Thursday, January 16, 2020

Post # 2 - Read & Review: The Testaments

17th Jan 2020 

Still reading. Didn't get the chance to finish it yesterday or maybe I didn't have the courage? 

16th Jan 2020 - 10:10am

I’m on page 340 so I’m more than halfway done. I’ll probably finish the book today because it has reached a point where there is too much at stake and I need to know how it ends. Does Gilead survive? Does Aunt Lydia’s scheme work? Do Agnes and Nicole get reunited with their mother?

The thick hardcover is lying next to me on the desk as I write this. Why am I not reaching for it? Honestly, I’m a bit afraid. What if there is no happy ending which, knowing Atwood, is not a given. That will be very disappointing. Especially when I have invested myself in the story so much (I read The Handmaid’s Tale before I started this book). 

Just like Orwell did in 1984, Atwood creates a world which is so believable it’s almost scary. I don’t think I have the courage to watch the television series of The Handmaid’s Tale. Seeing the story come to life on screen will probably be heart wrenching. 

More on the book later. 

21st Jan 2020

I finished the book on 16th only and decided to think about it for a bit before posting my views. It was a great book. The plot was perfect, the characters were extremely well done and believable. The connections with The Handmaid's Tale were there and I'm so glad I read it. How did I feel when I finished the book? Relieved but a bit confused also. Why did this book win the Booker Prize? It was a cross between literary fiction and a suspense novel and also, it had a really filmi ending. It's as if she has written this book keeping in mind that it will be made into a movie or television series. I'm not saying it wasn't a great read. Maybe not as haunting and disturbing as The Handmaid's Tale, but a good story. Now let's see what the verdict is at the DWL Karachi Readers' Club.  

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