Renee NaultRecensioni

I don't know how much it is because I don't read many graphic novels, but I feel like you might struggle to follow this if you aren't familiar with the story. I'm vaguely familiar with the plot but still felt a little lost at times. That being said, the art is absolutely beautiful and I enjoyed the different colour choices for different times and themes.½

I am enjoying this trend of classic literature being adapted into graphic novels, as it is a way to revisit works that I enjoyed when I was younger, without committing the time to an entire narrative book. The Handmaid's Tale is obviously enjoying a renaissance at the moment, though I read it originally when I was in high school, waaaay back in the '80s. I remember it as being disturbing, and dystopian fiction isn't really my go-to genre, but this graphic crossed my desk so I started flipping through it, and before long I was hooked. It is an unforgettable story, though over the course of 30 years, details had gone by the wayside. It all came back to me through the vivid illustrations of this lovely volume. What really struck me was that unlike many (maybe most) dystopian novels, in this book the dystopia is actually unfolding. The characters are living the change from a free democratic society to a brutal authoritarian regime, that democracy remembered in flashbacks even as their freedom is strangled, and in some cases, welcomed. The self-awareness is a revelation really. I wasn't planning on reading The Testaments, Atwood's follow-up to Handmaid, but maybe I'll pick it up. She is, after all, a master of the genre. This adaptation is a credit to that mastery.

(I am using this book for the "A Graphic Novel" category of Extreme Book Nerd.)

Whew. This was INTENSE. I did not know that this book existed until recently; my boss found it on the shelf. I mean, the story of "The Handmaid's Tale" is familiar to many people, but to see it come alive in a graphic novel form.....wow.

What the hardest thing about "The Handmaid's Tale" is is that it feels too....real. It is why I have not watched the Hulu adaptation; the visuals make the Offred's story all to visual and raw. It scares me that we have similarities to Gilead. I hate how there are Christians who are judgmental and two-faced like the Commander.

Still though, I could not put the book down. It's been a while since I have read the source novel but this adaptation holds its own.

An absolutely beautiful rendition of the story. The artwork is fantastic! I like how it kept most of the story without having to actually have all the text in it as a lot of it could be represented through images. A wonderful read for those who don't have time to read the original novel but would like to experience the story. Takes a maximum of an hour to read on a quiet day.

Starts out ok, illustrations throughout, goes nowhere fast

The handmaid's tale / Magaret Atwood
Nogal zwartgallig. Ben beniewd naar het oorspronkelijke boek uit 1985!
https://uitgeverijprometheus.nl/catalogus/het-verhaal-van-de-dienstmaagd-graphic... publisher's page

https://uitgeverijprometheus.nl/catalogus/het-verhaal-van-de-dienstmaagd-5.html book

https://www.allesoverboekenenschrijvers.nl/dystopische-romans-boeken-overzicht/ meer

This is not the version of the book I thought it was. It's cartoon style. I don't like it. I'm not sure I'm going to read it.

I’ve read and reviewed Margaret Atwood’s novel previously, so I’ll confine this review to the adaptation.

Nault is a Canadian artist and illustrator and her interpretation of Atwood’s novel is marvelous.

Her imagery is even more vivid and memorable than some of the same scenes as described by Atwood. I’m thinking particularly of “the Ceremony” where the Commander tries to impregnate Offred each month, or the scenes of Offred walking past the wall where “traitors” are hung.

She uses just enough text to keep the story moving and to explain the images. Of course, I’d read the original (two or three times), but I don’t think I would have missed much had this been my only experience with Atwood’s story.

The final chapter, called “Historical Notes,” is perhaps too brief, but certainly conveys the relevant information, and is less likely to be skipped over than in Atwood’s original.

I do NOT recommend that readers skip the original work, but this would be a great introduction or supplement to the novel.

A masterful adaptation: clear art and story line, with the full impact hitting you when it needs to (ex. the incredibly intimate position that everyone is in during The Ceremony).

It's been a few years since I read the original novel, but this graphic novel seems very short in comparison? The drawings are stark, simplified, reduced, like the life in Gilead. At times they can be too much, such as Moira's feet, which are the stuff of my nightmares now.

In The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel, Renée Nault adapts Margaret Atwood’s 1985 dystopian novel. The story focuses on Offred, a handmaid living in Gilead. The nation of Gilead formed after conservative Christian fundamentalists used a national tragedy to seize control of the government and economics, imposing their vision of a Christian utopia in which women exist solely to serve men. Gilead uses Biblical justifications for their laws, denying women the right to own property, give evidence in court, and requires two witnesses in order to prove a crime occurred. Atwood's description of sexual politics in this fictional society closely mirrors that desired by modern religious fundamentalists and political conservatives.

Nault’s artwork captures both the brutality of Gilead, with her paint resembling smeared blood during the Particicution scene, as well as a dreamlike aesthetic that helps to convey the inner turmoil and psychological damage of fundamentalist thought. Her watercolors also parallel Atwood’s use of flowers in the text, at times standing in visually for characters in the women’s sphere of Gileadean society as well as the politicization of reproduction and as a marker of the transition of time. Nault brilliantly brings to visual life the story and the themes of Atwood’s work, complimenting and enhancing the text.

Very little use of color, but what is there is powerful. Good adaptation of novel.

