it seemed to me that they took the strangest passages from the bible and decided to live by them cause it gave them the most power. I will have to go out and buy a copy of this most excellent book. Thanks to jgralike for starting this ring.

Release planned for Tuesday, October 28, 2003 at to fellow bookcrosser in postal release, postal release USA.

mailing to Fenna.

Today, I found an exciting package in my mailbox: Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale'

Thanks, Aaratnayake!

Fenna

I really loved this book by Margaret Atwood! The description of the Gileadian society is chilling. Gilead banishes love and lust, and in stead of that, introduces sex as purely functional for creating offspring.

In this fashion, the main character, to the reader simply known as Offred (of Fred, Fred's property), is only used as a breeding apparatus. She has to couple with the Commander, whose wife is barren. Since Offred has conceived before, her ovaries are considered viable, and therefore the commander's wife can use her as a substitute. Offred's daughter from former times, when Gilead was still the USA, has been taken from her. Absolute and pure horror.

From the first page on, I was unable to put the book aside. It made me shiver. It is hard to imagine, even though I know it is true, that women's rights are being violated in this fashion. Positioning the story in the (former) USA increases the story's strength.

This was my fourth Atwood. With the exception of The edible woman, I loved her books. The edible woman is just outdated (for us Dutch girls, I am not sure about other, maybe less liberal societies...).

Atwood seems to be able to hit some kind of nerve deep within me: her stories make me sad, angry, but on the other hand there is always room for an optimistic end. In this book it is a lecture from a professor, some 150 years later. The professor speculates on what may have happened to Offred after the end of the main story.

I will send the book out to the next reader tomorrow: Switzerland, here it comes!

Released on Wednesday, January 14, 2004 at Letterbox of a fellow bookcrosser in Zug, zug Switzerland.

Just pujt this book into the mail to Switzerland. Have fun reading it!
Fenna.

I just got the book by mail today and am already looking forward to read it. I heard about the book 10 years ago, and always wanted to read it.
I am really curious!

The book was really scary! First I had some problems getting used to the style of writing.
The description of this totalitarian society with no rights whatsoever for women was horrible. They are not allowed to read, to write or just to meet without supervision. When I interrupted reading, I always felt really bad, I needed some time to free myself from the book.
The development of Offred is very interesting. First, she tries not to do anything forbidden. Later she takes more risks. She talkes about "Mayday" the first time she sees the new Ofglen. This could be because the met her friend Moira, who never cared about the authority.
The society described reminded me of 1984, but it is much more focussed on women.
I am glad I read the book. Thanks to Jgralike!

Released on Thursday, February 05, 2004 at Post office in By post, Sent to another BookCrosser Controlled Releases.

The book is on its way to the next reader.

reading all your commentaries makes me even more eager to start reading...

2 hours later...

hooked already

I've enjoyed 'the Handmaid's Tale' very much. It's chilling and disturbing, because of the connection with certain religious communities (yes, in the Netherlands as well) in which hypocrisy and intolerance are rife. From such communities a nightmare like Offred's world might come into existence. I was really glad to find the historical notes which showed yet another change.

This was the first book by Margaret Atwood I read, and a very pleasant introduction. I love her sharp pen and the way she treats her characters.

Today there was another book in my mailbox. Just received several books. It's difficult to choose the book I'm going to read next.

Strange world. The book reminded me of Brave New World and 1984. Intriguing, yet, I liked the two books I mentioned, better.

Post(wo)man brought it today! I've read this book years ago, it was my first Atwood and I thought it was very very good (a BookCrossing 9, maybe even 10). I'm very curious to find out how I will rate the book this time.

Nolite Te Bastardes Carborundorum
This tale has caught me in its web the second time round as much as the first time.
I read a negative reader's review with as main criticism that the story was totally outdated, a typical dystopian view of the eighties. I do not agree. In my view, the story is neither less compelling nor less probable now than in the eighties, when I first read it myself.
As Atwood herself wrote in an article about this novel "[The Republic of Gilead] has emerged during a period of disruption: in such times, people are likely to trade in their rights in favour of militarist governments that claim to be able to guarantee safety". This is a universal truth, then, now, in future. It's just basic human behaviour.
Others see parallels between the Gilead society and Taliban ruled Afghanistan. This I can agree with. The other day I saw the Afghan movie "Osama", set in Taliban Afghanistan. The suppression of women as well as their sexual exploitation is horrific and awfully similar to Atwood's fictitious world.

The book will continue its journey, to BlackLilith.

Here it is...just added to my TBR!

Sorry for the long stop, it will join soon my best friend Juje in Erlangen! Thanks a lot for this nice book!

Edit: PC