I read this for the first time in high school. I remember being appalled but it, but I think I probably was even more so this time.
I wanted to re-read this before the new TV adaptation started airing, but I never actually got it done. I'd been saving the series on my PVR until I read the book. I had to switch TV services recently and was going to lose all the recordings if I didn't watch them, so I started to read.
I didn't manage to finish the book before beginning the series, but it didn't really matter. The book is still appalling in so many ways, and the show just adds to the grotesque and horrific.
Part of the reason this feels so awful to read right now is that you can see in the US culture especially how it could happen. There are extremists who have become more vocal and the most visible Republicans seem in some ways eerily similar in ideals to the commanders in the book.
This book was way ahead of its time. It's a great read, and I'm so glad Atwood is Canadian. If she hadn't been Canada might have been just as crazy, instead of being the safe haven. I don't know if I can articulate how anxious some of the ideals of this book make me. So many things that could easily happen if a certain group or person chooses to make a particular decision. The US at war within itself. Religious extremism. And women as breeding stock.
It's not something a person of today's society really wants to contemplate, but I think it's probably very important that people realize this isn't just fantastical. It's not impossible. Yes, this book is fiction, but if an author could think of it nearly forty years ago, there's no reason someone couldn't decide to try to bring it to life.
Be careful out there.
#51-2021
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