Paul L. (Paucle) reviewed on 3/28/2010 + 19 more book reviews

This is my first Atwood book. I had no real expectations, as I'd never read/ seen anything of hers. I saw bits and pieces of the movie "The Handmaid's Tale," but never got around to reading it. Now I think I'll look for it here, if only to hope for a better ending than this one.

Oh, don't get me wrong. No question, this woman's got game, she can write. She sets the scene and sucks you in, wondering how all this came about. You can't help but dive in and keep on reading. Why is Snowman essentially alone? Why are the young humans so primitive and ignorant of everything? From end to end, Atwood keeps the hints just teasing enough for the reader to compel himself to see one more page, because surely that'll make things clearer.

And somehow, it does. Civilization reverts back to the stone age in a series of logical events. But every answer seems to bring up two more questions, until this literary chain reaction... goes dud in the denouement. And by that I mean, literally, the final pages. I had no problem with the revelation as to how everything came about. I was just a bit let down on the ultimate fate of our protagonist.

Go ahead- read the book- I do actually recommend it. Just don't be surprised if Snowman's final resolution causes a meltdown of expectations.

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