Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid's Tale {Weekly Geeks Q&A}

I'm still playing catch-up on 13th June's Weekly Geeks. I know, I know, it's been about a month, and that's ample time to catch up! However, after this, I'll just have two more to do: Disgrace, and His Dark Materials. Am planning to re-read the latter this month, so might end up doing that one after!

Anyway, on with it...

From gautami tripathy:

The Handmaid’s Tale is one of the best books I have read. What did you think of it? Do you think it is possible? Can you see a future like that? Did it scare you?

I thought it was fantastic. It's well-written, a page-turner, and depicts a heavily dystopian futuristic society, which scared the living daylights out of me!

However, when you ask if I find it possible or not, I have to say, I don't. Maybe, it's only me, but I find the dystopias presented in 1984, Brave New World, and Fahrenheit 451 much more realistic than this. I know people have found this book scarily possible, but, in my opinion, the human race has progressed way too much, to let women be reduced to nothing but maids and handmaids ("Handmaids" are women who have only one purpose: conceive a child for the family that looks after her). With each generation, women are becoming more powerful, and more career-oriented, at the expense of not having families, and settling down. The world is becoming smaller, and the cries of democracy are louder than ever. I just can't see the government of the United States being overthrown, and replaced by this totalitarian nightmare. That said, I can see this happening in some extremist countries, where women are not allowed to drive, vote, or leave their house without a man.

I am not American, but, with today being 4th of July, one has to ask the question: can the 'leaders of the free world' ever be the polar opposite?

The book scares me. I think Offred, the protagonist, said something along the lines of many handmaids tend to commit suicide, instead of living life as they do - under constant pressure and no guarantees. To be honest, if I was ever unlucky to exist in a society like that, I'd probably just kill myself. Luckily, I don't think something this horrible will happen in my lifetime. For that, I'm grateful.

From Maree:

I loved The Handmaid’s Tale – did you find it scarily possible?

I didn't. I just can't see a society like that coming into existence. Maybe I'm in denial. Maybe I'm an optimist. But... I just don't see it!

From Kristen:

I have a slight fear of reading Margaret Atwood again – she’s so revered in Canada that it’s intimidating. Talk me into why I should read the Handmaid’s Tale :o)

Jeez, I'm not very convincing. :( I'll try though...

Atwood is probably revered in Canada for a reason: she's that good! That should be reason enough to read the book. What makes this book really special, is, realizing how lucky we are, as things stand. Feminism is rampant right now, and women are allowed to make their own decisions, with respect to what to wear, and when to settle down and have kids. Their choice isn't restricted to being a 'martha' (a maid), or a handmaid. Can you imagine having to flip a coin between those two options, and nothing else?

It's well-written, it's a page-turner, and Atwood's made the story as real as possible: from Offred being your regular American woman, to feeling semi-conscious seeing Japanese tourists in shorts (revealing their legs). Can people be conditioned that easily? Or, in a society where there are no choices, people just accept things the way they are to make their life that much easier? It raises some provocative questions, which you probably don't want to think about, and which will haunt you for a long long time.

Did I do a good job of talking you into it?

From Rebecca:

The Handmaid’s Tale haunted me for weeks after I read it. I loved it and don’t think I’ll ever forget it, but I know that not everyone feels that way. What was your reaction to it? Did you find it believable and frightening or too futuristic and extreme? How would you describe it in 1 or 2 sentences to someone who’s never heard of it before?

As already mentioned above, it scared me. A lot. More than I want to admit. I can't imagine ever living in a society like that, and frankly speaking, death might be more viable. But... I also thought it was out and out fiction, and too extremist to be 'real'.

Two sentence summary:

The United States has been replaced by the Republic of Gilead, a futuristic society, where women are reduced to being 'reproductive' machines for unknown men, and then give up the child to the wife of these men. Everyone knows what their purpose is... and ironically enough, most other women envy the 'handmaids' for the alternative is being a maid, and not being treated with dignity or respect.

From Jodie:

Why do you think so many dystopian novels set in the future find women subjugated once again? What did you think of the rich women’s complicity in the other women’s fate in The Handmaid’s Tale?

I don't know. Will we do the full 360, and go back to the beginning, where women are subjugated for their role in the 'Original Sin' again? Is there another episode that will replace the 'Original Sin'? Or, will some radical extremist group take over the world, and ensure that some of their customs regarding women will take precedence over what the Western world knows today.

