NationStates Jolt Archive

Did anybody else here read this? Geez it weirded me out o_o

Did anybody else here read this? Geez it weirded me out o_o


I did... ages ago. Scary, isn't it? Like a Christian version of Afghanistan under the Taliban...

Did anybody else here read this? Geez it weirded me out o_o
If it unsettled you, Margaret Atwood accomplished what she set out to do. This is the strength of speculative fiction. It is a cautionary tale. Hope springs from having read it, understood it, and understanding that the world on which she speculates is very - very much like our own - and that our world must not reflect that nightmare vision, that it must never be allowed to.

I did... ages ago. Scary, isn't it? Like a Christian version of Afghanistan under the Taliban...
It was more of a vague Judeo-Christian sect (they persecuted a ton of other Christians, I remember), and what was scary was that it was in the US. But I remember that Texas seceeded (or so it was implied) and became an independent republic again (so much for thinking that Texas is conservative :D)

Forgive my ignorance, what is this book?

Did anybody else here read this? Geez it weirded me out o_o

If you liked the way this book made you think, you might be receptive to one or two other recommendations...

"The Gate to Women's Country" by Sherri S Tepper, and

"Heart of Gold" by Sharon Shinn.

I don't know if you'd be able to even find them in a local library, unless it is a particularly good library... but, if you can, they are both thought-provoking, and well worth the read.

It was more of a vague Judeo-Christian sect (they persecuted a ton of other Christians, I remember), and what was scary was that it was in the US. But I remember that Texas seceeded (or so it was implied) and became an independent republic again (so much for thinking that Texas is conservative :D)

*lol
So it would have been less scary if it had been somewhere else? To make a scenario like this seem credible, you've got to go for the most likely option. And if there is any country in the Western world that might fall victim to religious extremism of any kind, it's the US.
Unless, of course, Europe's population should indeed be largely Muslim by the year 2200, however likely that is.

Did anybody else here read this? Geez it weirded me out o_oI saw the movie too-- it came on tv by coincidence shortly before I finished the book. But it had a different ending. I was quite impressed with the hanging scene.

Forgive my ignorance, what is this book?

See here:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/038549081X/qid=1122583021/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_sbs_1/103-1215014-5070207?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

I saw the movie too-- it came on tv by coincidence shortly before I finished the book. But it had a different ending. I was quite impressed with the hanging scene.

I've never seen the movie, is it any good? In what way is the ending different?

Both the movie & the Book are excellent & creepy at the same time.

I've never seen the movie, is it any good? In what way is the ending different?I don't want to spoil it, but unlike the book, there actually is an ending and not just some people discussing who the person was and what might have happened to them.

I did... ages ago. Scary, isn't it? Like a Christian version of Afghanistan under the Taliban...
That is exactly what I was going to say...and when the Taliban first got into power, that book is what sprang to mind. Eerie similiarities!

I read two other books by Margaret Atwood recently, "The Blind Assassine" and "Alias Grace".

I appreciate how she can completely dedicate herself to the subject, how extremely different those books are.

One is about the general perception of moral and to some extend about women's liberation, although not overtly or crassly. Rather ironically, really.
The other one is a psychological study of the schizophrenic mind of a murderess, and absolutely gripping.
She never answers the questions, she only phrases them...

I don't want to spoil it, but unlike the book, there actually is an ending and not just some people discussing who the person was and what might have happened to them.

In that case, I think I'll best give the movie the slip. I hate it if people present their very own interpretation as "the real thing" and add something to a story that wasn't meant to be there...

I "had" to read it in school. We were given a bunch of books to choose from and had to do a project with the others in the class that had read the same one... It was after we'd read 1984. The books were Handmaid's Tale, Cat's Cradle, Brave New World, and Player Piano. I think there was one other, but I can't remember the Title. Anyway, Player Piano was the only one I didn't read, but I read it later.

In that case, I think I'll best give the movie the slip. I hate it if people present their very own interpretation as "the real thing" and add something to a story that wasn't meant to be there...Don't. It's not much of an ending, just a short scene. Not worth boycotting the whole movie because of it. Something else that was quite impressive was the search lights that flash through the window all the time, which you can miss when you read the book. The "sex" scene is also well done, it really carries over just how humiliating something like that must have been.

I read two other books by Margaret Atwood recently, "The Blind Assassine" and "Alias Grace".

I appreciate how she can completely dedicate herself to the subject, how extremely different those books are.

One is about the general perception of moral and to some extend about women's liberation, although not overtly or crassly. Rather ironically, really.
The other one is a psychological study of the schizophrenic mind of a murderess, and absolutely gripping.
She never answers the questions, she only phrases them...

Another Uber Creepy Atwood Read: Oryx and Crake.... BioGenetic Manipulation, Uber Consumerisim and a Madman... :eek:

I "had" to read it in school. We were given a bunch of books to choose from and had to do a project with the others in the class that had read the same one... It was after we'd read 1984. The books were Handmaid's Tale, Cat's Cradle, Brave New World, and Player Piano. I think there was one other, but I can't remember the Title. Anyway, Player Piano was the only one I didn't read, but I read it later.
You had to read two books by Kurt Vonnegut?

Wow.

Good class, I hope.

Another Uber Creepy Atwood Read: Oryx and Crake.... BioGenetic Manipulation, Uber Consumerisim and a Madman... :eek:

I'm very fond of Handmaid's Tale, but Oryx and Crake is possibly Atwood's most brilliant work.

You had to read two books by Kurt Vonnegut?

Wow.

Good class, I hope.
We got to choose which books we read. I just read all but one. Like I said, I didn't read player piano until much later. The English teacher I had at the time was swell though, yeah, the class was very good. :D

You had to read two books by Kurt Vonnegut?
Wow. Good class, I hope.
I've read Slaughterhouse-Five and Harrison Bergeron

I've read Slaughterhouse-Five and Harrison BergeronI did a research project on that one. I recommend reading Jailbird though. It has a certain flair unlike his other books.

I've read Slaughterhouse-Five, Deadeye Dick, Breakfast of Champions, Player Piano, Cat's Cradle, Sirens of Titan, Jailbird, Galapagos, Bluebeard, and Timequake.

*blows across folded knuckles*

Slaughterhouse Five, Breakfast of Champions, Player Piano, Jailbird, Cat's Cradle, Blue Beard ... I think there might have been one or two others that I read, but I can't remember right now...