I realized I hadn't written anything about having seen the movie V for Vendetta awhile ago with Cam. The movie was intense, incredibly suspenseful and powerful.Yesterday, I finished rereading the Handmaid's Tale. It is one of the books that made it on the moving truck. I think I had read it in Iowa as a high school senior but figured I had changed much since then and was interested in seeing how I would respond to the book now. I picked it up a couple of times and had a bit of a hard time getting into it again but once I was in, I was hooked.
It occurred to me that while this movie and this book are quite different, they deal with a similar underlying theme, surviving under a misguided government where insane ideas are perpetuated as gospel and where people live in constant fear of retribution.
The main female characters respond quite differently to the situation but each shows strength and independence despite intense oppression.
Both are thought-provoking. What did you think of them?
If only I could wear a shaved head as well...
1 comment:
Haven't seen the V movie. Thought about getting it on my Netflix que, but we already have about 400 items on our list right now.
As for Handmaid's Tale, the book - and to an extent, the movie - is an interesting view of the possiblities of compliance.
Another good book along those lines would be the Young Adult book called The Giver by Lois Lowry. I just finished rereading it not too long ago and just finished the second that is in the sort-of trilogy she wrote, Gathering Blue. Again, it is a surpressed society and what it takes for one person to see that changes need to be made. The endings of both books are fairly open-ended. And for children's books, they are very thought provocating. Sometimes in the Young Adult section and sometimes in the older readers section of the children's library. I would recommend reading it before letting any one younger than 5th or 6th grade read it. While the language is fine and all, comprehension may come more from more mature children than someone who can read well above their age bracket. (That doesn't always mean that just because a kindergartener can read at a 6th grade level, they should, you know what I mean?) I don't recall anything that would make it rated adult or even PG-13, but it does lead to some interesting questions. Even for adults.
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