'The Handmaid's Tale' - Margaret Atwood 1985.

'The Handmaid's Tale' was a bit of a disappointment for me. I came across the title in a list of the best dystopian novels and I thought the premise was brilliant; a world where most women are infertile, and the fertile ones have been reduced to a single function 'breeding'. I must have skimmed over the next part of the blurb which reads "but even a repressive state cannot obliterate desire - neither Offred's nor that of the two men on which her future hangs" which should have tipped me off to the major issues I would have with this book. Having read another of Atwood's novels, 'Alias Grace', many years ago I should have also had some clues about what to expect from her writing style, however in all cases I was oblivious.

The premise is certainly not a unique one, the first similar example that springs to mind is Children of Men, but 'The Handmaid's Tale' focuses on an anti-female backlash against the feminist movement during the 1980's rather than simply rising infertility.

The chapters jump around in quite a strange manner which is not explained until the post-script, but the main flow of the story is that in the early 80's a group (of men presumably) took over the United States of America, and took away the rights of women. This began with taking away their jobs and bank accounts, and then extended to segregation of fertile and infertile women, and a complete restructuring of society to suit a very strange vision of the reproductive future of America. The protagonist is called 'Offred' which can be read as 'of Fred' meaning 'Fred's Handmaid'. As the handmaid allocated to Fred by the government Offred must wear a very bizarre red outfit, live in his house (with his 'blue' infertile wife) and hopefully bear his child after which she will be transferred to a different man.

While there are a lot of feminist ideas and issues raised throughout the novel, overall it is oddly anti-women. The only strong female characters, particularly the main champions of feminist ideals pre-takeover, are cowed and broken. The indecisive, frustrating protagonist eventually surrenders her fate to the various men who dominate her life 'legally', 'covertly' and 'emotionally'.

Despite the disappointment that this was not the book I thought it would be, I did enjoy reading it. Atwood's style in this case is abrupt, taking odd turns and branching off on tangents, and often is without a clear sense of timeline. The post-script, which explains the odd style, really made this book for me. It added so many additional dimensions and made me re-think so much of what I had read.

I have had a few people mention to me that they read it in high school, so I would love to know what you take on it is. Did you enjoy it? Was it ruined by high school English? What were the inevitable 'lessons' to be learnt from it?

Love it, Read it,
LR

'The Day of the Triffids'- John Wyndham 1951

This book was a purchase from a quaint little second-hand bookshop in Yungaburra, whilst on holiday in North Queensland. I thought this novel would be similar to 'War of the Worlds' which I read earlier this year, but surprisingly it had few similarities to H. G. Well's famous alien invasion novel.

Oddly enough 'The Day of the Triffids' had some interesting parallels to 'Windup Girl', in that it deals with the fears of the time. Wyndham writes to the biggest fears of the 50s, the threats of satellite weaponry and the Soviet Union, while 'Windup Girl' dealt with peak oil, genetic modification and threat of global corporations.
Perhaps this explains why I found Windup Girl so frightening, and Day of the Triffids so 'quaint', as by tapping into the fears of the times dystopian novels may lose the menace as they age. I'm not certain of this, but I am certain that dystopias are written with the fears and issues of the time in mind, whether consciously or unconsciously.

The plot of this novel is really a 'love despite all odds' taking place in England after a 'meteor shower' blinds most people, except those who were accidently unable to look outside at that time. The protagonist was in hospital with bandages across his eyes and awakes to a silent world. In addition to the chaos one can expect in a world where most people are suddenly blinded, the strange, aggressive, plants called 'Triffids' which had been appearing over the last few years begin to take advantage of the population's blindness.

'The Day of the Triffids' is not a book with an overly happy ending, but I really enjoyed reading it. It was a great tale, with all the markers of a solid novel. I don't often read books more than once, but I think I may read about the Triffids again in the future.

Love it, Read it,
LR

'The Windup Girl'- Paolo Bacigalupi 2009

'The Windup Girl' is one of the most genuinely frightening dystopian novels I have ever read. While many dystopias are frightening for their sometimes bizarre abstraction from our current reality, or huge disasters or cataclysmic events leading to dramatic change, 'Windup Girl' frightened me as it was (in my opinion anyway) based on a quite plausible premis; human expansion reaches it's peak when oil reserves are depleted fully, resulting in conflict over food production, consumption and distribution. Bacigalupi imagines this to be followed by aggressive, competitive, genetic engineering of food for maximum 'calories' by huge transnational (but particularly American) corporations, referred to as 'genehacking'. Apparently there is a whole genre of this kind of dystopia, it is referred to as 'biopunk' and I am definitely looking forward to exploring it a lot more!

The novel is set in Thailand in the 23rd Century and only alludes to the conditions of people in other parts of the world. The setting is beautifully realised, tying together elements of the current Thai system, such as the royal family and traditional religious/cultural practices, with some 'futuristic' elements such as the use of genetically altered Elephant-like creatures to generate power. One thing which I found a bit irritating about the book was the use of various Thai, Chinese and Japanese words. While it is not a prominent as in 'A Clockwork Orange' for example, I did find it difficult to remember the meanings of some of the Thai words. This is probably a personal preference, as the Thai/Chinese/Japanese terms do add colour to the language, and help to differentiate between how various characters see the world.

I was not immediately drawn into the narrative of 'The Windup Girl', and could not see why one of the minor characters gave the book its title. However, as the novel progressed the characters began to interlink and the main thrust of the narrative became clearer, culminating in one of the most breath-taking climaxes I have read in a long time. I had to take breaks from reading between the last 4 or 5 chapters so that I could fully digest the complexities of the unfolding situations.

That 'The Windup Girl' is a debut novel was a complete surprise to me, as it was written with such finesse. I can see why it is so highly praised and won both the prestigious Hugo and Nebula awards for Science-Fiction writing. I am definitely going to be watching out for more novels by Bacigalupi, and intend to track down some of his short stories as soon as possible.

If you are interested in other dystopian novels I have read and  recommend, then have a read of my review for 'A Brave New World'. But remember that 'The Windup Girl' is now at the top of my list of dystopian favourites.

Love it, Read it,
LR