Well, that's a tough one. I think it depends on the rich woman - they are dependent on the handmaid for one thing, and one thing only. While some of the rich women are likely to be grateful to their handmaid for providing them with a child - something they can now 'buy', they are not obliged to be so. Simultaneously, some women will hold the handmaids in contempt, for it cannot be easy for them to see their husband indulging in sexual activities with another woman, out of 'protocol'. Probably this coupled with their own sense of incompletion leads to the untoward fate of handmaids. Of course, if and when the handmaids are having an actual relationship with the husband, without the wife's knowledge, and she finds out, the fate is much worse....

Sebastian Barry - The Secret Scripture

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2008, and winner of the Costa Award 2008, The Secret Scripture explores the lives of both, Dr. Grene (a psychiatrist) and his centerian patient, Roseanne, as both characters reflect on their life from their youngest days, to where are they at this point in time.

Roseanne McNulty has enjoyed the comforts of the Roscommon Mental Hospital for more decades than she can remember. However, the hospital is about to be demolished, and Dr. Grene is re-assessing his patients, to see who are free to roam the outside world, and who need to go through the pains of moving hospitals.

When Dr. Grene breaks the news to her, and says he'll need to revisit her admission to the hospital, she starts reflecting on her life, from her earliest memories, and jots them down, addressing the reader of the 'scripture'. However, she's reluctant to share her memories with her doctor, and keeps the scriptures hidden from the hospital staff, by keeping it under a loose floorboard. Calling herself a cailleach (the old crone of stories, the wise woman, and sometimes a kind of witch), Roseanne tries to keep her writing as accurate as possible, but, as she admits

No one has the monopoly on truth, not even myself.

At the same time, Dr. Grene is dealing with the pains of his personal life, with the estrangement of his wife, despite living in the same house, followed by her death.

We are not wolves, but lambs astonished in the margins of the fields by sunlight and summer. She lost her world, Martha. And I lost mine. No doubt it was well deserved. Whatever her husband suffered was not, and whatever Bet suffered I know for a certainty was not.

Because faithfulness is not a human question, but a divine one.

As Dr. Grene tries finding out more about Roseanne, while battling his own problems, the book progresses into a beautiful piece, with some incredible memories, and some terribly sad ones (and some disturbing ones). The reader cannot help but empathize with both characters, as they struggle to figure out how they got to where they are: from Roseanne's early childhood memories and the silence of her mother, to her father's unfortunate death, to her marriage with Tom McNulty which was followed by an annulment, to the birth of her child, which was taken away from her - a lot of which boiled down to her being Presbyterian. She acknowledges her loneliness, at various stages of her life, and the reader cannot help but feel a tug in their heart as they read her story.

How I wished suddenly for my own mother to seek for me, so fiercely, so sweatingly, to find me again on the lost strand of the world, to rescue me, to recruit others for my rescue, to bring me again to her breast, as that distant mother so obviously ached ached to do with the happy creature in my arms.

With almost poetic writing, Barry brings to life a realistic Ireland during the 1922 civil war, where there's the smell of death and betrayal; where idealism is being compromised, and, innocence lost; where the only thing that matters is being on the side of power, and surviving. The characters are incredibly well-drawn, specially that of Fr. Gaunt - a character I grew to hate as the book progressed, for it was he who seemed to be making life very difficult for Roseanne, just because she did not follow his instructions.

Both, the beauty and the problem of the book lies in the first person narration of Roseanne and Dr. Grene, as they both write in their respective journals. It is easy for the reader to lose track of whose reflections they are reading, and as the stories come together, it gets confusing... specially as, Barry also highlights the meetings between the various characters in the present-day (i.e. the whole book is not written in a reflective manner).

I really enjoyed the book, and Barry's writing flows so lyrically that it makes this a very pleasant reading experience. You feel like the characters are in front of you telling you their stories, and you can actually see all the emotions that must be flowing through them at each moment.

Rating: 4

Zoe Heller - Notes On A Scandal

Who doesn't love a good juicy scandal? The type that makes its way to the tabloids, and has everyone talking about it, and judging the protagonists of the impropriety. Everyone has an opinion, and more oft' than not, it's judging the miscreants. Society. Business as usual. 

