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Because A Handmaid's Tale reminds me a bit of books like 1984 and A Brave New World. To me, it's sci-fi in the same way that they were. They imagine a future earth should some possibility progress towards its logical extreme.
But this book scared me a little mainly because of the ending. You read through this horrific account of a society with its extreme views towards women and then you're presented with this academic view of the whole thing that echoes the way we sometimes whitewash our own past or present. We apply a level of understanding about distant cultures or history that I think we couldn't possibly apply to that of the main character - because we experience it throughout the novel!
I felt this was the most upsetting aspect of the book and why I thought it was brilliant. And like many novels (such as 1984 etc..), it makes me examine the world around me and start assessing if we're actually that different or whether, in fact, we're heading in a similar direction.
Sorry - this was all outrageously off topic, but I couldn't resist sharing my love/horror of A Handmaid's Tale.
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