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The Handmaid's Tale  By  cover art

The Handmaid's Tale

By: Margaret Atwood
Narrated by: Claire Danes
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Publisher's summary

Audie Award, Fiction, 2013

Margaret Atwood's popular dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale explores a broad range of issues relating to power, gender, and religious politics. Multiple Golden Globe award-winner Claire Danes (Romeo and Juliet, The Hours) gives a stirring performance of this classic in speculative fiction, one of the most powerful and widely read novels of our time.

After a staged terrorist attack kills the President and most of Congress, the government is deposed and taken over by the oppressive and all-controlling Republic of Gilead. Offred, now a Handmaid serving in the household of the enigmatic Commander and his bitter wife, can remember a time when she lived with her husband and daughter and had a job, before she lost even her own name. Despite the danger, Offred learns to navigate the intimate secrets of those who control her every move, risking her life in breaking the rules in hopes of ending this oppression.

Cover Art by Fred Marcellino. Used with permission of Pippin Properties, Inc.

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©1985 Margaret Atwood (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Claire Danes sparkles in this performance…Danes’s Offred is complex, and her flashes of intense strength highlight her vulnerability. This is a consuming listen, thanks to Danes’s emotional subtleties.” (AudioFile)

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What listeners say about The Handmaid's Tale

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    1 out of 5 stars

Only lmade it 90 minutes into this dirge

What would have made The Handmaid's Tale better?

It's amazing how different we all are. A number of reviewers have said this is their favourite book. For me I could only endure 90 minutes. It is boring, slow, describes an unlikely dystopia, and the characters are utterly uninteresting.

What could Margaret Atwood have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Developed characters. Created a mystery or storyline that was even remotely interesting.

What three words best describe Claire Danes’s performance?

It seems OK

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

None that I could find in 90 minutes

Any additional comments?

Glad I got it on special!

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Just OK

With so many positive reviews and my newfound appreciation for the author's works, I expected the handmaid's tale to be an easy 'A'. I give it a C- overall. I thought Claire Danes did a decent job of narrating the story - her portrayal of the main character is what kept me from giving up 3/4 of the way through. The story hovered on the surface of the world changed by war and disease - society has rebuilt itself but there is no explanation of what really happened. The vague descriptions resulted in never having enough to really take hold of the reader - I felt like I was only being given half the story and the ending left many questions unanswered.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Reviewers said "Must Read" so I read....

Caire Danes was wonderful.
Prepare to be depressed...upset....appalled.
I believe I have suffered enough in this life to not have my only form of entertainment take me to this place. I understand that we should not wear blinders because something like this could actually happen. Is it so self absorbing to desire to not involve my brain and heart in this imagined ugliness. It takes me down too far.
I know we as people perpetrate atrocities on one another. Maybe the purpose of this book is to open our eyes, make us responsible to do something.

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11 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Claire needs to stick to the screen, sadly.

Claire Diane is not an audible actress. I love her on the screen but for an audiobook her voice is too flat. She doesn’t use any kind of voices/change in character so when there are multiple people in a conversation it gets confusing. It’s like a friend is reading to you at your bedside - it passes the time but it’s not entertaining.

I didn’t love this story. It’s very negative, sexual in a depressing way and is too down on religion in general. I could handle that in small doses but after listening for about 4 hours I had to just quit. It’s not entertainment for me to listen about a girl and her details of repeatedly getting raped, and some extreme religion being the cause. Not uplifting, not inspiring. Thumbs down.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Gripping story with a pitch-perfect narrator

What an amazing experience to listen to the performance of this book. The story was sad, hopeless, and agonizing, but also gripping and well told. Claire Danes does an excellent job of portraying Offred (we never learn her real name). Highly recommend!

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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Great story by an even greater reader!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Handmaid's Tale to be better than the print version?

Yes...Claire Danes certainly out reads me!!

What other book might you compare The Handmaid's Tale to and why?

Of course, ""Hunger Games" comes first to mind...but so does "The Chose One" and I put it on par with Kate Winslet's reading of "Terez Raquin" in narrative quality and twisted romance!

What does Claire Danes bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Her perfect pitch of dead emotion with pleading description. You can see her in the part and it feels like a block buster film.

If you could take any character from The Handmaid's Tale out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Both the main character (Offred) and her true love. I'm sure they'd have stories to tell!

Any additional comments?

Not to be missed! Should be on A-list, if it isn't already!!

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A classic. Narration is OUTSTANDING!

This book fills me with despair. However, it is important and is a must-read.

Claire Danes' performance is absolutely amazing. I was wary of famous actors as narrators. Once I started listening, I realized Danes is a natural. She adds a special something to this story, making this audiobook as classic and essential as the book itself!

More Claire Danes!!!

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Thanks to all involved

First of all, Claire Danes did a marvelous job narrating this. She seemed to grow into the character.
Then, I was struck hard by the relationship between this book and what the current Republican party seems to want to accomplish in its ongoing war on women.

As every decade of my life passes I am more and more frustrated by the second class citizenship of women throughout the world. While I listened to this book female fetuses in China and India were aborted because they were not boys. A student on a bus in Delhi was raped for 3 hours while her boyfriend was beaten. Another Indian woman was gang raped and set on fire. This brutality toward women isn't punished in many countries so it continues.

Also now Chief Theresa Spence is on a hunger strike demanding that the Canadian PM speak with her about the issues of sovereignty of the First Nations people. He's refusing to honor the law or the the dignity of this woman. Would he talk with her if she was a man? I wonder.

I worry that the future for women will be worse than the past. This book contains much in need of discussion and action. THanks Margaret ATwood.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Haunting

I wasn't expecting to enjoy the book as much as I did. Claire Danes did a beautiful job and captured all of Offred's emotions. She brought the book to life. I felt as if I was sitting and listening to Offred in my home recollecting about her time in Gilead. While the book has left me with a haunted feeling, I can't stop thinking about it. It is a wonderful cautionary tale that everyone should read or listen to. This is going to be one of the rare books that I will probably listen to again.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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Dystopian classic

I first read The Handmaid's Tale approximately 30 years ago. It has since become a modern classic. In my opinion the book, in print and in audio, is a total waste of time. It's worse than just boring; it is also disgusting. Not my cup of tea!! I did complete the novel again and found the narration deserving of 5 stars.

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