Tudo o que as servas usam é vermelho: a cor do sangue, que nos define.
Defred é uma Serva na República de Gileade, onde o trabalho, a leitura e a formação de amizades estão vedados às mulheres. Está ao serviço do Comandante e da sua mulher e, na nova ordem social, tem um único propósito: uma vez por mês, tem de se deitar de costas e rezar para que o Comandante a engravide, porque, numa era de nascimentos em declínio, Defred e as outras Servas são valorizadas apenas se forem férteis. Mas Defred lembra-se dos anos antes de Gileade, em que era uma mulher independente, com um emprego, uma família e um nome seu. Agora, as suas memórias e a sua vontade são atos de rebelião.
Provocador, chocante, profético, A História de Uma Serva transformou-se há muito num fenómeno global. Com esta belíssima adaptação do clássico contemporâneo de Margaret Atwood, executada de forma extraordinária pela artista Renée Nault, o mundo aterrador de Gileade ganha vida como nunca antes.

This follows the novel well; it hits all the plot points, and is just as unsettling as the original. I was worried about some of the illustrations before reading (in terms of a high school copy) but the ceremony is not too graphic but to the point. This would be an easy way for a person who is intimidated by the original's size to access the story.

Renee Nault's gorgeous watercolors and spare dialog convey the horror, indignity and humanity which Atwood created in this dystopian classic.

This was amazing, I loved the novel and I almost think this is better. The artwork was great and I really liked how the story was laid out.

We know the story. The art is stunning, and I found the more difficult passages, that are told through images only, easier to digest because I didn't have to think in words.

I first read the original novel 29 years ago, so I wasn't surprised that I had forgotten big chunks of the story. Mostly I remembered being bored by the novel and having the feeling that it was just too far-fetched. But this graphic novel adaptation makes a good case for the story being more likely and more urgent than ever to tell. I really should try the TV adaptation now.

I really enjoyed this version of the story, as heartbreaking as it is. It's even more powerful in this horrible Time of Trump. The artwork is excellent, and the mega-use of red is striking! I liked the ending more this time, than when I read the book. Offred is such an amazing character. I'm sort of scared about the sequel coming out later this year... how does one top this? I think "The Handmaid's Tale" should be read by all!

I couldn't handle re-reading the Margaret Atwood classic novel and SUPER couldn't handle the TV series, so I grabbed this when I saw it at the library. It's a masterful rendition of a story that now seems both timeless and inevitable, and so valuable to have this roadmap of what to watch out for if Pence ever becomes president. The only missing element is fundamentalism, although it really IS part and parcel of the worship of males. Offred, her background with her daughter, and the events leading up to Gilead, are hauntingly rendered by a blazingly sharp hand that can also evoke tenderness. All credit to the illustrator and to her fine adaptation.

This is the graphic novel of the original book by Margaret Atwood. It is a chilling look at a possible future, especially regarding women and their roles, beautifully depicted by artist Renee Nault. I loved it.

Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale has been in the news a lot lately. Her book is now considered a classic, a recent television adaptation was a huge success, and a sequel is due out later this year. The book was first published in 1985, a time when many in the U.S. and other western societies assumed that the women's movement was making changes that could never be reversed, and that society was gradually becoming more liberal and more tolerant. Today, more than three decades later, Atwood's dystopian vision increasingly seems far closer than we would have imagined when the book was first written. This graphic novel adaption is done beautifully, and shows Gilead (the country that used to be the United States) almost as a dream -- and a bad dream at that. Highly recommended.

I’ve loved the original version of this book for years, so I was nervous to re-read it as a graphic novel. It was so wonderfully done, I shouldn’t have been worried at all. I loved that the illustrations are slightly different for Offred’s time in Gilead, versus her memories from the past. To me, nothing is quite as powerful as reading the original text, but for fans of the book I’d highly recommend checking out this graphic novel as well.

I will have to preface my review by first stating that I had neither read The Handmaid's Tale nor seen any screen adaptations of the story before picking up The Handmaid's Tale: The Graphic Novel. I *sort* of had an inkling of the plot, but wow. The graphic novel format was an eye-opening experience for me.

I have never read or seen the Handmaid's tale. I kind of knew what the story was about, not entirely. And now after delving into the graphic novel, i must read the full book, AND watch the show to see if I can get all my questions answered. This is a pretty through book, so I doubt there is much missing from the full page book, but ugggggghhhhhhhhhh. So many holes I must fill.

Offred is a handmaid. It is her entire duty to be chattel and carry children for those, in this case the Commander and his wife, who can not have them otherwise. Children are precious, because of war and strife many are infertile, or incapable of bearing healthy children. Lots of things have been outlawed, and woman no longer have lives of their own. They are cast into a system in which they stay until they are used up. High wifes dress in blue, handmaids in read, the help in green, and lesser wifes strips. Woman are not allowed to talk, to ask questions, to hold command. It is a men’s society. Offered is just one of many handmaids, but this is her story. We get brief glances of her life before, and outlay of her life now, and those who came before her, and are left a mystery for her future.

This book is evocative. And there are many mysterious holes I want filled in this story. Background for one. What caused this division. There is a page that briefly mentions different religious sects and how they fight against each other. How women changed their bodies, wanted to prevent pregnancy, and how they wanted to live lives that would currently make them un-women.

Over all I loved this book, and it has made a desire in me to know more. Thank goodness Atwood is writing a sequel, and hopefully the will make a graphic novel of it as well.