So, what's the scandal? One newspaper headlines read:

Sex Teacher Passes Her Orals With Flying Colours

while another read:

Teacher Takes Keen Interest In Student Body. 

I'm sure you've heard about it: a teacher having an illicit affair with one of her high school students. Or, in this case, a happily married forty-one year old having an affair with a fifteen year old. 

But, the narrator isn't Sheba Hart, the forty-one year old teacher. Nor is it Steven Connolly, the student. Instead, it's Barbara Covett - a sixty-something year old woman, who has never married. Barbara is Sheba's friend, her defender, if you like. The Sun refers to her as the saucy school teacher's spin-doctor, despite the fact that she has had forty years of experience as a teacher, and has never been associated with anything scandalous prior to this. 

So, what prompts someone like Barbara to act as Sheba's defender? When Sheba walks into the school for the first time, Barbara feels like she's found her 'kindred spirit'. Jealousy overcomes her when she discovers that Sheba has befriended Susan, another teacher who Barbara dislikes. In fact, as the book progresses, the reader comes to find Barbara as an increasingly judgmental condescending character, who has a superiority complex, coupled with some major inhibitions about being single. She's overbearing, clingy, and tends to drive people away. Yet, her extremely high opinion of herself, and the way she manages to justify all her acts almost makes the reader feel sorry for her delusions of grandeur. 

Barbara uses gold stars to mark the timeline of her friendship with Sheba, in her notes; notes that she's writing in order to help Sheba's looming court case. She's almost subservient to Sheba, as she cooks for her, and looks after her, and takes great delight in Sheba's increasing dependence on her. Don't worry - these are not spoilers. In fact, this book is written retrospectively, so the thriller aspect of it is minimal. At the very outset, we know where the protagonists stand, and what has happened. 

Barbara (and subsequently, the reader) struggles to understand Sheba's infatuation with this semi-literate adolescent, who is marginally artistic. She has a devoted husband, a rebellious attractive teenage daughter, and a son with Downs' syndrome. Barbara at one point says that she'd bet they were happily married, and even according to Sheba, they are. In my opinion, what instigates Sheba is a combination of the innocence the boy has, as well as the adventure that a fling like this brings: sex sessions in Hampsted Heath (I kid you not!), meeting at his place when his parents are away, smuggling him into her basement studio, and finding some time in her art studio at school, where they drew the curtains.... Sheba isn't an idiot. She knows what the consequences of her actions are, if found out. But, that doesn't stop her. Incredible that people are ready to risk their entire life (as they know it) because someone finds them attractive, at a time when they're vulnerable to feeling otherwise due to a mid-life crisis of sorts.  

Why, then, was Sheba moved to such an extravagant estimate of his virtues? Why did shr insist on seeing him as her little Helen Keller in a sea of Yahoos. The papers will tell you that Sheba's judgment was clouded by desire: she was attracted to Connolly, and in order to explain that attraction, she convinced herself that he was some kind of genius. 

This is a fascinating gripping story of betrayal, sex, and infatuation. It's not a thriller, but yet you can't let go, and you're compelled to turn each page, and consume it all. It's well-written, funny at times, perverse, thought-provoking (specially in the beginning where they discuss why a woman being the deviant is funny, whereas if it was a man and a fifteen year old girl, it would be disturbing. Guess there is an element of truth in that), and truly shocking. Barbara's tone throughout the book is matter-of-fact and to the point, with minimal padding and meandering. So, while it's not as emotive as you'd expect it to be, it still makes a great read. 

Overall, four stars. 

Rohinton Mistry - Such A Long Journey

This book is not in the same league as A Fine Balance, or even, for that matter, Family Matters. However, the more I think about this book, the more I appreciate it. Mistry has this amazing knack of bringing to life a realistic Indian society, and how they handle various crises and catastrophes that life brings in its wake.

This book centers around the life of Gustad, a god-fearing bank clerk, who puts trust, loyalty, good work ethic and friendship above all. Despite living in a congested and small apartment in Bombay, where the windows are perpetually blacked out (it’s based in the 1970s India, when war was imminent. However, the windows had been blacked out since the 1960s Indo-China war, and Gustad, much to his wife’s chagrin, had left them in that state, certain that it was only a matter of time before the ‘blackout’ was reinforced), the wall opposite is used as a public bathroom by many people, and the resultant stench attracts flies and mosquitoes, Gustad tries to make the best of everything he has without complaints or regrets. So imagine his happiness when his eldest son, who he always had the highest of aspirations for, gets admitted into IIT, an academic institution renowned world-wide for its superiority.

