Margaret Atwood

Handmaid’s Tale 

Margaret Atwood

The way she wrote this book was really interesting, there are a series of dire situations happening in this story but it is written in a way that makes it sound nonchalant, like the current situation is just whatever, and nothing can be done, which adds a sort of humor and satire all things considered. The world of Gilead is full of wildly vivid authoritarian views and imagery; women are restricted to essentially being slaves to their commanders and forced to make babies due to a wave of infertility. So many of the themes in this story are so relevant now, when thinking about how certain freedoms feel as though they are being restricted now in real life. I think the satirical way that it is written not only keeps the book entertaining, but also makes it frightening when thinking about how our world is now. A world where religious fanaticism takes over and the possible outcome of that is great literary speculation, and Margaret Atwood immerses the reader in this world of sumptuary laws and beliefs beautifully. The most disturbing scene for me is the ceremony, it is like ritualized sex devoid of any love emotion, the description of the scene makes it seem like Offred is dead, and on the inside maybe she is. Her friend Moira is the most tragic character in the book because we get the impression that she is this strong independent woman who will fight to survive and escape, but in the end she is seen at the brothel after she is caught trying to escape Gilead. Another scene that caught my attention is the one where the Japanese tourists show up, that scene really threw me because before this we get the impression that maybe the whole world is like this; having the tourist there really puts the current situation of the United States on notice and it makes it seem even more miserable than earlier imagined. I have not seen the show, but I have heard good things but also that there are a few changes made to it, and they are expanding the world further; this really bothers me because I thought the epilogue and open ended conclusion was perfect, having this history class looking back and making fun of Gilead kind of takes me back to how satirical the writing was in the beginning, kind of reminding me why I liked the book in the first place. I think it does a disservice to the writing to change this in the television show, but I understand the need to do this as a business decision on Hulu’s part.

Lovecraft- Unnamable

I had just read a few Edgar Allen Poe stories before reading Lovecraft, the writing style is very similar so the transition was very easy for me. In fact, what I loved about Lovecraft was how much better I could understand the writing. Which shows a modernization in writing techniques and language, Poe had me regularly googling words I simply couldn’t understand. Reading Kwaidan also prepared me for the atmospheric nature of The Unnamable, so that I could better imagine the setting and also appreciate the speculative journey I was going on as more details were being given to me. That build up led to a great description of a creature that really caught me off guard, I have never read Lovecraft before and since this was written in the 20s I had no idea something like this would be written back then. I’m not sure if this was meant to scare the reader, but maybe back then it did, I got the idea it was trying to scare me with the way it was first about these 2 guys sitting on a tomb, trying to convince each other of their differing beliefs, and out of no where this terrible creature ambushes them. The very fact it was set in a graveyard set up that horror vibe too, and the way Joel kept giving into his fear of the unknown leading him to crack at the end gave me that same feeling as well.

Thessaly

I chose this because I enjoyed Bill Willingham’s work on Fables and thought this would be a fun read. I really enjoyed it, though I saw some familiar patterns in the writing that kind of took me out of the story and made me think, “Oh, he’s doin it again.” The story itself is fine, I got a sort of, “too self aware”/adult version of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, what didn’t thrill me was how I kept comparing this with Fables, Thessaly’s world could fit right into their universe and all it would take is a maybe a couple of pages to do that. I definitely had Snow White and Bigby Wolf on my mind whenever I was reading dialogue between Thessaly and Fetch, dynamics and relationships are different surely, but the way Thessaly was turning down Fetch’s advances reminded me of Snow and Bigby before they eventually got together. Willingham’s use of tropes like the reluctant hero and the organization pulling the strings in the background seemed fresh thanks to the strength of his character writing, as well as how he is able to integrate fantasy into the mundane world seamlessly is really effective as well. The build up and resolution to the final conflict was clever as well, the story never felt like it should have this epic battle, it was about the small detail in her quest to find a way to defeat the Tharmic Null, and I was trying to figure it out before it was actually defeated Fetch, who became “Nothing and no one” to save Thessaly. Although I am a bit sad that it seems like she kind of dismissed Fetch’s sacrifice for her, it is very fitting considering her personality.