Americans - Total tools, or sinister development?
- Thread starter shnaek
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z102
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1984 - the only book they ever " understood " .
Speaking of Orwell and 1984, Ive just finished reading the handmaids tale by Margaret Atwood. That is frightening baring in mind what is happening in the states right now.
In one scene (when the narrator is having a flashback) she describes how the government was taken down and president shot and that they were all informed that it was islamic fundamentalists and not to be alarmed, (which turned out to be false).....
Did anyone else find this on reading Handmaids tail? Its a definite must for 1984 fans and indeed fans of good literature.
In one scene (when the narrator is having a flashback) she describes how the government was taken down and president shot and that they were all informed that it was islamic fundamentalists and not to be alarmed, (which turned out to be false).....
Did anyone else find this on reading Handmaids tail? Its a definite must for 1984 fans and indeed fans of good literature.
One should always apply Occam's Razor to any theory. The simplest theory is that some muppet of a pilot flew where he shouldn't have, got warned off, was questioned and then released.
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MissRibena
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Casiopea,
I loved The Handmaid's Tale (and 1984). They both scared the life out of me. I think The Handmaid's Tale even moreso because of the female and environmental issues raised. It's been quite a while since I read it but the bit that sticks in my head most is the fantastic way she depicts the ease with which the transition occurs. It made me realise how easy it would be to freeze all banks and access to money etc and the massive implications something like that would have.
It also put me right off identity cards and the like; it's all well and good collecting data for the right reasons but when it just makes it too easy to get hold of for the wrong reasons.
The Handmaid's Tale also started me thinking about the carefree (careless?) attitude we women have to taking chemical contraceptives and wonder about the real longterm implications of this (on say evolution or the ecosystem).
Have to say though that I went off devouring Atwood left, right and centre afterwards and was never quite as impressed. Now Orwell on the other hand ... if only I had been born 80 years earlier
Rebecca
I loved The Handmaid's Tale (and 1984). They both scared the life out of me. I think The Handmaid's Tale even moreso because of the female and environmental issues raised. It's been quite a while since I read it but the bit that sticks in my head most is the fantastic way she depicts the ease with which the transition occurs. It made me realise how easy it would be to freeze all banks and access to money etc and the massive implications something like that would have.
It also put me right off identity cards and the like; it's all well and good collecting data for the right reasons but when it just makes it too easy to get hold of for the wrong reasons.
The Handmaid's Tale also started me thinking about the carefree (careless?) attitude we women have to taking chemical contraceptives and wonder about the real longterm implications of this (on say evolution or the ecosystem).
Have to say though that I went off devouring Atwood left, right and centre afterwards and was never quite as impressed. Now Orwell on the other hand ... if only I had been born 80 years earlier
Rebecca
"carefree (careless?) attitude we women have to taking chemical contraceptives"
I know exactly what you mean Rebecca! I would be interested to hear a guys perspective on it and if they found it as scary. I thought the narrator touched excellently on how the balance between the sexes shifted as she lost access to her accounts, her job and was no longer able to buy cigarettes even and thought about Luke, her then partner, what have you lost?
I thought it was also interesting how it touched on feminism (you and I have debated feminist issues on the old board ), the narrators mother was a feminist and during old time (ie our time now) and used to say something to the effect of "I wish it was a woman's era" (paraphrasing) the narrator later thinks..."now we have a woman's era...was this what you wanted"? All in all a very frightening book, but excellent.
I know exactly what you mean Rebecca! I would be interested to hear a guys perspective on it and if they found it as scary. I thought the narrator touched excellently on how the balance between the sexes shifted as she lost access to her accounts, her job and was no longer able to buy cigarettes even and thought about Luke, her then partner, what have you lost?
I thought it was also interesting how it touched on feminism (you and I have debated feminist issues on the old board
), the narrators mother was a feminist and during old time (ie our time now) and used to say something to the effect of "I wish it was a woman's era" (paraphrasing) the narrator later thinks..."now we have a woman's era...was this what you wanted"? All in all a very frightening book, but excellent.MissRibena
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casiopea said:
Ah lads, could one of ye not read this? I swear it's not "chick lit"; it should be up some of your streets as it's sci-fi/dystopia stuff. We could all have a right auld set-to afterwards - like the good old days on Letting Off Steam.
Casiopea now that you mention it, I remember being thoroughly depressed after reading it. Atwood seemed to be saying that we (women) should be grateful for what we have and warning that we need to be careful what we wish for and not rock the boat etc. etc. That all seems like a lot of defeatist bunkum to me and if this (today) is as good as it gets, I will put my head between my knees and cry.
So, if anything it's an anti-feminist novel. I still loved it - one of the most though provoking books I have ever read.
Rebecca
I read "The Handmaid's Tale" a long time ago. In addition I read "Life Before Man", "The Edible Woman", "Surfacing" and a number of other novels by Atwood. I feel it struck a chord with a lot of people because it was about characters with whom they could identify. I imagine it is easier in general for posters to sympathise with a person living in a free western democracy losing their basic rights as opposed to looking at real live beings living in Iran, Saudi Arabia etc. There are in addition to the feminist issues raised by Atwood the signs of a democracy in danger; the manipulation of the media, and in addition the duty of all citizens to evaluate information presented to them and also to examine the consequences of their own beliefs. We are all prey to well aimed propaganda; the classification of women as "unwomen" in the Handmaids Tale was a classic Nazi tactic of dehumanising a person so you could subsequently treat them like an animal.
A part of the appeal of the book was the fact that while it read to some readers like a scifi / fantasy novel, many other themes were raised i.e. religous tolerance, feminism etc. in a way that forced a reader to account for them.
By the way, a more likely cause of declining sperm rates is the amount of Oestrogenic compunds present in most plastics and packaging - watch out for those sandwich wrappers........
A good discussion of some of the topics raised is described here
A part of the appeal of the book was the fact that while it read to some readers like a scifi / fantasy novel, many other themes were raised i.e. religous tolerance, feminism etc. in a way that forced a reader to account for them.
By the way, a more likely cause of declining sperm rates is the amount of Oestrogenic compunds present in most plastics and packaging - watch out for those sandwich wrappers........
A good discussion of some of the topics raised is described here