Book Club {review of The Handmaid's Tale}

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So yesterday was our first official meeting as a Book Club!  It was so much fun!!!  It looks like we will have about 14 lovely ladies in all and the dynamics seem very good.  We read and discussed The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood and everyone had a lot to say about the themes, plot lines, and characters.  This book has a lot to talk about so the meeting started at 7pm and after about 30min. of chatting, snacking, and a little wine we started our discussion.  We wrapped up around 9:45 and I am sure we could have chatted for another hour at least!

The main topic of conversation stemmed on the fact that we decided this could actually happen and how easily.  At first there were some in the group that didn't think it would be possible but then one girl mentioned the Holocaust and how millions of Jewish people throughout an entire continent were rounded up and forced to live a certain way, families torn apart, millions killed.  I mentioned that it would be easy for every debit and credit card belonging to a female to be "turned off" of be considered invalid (just like the compucards in The Handmaid's Tale) and seeing as we only carry little bits of cash (if any) in our purses what would be able to do then?  At by the end of the discussion I think everyone decided that these things happening in The Handmaid's Tale could infact become a reality today.

Another thing we talked about for quite a while is whether we would want to be Marthas, Wives, or Handmaids.  We decided that NONE of us wanted to be Wives and most of us wanted to be Marthas.  We also decided that we might be more rebellious than Offred had been.

Over all I think the discussion was very interesting and I think we will do well as a group.  I can hardly wait until next month!!!