Der Report der Magd

Roman

Paperback, 398 pages

German language

Published Nov. 13, 1989 by Fischer Taschenbuch.

ISBN:
978-3-596-25987-8
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4 stars (23 reviews)

Gegen Ende des 20. Jahrhunderts haben fanatische religiöse Sektierer im Norden der USA die sogenannte Republik Gilead installiert, deren oberstes Ziel die Sicherung der Fortpflanzung ist, nachdem die "europiden" Rassen seit Jahren einen drastischen Geburtenrückgang zu verzeichnen hatten. Perfide Machtstrukturen sollen die größtmögliche Ausbeutung der weiblichen Gebärfähigkeit gewährleisten; dazu gehören die totale Entmündigung der Frauen und ihre Klassifizierung in Hausfrauen, Gebärmaschinen und Dienerinnen. Wer nicht funktioniert oder sich widersetzt, wird zur "Unfrau" erklärt und in die Kolonien zur Giftmüllbeseitigung abgeschoben. Eine dieser jungen, zu Reproduktionszwecken rekrutierten Frauen, der sogenannten Mägde, die den männlichen Führungskräften von Gilead als Zweitfrau zugewiesen werden, ist Desfred, die Hauptfigur und Erzählerin des Romans. (Klappentext)

46 editions

Not so speculative fiction

5 stars

I was warned this book is not a fun one. Indeed it is not.

You get to see the omnipresent fear and violence of a patriarchal surveillance state. You get to see how it got there, little by little, and how it got accepted. The disturbing part is that it is very much believable...

I hadn't seen since Orwell's "1984" the effect of a totalitarian system on an individual so well described, especially at an individual level. You get to see how a single mind resists or breaks when faced with such overwhelming brutal and oppressive environment.

It is definitely worth reading, especially when you keep in mind the fact that Atwood has been censored in several US states.

Review of "The Handmaid's Tale" on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

An interesting book - very post apocalyptic - but it felt like it ended too soon, with questions left unasked. For example, who are The Eyes? Why does the Commander have his position? What happens to the narrator? What’s happening in the rest of the world? You don’t really get a feel for who is behind everything - the organisation is named but none of the individuals make an appearance.

Interesting, but unsatisfying.

reviewed The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid's Tale, #1)

Review of "The Handmaid's Tale" on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

En el libro hablan de una sociedad totalitaria en las que las mujeres han perdido su libertad y son asignadas a un rol en la sociedad. El libro te absorbe por que es totalmente pausible, y más en viendo los días que llevamos, que la sociedad se degrade de esa manera. Me ha gustado mucho.

reviewed The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid's Tale, #1)

Review of "The Handmaid's Tale" on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Anyone who followed my status updates will know I struggled with this book, particularly in the first half. The graceful prose could not compensate for the complete absence of plot. Instead we have an extra-ordinary focus on the minutiae of life that eventually becomes painful. I pushed through this for two reasons:
1) I'd never seen anything negative written about the book as a whole and therefore was continually expecting something to change, possibly something amazing to appear. A brief incident at 1/3 of the way turned out to be a false dawn but gave enough hope to get me through to when the real story starts at half way.
2) I could understand what Atwood was trying to achieve with all that minute description; Offred's life had been reduced to such - there was nothing else for her to focus on - there was no narrative in her life …