I am predisposed to largely interior, high specificity and diction, with the plot/pacing being secondary. Naturally I loved this very much. The prose work is immaculate and provides excellent characterization; it respects the readers’ intelligence and it provides an aspect of soft worldbuilding. Speaking of, usually I find soft worldbuilding to be difficult, and a method of eschewing a really comprehensively thought out world bible, or something to that effect. But in this context it made a lot of sense to me, since we learn that the protagonist wasn’t really politically aware or engaged, and the process of her rights being stripped away and society being shifted feels really quick to her, even though if you pay attention it actually took many years and was steeped in a reaction to fear. Not to mention, famously, Atwood kept clippings of actual stories where all the things womens are subjected to actually already have happened, at the time of writing.

I also thought the ending was quite good, though jarring. It was the most unexpected part of the book for me, since I have seen the first season of the TV show, which, as far as I can recall, seemed to follow this pretty exactly, at least plot-wise. I liked the novel far and away better though, since the show cannot provide the same interiority, and the rendering of the world feels far more comprehensive and believable. Though, her oppression is a lot more keen, learning about what she thought and felt as she was being indoctrinated.

Glad I finally got around to reading this. I’ve had it, and the sequel on my shelf for years now. I put it off because I wasn’t in the right headspace for it, but in a lot of ways this has more humanity in it than the show, so I needn’t have worried. Exceptional stuff.