From my mom for releasing. (edit:) I bought this for her from the Berlin Brethren Church used book sale in July 2023 in Berlin PA.

This copy has "Palimpsest" written on the inside back cover.

Bringing to today's BC in DC meetup.

I selected this mass market paperback (c. 1985) at today's BCinDC meetup at MOD Pizza in Rockville, Maryland, USA. I plan to release it for Banned Books Week (October 1-7, 2023).

"First released in 1985, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is a longtime bestseller… and a longtime object of censorship. The futuristic, dystopian novel about patriarchy run wild has long been one of the United States' most-banned books—fodder for those who would censor or even burn its searing words." (Smithsonian Magazine)

Thanks for sharing this book with me, BlueMozaik.

I read another copy of this book in 2016. This is what I wrote after I read it...

This book is horrifying.

Offred is a Handmaid to a Commander and his Wife. Offred's role is to produce offspring for this couple in the dystopian Republic of Gilead. She is as much a nonperson as her lack of a name implies. Throughout the entire novel, we learn that she once had a real name, but now only she knows what it was. She is under the control of one couple and the Eyes, who are out to punish anyone guilty of any infraction of the the rules which govern this quasi-religious system.

As I read this story of a woman whose whole life is always controlled by others, I wondered what purpose her life had for herself. I found this novel much more frightening than George Orwell's "1984" because it was not only the lack of personal freedom that creeped me out, but it was the misogynistic suppression of most women that reminded me of the real world...and how important it is for women to be free and have rights. It is not lost on me as to how quickly this can be lost. That was one point this novel repeats.

There was so much about this novel to hate, but it certainly was neither the writing (which was clear and descriptive) nor was it the character of Offred (whom I wanted to be able to break free from her life of hell). What there was to hate in this book can also be found in our real world: greed, elitism, slavery, misogyny, sexual predation, and so forth. That is what really freaked me out about this book. What if science fiction were, in fact, not fiction at all?

I'm releasing this book in conjunction with Banned Books Week (October 1-7, 2023).

--------------------------------------

Hello and welcome to BookCrossing ... where we make the
whole world a library!

Now that you've "caught" this book, it is yours to do with as you like. Read it, keep it, or give it away. It's your choice!

I'd love if you'd enter a note here on BookCrossing about this book -- where you found it, how you like it, and/or where you release it. If you join BookCrossing (free and fun), kindly list me, SqueakyChu, or any other journaler on this thread as your referring person. Thank you so much.

Enjoy the book!