However, his life soon starts falling apart, with his son suddenly shunning the whole IIT ideology, and wishing to remain an Arts student in his present college, his nine year old daughter having some mysterious illness which the doctor is unable to diagnose, and an old friend who he hasn’t heard from in many years, asking him for a favor that seems to have its roots in some corrupt activities. And if that’s not bad enough, his present-day closest friend seems to be very ill, and hiding his illness behind a facade of sorts.

Gustad attempts to do the right thing: help his friend (against his better judgment), and pray continuously, hoping things will turn for the better. He meets an old friend in the local market, who accompanies him to a church where miracles are known to happen. On the other hand, his wife, influenced by one of their neighbors, is convinced the horrors that is affecting her family is being caused by an inauspicious ‘evil eye’, and she follows directives provided by the neighbor to cast off this evil eye.

This book is descriptive, seemingly accurate in its narrations, and is beautifully written - the funeral scene/’Tower of Silence’ scene specifically comes to mind. The characters are well-drawn, and well-built, and as the story unfolds, you can’t help but admire Gustad who continuously adheres to what he believes in, and genuinely attempts to make the world around him a better place.

This is not a feel-good book. It’s a book about India in the 1970s, where the government is corrupt, and money meant for the greater good is channeled to the secret bank accounts of the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. It’s a book about a middle-class family who try to stay together, while the world around them is falling apart. It’s about friendship at its very deepest. It’s about seemingly silly superstitions, albeit the ‘remedies’ actually seem to work. And it’s a book about humanity, morality and integrity in a world tainted with greed, corruption, selfishness and if I may say so - the ‘evil eye’.

Overall, a 7.5 on 10. And yes, I’d definitely recommend Rohinton Mistry. The more I read books by him, the more I like them... which is saying a lot, considering the first book I read by him is probably proclaimed his best!

David Mitchell - Number9Dream

Although really difficult to read at times, as the book continuously drifts between fantasy and reality, this book was thoroughly enjoyable. While it’s the first book I’ve read by Mitchell, it definitely won’t be the last.

The book kicks off in a cafe in Tokyo where nineteen year old Eiji Miyake introduces himself, and the quest he’s on: to find his father, a man he’s never met, a man whose name he doesn’t know, and a man who has always been a mystery to him. The start itself entices you to read on:

It is a simple matter. I know your name, and you knew mine once upon a time: Eiji Miyake. Yes, that Eiji Miyake. We are both busy people, Ms. Kato, so why not cut the small talk? I am in Tokyo to find my father. You know his name and his address. And you are going to give me both. Right now. Or something like that. A galaxy of cream unribbons in my coffee cup, and the background chatter pulls into focus. My first morning in Tokyo, and I am already getting ahead of myself.

As the story unfolds, we are informed of the people Eiji meets in the city, the people he befriends - some who betray him, and some who continue to be helpful towards him. Throughout the narrative, he reflects on his past: his dead twin sister, and his alcoholic mother who had a brief, almost non-existent role, in his childhood.

The title inspired from Lennon’s 1974 song: #9 Dream (So long ago, was it in a dream, was it just a dream? I know, yes I know. Seemed so very real, it seemed so real to me), the book traces his adventures in Tokyo, as he gets involved with what seems to be the Tokyo equivalent of the mafia (Yakusa), meets a girl who, for the first time, almost makes him forget his dead sister for long intervals, and gets in touch with a man who claims to be his grandfather, who provides Eiji with a diary from his days as a kaiten pilot during World War II. He absconds to the house of his boss’s sister, and reads anthropomorphic short stories written by her; finds an alternate reality in roleplaying video games and contemplates whether his father is a politician, a member of the Yakusa or a doctor. If that’s not enough drama, his estranged mother tries to get back in touch with him, and the new wife of his father threatens him.

The book is fast-paced, interesting, and draws you in. There are characters you love, characters you hate, disturbing scenes you can vividly imagine in your head (e.g. when he goes bowling with a man who promises him information about his father), and all this mingled in with the overactive imagination of the author. Sometimes, you aren’t sure if what you’re reading is real, or just a dream, and sometimes, you just end up hoping it’s dream...

Overall, for me, a 7/10.