Peeping into dystopia

It has been ages since I wrote about a book or movie, and I thought of dedicating today’s post for a book. This year is not an ideal year for my bookworm identity since I couldn’t read many books. I read around 20 books but I didn’t read many of those books out of my choice since they were my prescribed books for the courses. However, I enjoyed majority of them, and one of my most adored book was "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood. It was published in 1985, but the interesting fact is this became one of the best selling novels recently after a certain international political figure came into power. If i am to guess the reason for that is the dystopian society that this novel depicts.

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To explain dystopia, it demonstrates an imaginary society which is characterized by oppressive and dehumanizing and extreme political conditions. The novel created a Gilead society where the familiar becomes frighteningly unfamiliar and estrange. Offred; our protagonist serves as a Handmaid who is valued and defined only for her fertility, caught in the complex web of political and social oppression. I will not spoil your fun by revealing the plot but you will be exposed to a society where people are caught in extreme worse conditions of gender inequality, religious extremism and the consequences of supreme power. It is a place where these nightmares have become their normal, and the inability to challnege those powers.

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In addition to the plot, the novel’s narrative structure is a intriguing and keep us on the edge of our seats. The novel engages in a nonlinear timeline shifting in between Offred’s past and present making the novel a puzzle for readers to solve. So you will always be eager to connect the dots to have a better understanding on the narrative.

If you are into this genre, I highly recommend this and if your are new to this, I think "The Handmaid's Tale" will be a good beginning for you.

Thanks for reading!

Have a nice day!