/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.1175216]

What did /lit/ think of 'The Handmaid's Tale?'

First book for a book club I'm running. Any bookclub advice?

(If somebody could post 'the penis was' that would be great.)

[Anonymous No.1175218]

My friend keeps telling me to read it.

[Anonymous No.1175227]

The Penis Was

http://www.mediafire.com/?okg4zavjkal4p7w

[Anonymous No.1175230]

I dislike the book. Mainly because all the books we read at school that year were about men dominating women, women's rights, and all that blah. And I mean, every single book that year. That rounds to about 12.

[Anonymous No.1175237]

>>1175227

Danke

[Anonymous No.1175242]

>>1175230

Yeah I've been there. It can difficult for the two guys sitting in a class full of women bitching about men.

In fairness though, 'The Handmaid's Tale' has a lot of women oppressing women I think.

[Anonymous No.1175249]

>>1175242
Whoa, that's exactly what my situation was like.

Sure, there are many women oppressing women too, but all in all, I just see this book as a provocation. Reading this in a bookclub will surely yield a lot of conversation though.

[Anonymous No.1175259]

>>1175230
>>1175242
>>1175249

This is why I prefer Angela Carter's approach to feminist fiction; she quite often takes a massive shit on the usual, well-worn cliches.
A lot of her protagonists are men, a lot of her women are monsters, a lot of her writing is bawdy and borderline pornographic. I've had some brilliant discussions on literary feminism in classes with women who flat-out refuse to accept Carter because they don't 'like' how she does it.

As for the OP's question, I didn't care much for "The Handmaid's Tale". I much prefer "Oryx and Crake" to be honest, not least because it's a straight up better novel.

[Anonymous No.1175272]

>>1175249

Haha and woe to you if you dare to dissent!

Yeah the point of a book club book is to yield conversation. Ideally, the book will be loved by half the group and hated by half the group. A book that everybody loves can lead to a boring meeting. However, it can be fun when everybody HATES the book (pic very fucking related).

[Anonymous No.1175280]

The book paints a portrait of a world where extremist religious catechisms are also the government. This shouldn't be so hard to imagine, especially today. In a way, it is a denouncement of direct religious involvement in government. This book was written (during the shining white smiles and pomade hair era of the Reagan administration..trust me it sucked, I was there) with the Protestant Church as a model, albeit exaggerated. It is an exploration of the if/then scenario in which we postulate: If we all agree with the nutcases on the basis of "Holy Word", what would happen?

There's also the whole Totalitarian aspect to it, but I wholeheartedly am tired of OMG DYSTOPIA!! I see it as alarmist. I believe that the people who push a vision of a terrible future after some GREAT EVENT are insecure, reactionary, and cowardly. it is easy to paint a bleak future in these hypothetical worlds because when you reduce mankind to monad levels, we are simply animals and might = right. Of course, the only people saying this are the authors of the world, typically cloistered and un-tanned individuals. On the whole, and as a taxonomic rule, we are all animals, and animals survive. We should stop fearing the men in the trees because however powerful they may be, each lackey in some oppressive government, each soldier, each gang member, each police man, each motherfucking Mad Max beyond Thunderdome--ALL of them were once toddlers helplessly dependent on guidance from someone. Survival to humans is innate co-operation. It has been demonstrated in throughout the history of mankind that when tragedies occur, there is a great response of centripetal effort versus the standard portrayal of dystopia as centrifugal every-man-for-himself or 1000 men with weapons subduing 10 men who want to be free. Dystopia is Chicken /lit/tle

[Anonymous No.1175285]

>>1175280
what he said

[Anonymous No.1175287]

>>1175259

Must read more Angela Carter, have only read 'The Bloody Chamber'. Loved it though.