I read the novel a long time ago. Even as a high school kid I thought it was crap.
The 90s movie was well-acted, but the story was sophomotic and crap. Acting cant save a poor story.
I agree. I also read the book as it had been highly acclaimed. Although I can remember nothing specific about the story, I do remember it was tough to read because it was so boring and negative.
Aha! I just found a snippet of the book which now jogs my memory and reminds me how truly mind-numbingly awful it was:
“She blinked, the light was too strong for her, her mouth trembled, around her front teeth, teeth that stuck out a little and were long and yellowish, and I thought about the dead mice we would find on the doorstep, when we lived in a house, all three of us, four counting our cat, who was the one making these offerings. Aunt Lydia pressed her hand over her mouth of a dead rodent.”
After that awful book I never had any desire to read anything else by Margaret Atwood.
I think you are unaware of how women even in the United States are treated. In Texas I could not buy a car in the 60’s because women were still chattel even though I had a full time job and was the mother of 3 kids. Abuse of women is another poorly recognized area of malfeasance in the legal system.
The Handmaid’s Tale is exactly what women will face in an Islamic world. I will work to prevent that the rest of of my life if necessary.