Atwood writes about the frightening socialized immaturity and emptiness of men quite well, but her supposedly radical-leaning female characters (Moira and the narrator's mother) are flat. similarly, when talking to the Commander Offred argues not that women's autonomy was overlooked in the construction of Gilead but that “love” is the thing that's missing. seriously? the world-building is impressive but the articulation of sexist degradation comes across as more conceptual than felt. I am a dude so doubtless I am missing nuance but this didn't connect with me.

it doesn't help that I read the (much better, much scarier, much more beautiful) Manacled first, or that I was reading Fall on Your Knees (which has insanely good character-driven writing) at the same time as this. The Handmaid's Tale felt like a shadow compared to those two books.