Book Review: The Handmaid's Tale

Title: The Handmaid's Tale
Author: Margaret Atwood
Format: Audiobook
Reading Dates: May 27, 2013 - June 12, 2013
Rating: ****1/2

In a recent season of the TV show Survivor, contestants stood in shoulder-deep water in the Pacific Ocean. Above their heads was a railing, and as the tide slowly came in they went from chatting amiably with each other to sputtering pitifully, their noses pressed as far through the railing as nature would allow, trying to grab that last bit of air that they could. As I read The Handmaid's Tale, that same deep sense of claustrophobia crept over me. That sudden panic when you realize that everything was just fine a little bit ago, but how in the hell did I get here and will I ever be able to get out?

The unnamed handmaid in this case lives in a dystopian future where religious fundamentalists have taken over the United States. Infertility is the norm, so the powers that be enforce a strict interpretation of the Old Testament and conscript young women who may have a chance at being fertile into becoming the handmaids of powerful leaders. Their sole purpose is to bring a baby into the world, and their life is limited to only that.

The fact that I felt like I was choking from lack of air most of the time I read this book is testament to Margaret Atwood's fine writing and Clare Dane's masterful narration. This one has been tagged by editors as an Audible Essential, and I agree. Really good book, highly recommended.

Good Things, and By Good I Mean Free!!

Two quick pieces of news:

1. Drumroll......I finally got my domain name functioning, so now you can bookmark my blog at readingwithscissors.com. Whoo-hoo! No more dashes; no more blogspot.com, although both of those should still work if you need them to.
2. Amazon announced WhisperSync for Voice today. Buy a Kindle book, add the Audible audiobook version to your purchase, and WhisperSync for Voice will synchronize your reading.
   
   This is going to be great at our house. Captain America is always snoring in my ear late at night, so now I can start reading my Kindle and then when I get in the car to go to lunch the next day, I can plug in my iPhone and listen to the same book in the car AND Whispersync starts the audiobook right where I left off in the Kindle! Wowser!
   
   But better news than that is that right now, Amazon/Audible is offering 20 free titles to try it out. These are all classic books, and if you've had a Kindle for awhile, you've probably seen free classics before. But the really good part is that right now the Audible part is free, too. This isn't a public domain recording they're offering, but the real live professionally recorded versions with narrators like Davinia Porter and John Lee.
   
   I've already downloaded about 15 of the titles. (Did I mention I'm a hoarder?) Interested? Start here:  http://www.amazon.com/s/?node=5744839011.