Shahnaz Ahmed
@bookishpodcast · 4:49
THE HANDMAID’S TALE (please denote how far you’ve read to avoid spoilers)
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And I feel like Aunt Lydia is her means of sustenance in today's world or telling her what happens in today's world. There's still world building. Then you have these handmaids. I guess that's what they are. I mean, she's in this room. Does all this emphasis on that? Okay. She has this room. She can only walk. There's all this description of her clothes, how she can't see she's not allowed to talk to people
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 0:25
Hi. Okay. So I only listen to the very first bit of yours because I'm not up to chapter ten yet, but I just wanted to say I'm Super excited for this, and I should hopefully be able to start in curiousness in earnest is what I was looking for by next week. So I will be joining you soon. And I'm really excited
Shahnaz Ahmed
@bookishpodcast · 4:58
You know what I mean? His p****, the way she describes it. She has an entire paragraph describing this sluglike appendage that grows and then shrivels away and penetrates and, oh, God. Creepy crawly. Throw up. Disgusting. Yeah. So you have this commander guy, and then the ceremony. This books is just, oh, my. I don't know. I mean, I really want to DNF it
Shahnaz Ahmed
@bookishpodcast · 4:45
I'm really curious to see what her next doctor visit will be because the offer he makes. I'm really curious about how he can legitimately make an offer because even if he wants to impregnate her. Okay, fine. Is there a guarantee that she's going to get pregnant by him? He's like, You've been waiting. You can do this. What is the guarantee on these things? Oh, my gosh. This book is just, I don't know
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 3:38
I guess you could say of one of the young guards who she knows is not allowed to touch or be with a woman at this point and where he is in the hierarchy of things. I guess so far really enjoying it. The writing is definitely very at what esque as far as what I know of her writing so far, where we have a lot of long, winding sentences and phrases that can sometimes be difficult to keep up with
Shahnaz Ahmed
@bookishpodcast · 4:05
So all I know is that it's very disturbing, and it involves women and mistreatment of them or something like that. That's all I know about it. Okay. But when you say, oh, well, you like, Atwood how she's like, you have all these people and the roles are designated. It didn't come naturally to me. I'll be very honest
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 2:51
But also I think the fact that I've seen other show it's like I'm really noticing where the book is kind of different than the choices they made in visuals and character descriptions in the show, which is interesting picking up where I left off when I was outside, I noticed that I'm really reading from a writing point of view right now, too, in relation to description because I'm in the middle of revising a first draft of my book, and it's interesting because hearing you say the description is kind of a lot for you
Shahnaz Ahmed
@bookishpodcast · 4:59
I mean, we had Joe was coming and then I think, Rachel, you commented and then we're like, okay, now what's next? But since this is active, as you said, let's keep this going. Let's see, Rachel, I talked about Handmaid's tale and the description and the writing. And you talked about reading from the point of view of a writer and from looking at writing versus plot. And I'm trying to think what your question was for me
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 0:49
I will be so excited to talk about it more whenever so no Rush and no pressure. Same with Handmaid's Tale. I definitely am reading at a bit of a slower pace because there are a couple of other books I'm trying to listen to at the same time as well when I'm walking and doing other things. So no Rush excited to hear what you've you have to say as you're reading whenever you have a chance to get started
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 4:39
I'm glad I read it. And just like, structurally, it was really important for me, and I really liked reading it from a craft lens and seeing how it was put together. But it was interesting. I feel like part of the reason I didn't totally love it or I wasn't like, oh my gosh, I have to read this again
Shahnaz Ahmed
@bookishpodcast · 4:50
And then the other thing is with the person. She takes a walk with the off gland person. It's just a little bit of foreshadowing of something where she has told her that there are other people who also think this is wrong or whatever. And it's a neat foreshadowing of what could happen. I'm on page right now. I'm reading let's see
Shahnaz Ahmed
@bookishpodcast · 1:49
Also, I wonder what Atwood is going to say about her, because I know Moya was asking our main character, hey, you want to come with me or it's like, it's too risky. There's all this stuff. By the way, what is our main character's name? Why do I feel like I'm missing it? I feel like it is mentioned somewhere. I thought I almost heard it somewhere, but maybe I didn't. So does she have a name?
Hey Shinnah, I'm jumping in quickly to just answer your last question of Red's real name is never revealed in the Noel, but I'm not sure if the television series gives her a name, but as far as I have come, which is almost the end of the book, I don't think her name is mentioned anywhere it's so I just wanted to share that here and I'll be back with my take on the novel, but I just couldn't resist jumping in to just answer this question of yours
Shahnaz Ahmed
@bookishpodcast · 2:43
This has no bearing on where you are in the books. Is there a purpose when authors do not reveal a character's name and hold it for the whole book or never reveal it? What do you think? Stylistically artistically. What purpose does that have? I will bring up another very famous book that has done that. And that is Rebecca, the girl. She doesn't have a name. She's just the girl, right? Yeah
I would break down off Red as the handmaid of the Commander Fred and of Warren as the handmade of the Commander Warren. The commander named Warren and similarly of Glenn would be the handmaid of the Commander Glenn. So it kind of makes me feel at what was trying to make this fact very clear that these handmaids had no personalities or individualities of their own. They were not supposed to have a name. They were not supposed to share their real names
Shahnaz Ahmed
@bookishpodcast · 3:00
I'm going, oh, and that's the beauty of even discussing a book because people get so many different perspectives. I mean, different people have different perspectives and different themes that really speak to them and hit them, which is just absolutely wonderful. Yeah, I can't wait to hear your thoughts because you're going to do the whole book. You're not going to break it up. You're going to be talking whole books. So that would be good
Shahnaz Ahmed
@bookishpodcast · 4:50
And there is that anger in offrat that how dare she she has known all along that my daughter is alive and that mention has never happened. It's just this book is effed up like, effed up in every way possible. So then, yeah, it's just so bizarro. And then when they take you back to the way the world changed was just like craziness. Then they bring you back to this Dystopian world, and then they take you to that one scene
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 2:12
So I'm curious to see before I finish that is ever made explicit, or if the book just ends and never having revealed that to us at all. So we will see and I will comment as I finish
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 4:12
So that was really fun for me. This is a five star book. I was going back and forth. I almost gave it a four because of that kind of a little bit of a disappointment for me in the end, but I know that that's partially influenced by some differences and liberties that the show takes that are kind of necessary. But when I'm just thinking about the book itself, five out of five, I think the pros is absolutely gorgeous
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