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LOS ANGELES — Julio Urias finished serving a 20-game suspension for domestic violence allegations and is ready to "move forward," a phrase the left-hander used often upon his return to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Urias was added to the active roster on Monday alongside infielder Gavin Lux, the fifth-rated prospect by ESPN's Keith Law at midseason. Urias will start Tuesday's game against the Colorado Rockies, going a maximum of three innings, and might continue to be stretched out moving forward.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts believes Urias "definitely learned" from his experience.
Urias' suspension stemmed from a May 13 altercation with a woman in the parking lot of a Los Angeles shopping mall, which led to his arrest.
The L.A. city attorney's office announced a month later that it would not file charges against Urias so long as he participated in a 52-week domestic counseling program and committed no acts of violence in the next year. But Urias, 23, nonetheless violated the terms of Major League Baseball's Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy and was suspended on Aug. 17 (he served an additional 15 games because he served five while on administrative leave).
"Really hard," Urias, speaking in Spanish, said when asked how this process has been. "But I'm happy to be back here, happy that my teammates received me the way they always have, in the best way possible. Everything is on a good track."
The city attorney said it was deferring prosecution because Urias had no record of criminal behavior and the incident did not result in any physical injury, nor did the woman involved in the altercation indicate to police officers or witnesses that she believed she was a victim.
In a statement issued through the MLB Players Association, Urias said he was "fully cooperating" and that it was "important to me not to create uncertainty for my teammates" by appealing. Urias also said he took "full responsibility for what I believe was my inappropriate conduct during the incident."
Urias didn't go into details when asked to shed light on the inappropriate conduct, merely saying: "I respect the decision from the league. It was their decision. I fully accept it. That already passed. I'm back here, with my team, and I'm moving forward."
Urias showed promise as a 19-year-old rookie in 2016, posting a 3.39 ERA and striking out 84 batters in 77 innings. He spent most of the next two years recovering from shoulder surgery but returned in time to help the Dodgers out of the bullpen in last year's postseason. He has spent the 2019 season mostly as a multi-inning reliever, putting up a 2.53 ERA, a 1.09 WHIP and a 2.91 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 67⅔ innings.
With Rich Hill still working his way back from an elbow injury and Kenta Maeda expected to spend most of October as a high-leverage reliever, Urias has a chance to carve out a role as the Dodgers' No. 4 starter behind Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Walker Buehler.
"I cooperated with the league and did everything they told me to do," Urias said of his decision to accept a suspension. "It was their decision. I respected it and said, 'Let's move forward.' What I didn't want was to keep putting my team, this organization, in a position where I'm distracting us from the great season we're having. I'm back now, thankfully. I'm here with them. And let's move forward."
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But Abram replied, "O Sovereign LORD, how can I be sure that you will give it to me?"
And he said, "Lord GOD, how shall I know that I will inherit it?"
2 tn Heb "he"; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn See note on the phrase "sovereign Lord" in 15:2.


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Preview — The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
(The Handmaid's Tale #2)
Margaret Atwood (Goodreads Author)
4.23 · Rating details · 104,777 ratings · 12,669 reviews
When the van door slammed on Offred's future at the end of The Handmaid's Tale, readers had no way of telling what lay ahead for her--freedom, prison or death.
With The Testaments, the wait is over.
Margaret Atwood's sequel picks up the story more than fifteen years after Offred stepped into the unknown, with the explosive testaments of three female narrators from Gilead.
In When the van door slammed on Offred's future at the end of The Handmaid's Tale, readers had no way of telling what lay ahead for her--freedom, prison or death.
In this brilliant sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, acclaimed author Margaret Atwood answers the questions that have tantalized readers for decades.
"Dear Readers: Everything you've ever asked me about Gilead and its inner workings is the inspiration for this book. Well, almost everything! The other inspiration is the world we've been living in." --Margaret Atwood ...more
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Published September 10th 2019 by Nan A. Talese
0385543786 (ISBN13: 9780385543781)
Edition Language
The Handmaid's Tale #2
Aunt Lydia, Agnes Jemima, Daisy
Republic of Gilead
Toronto, Ontario (Canada)
Booker Prize (2019), Scotiabank Giller Prize Nominee (2019), Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction (2019)
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Phil It could well be for the same reason that anything vaguely feminist or female centred - whether it's Clementine Ford or Captain Marvel - gets trolled…moreIt could well be for the same reason that anything vaguely feminist or female centred - whether it's Clementine Ford or Captain Marvel - gets trolled by the alt-right and soft-centred Men's Rights groups nowadays: ironically backing up Atwood's viewpoint.(less)
This question contains spoilers… (view spoiler)[SPOILER ALERT DONT READ AHEAD! ....
i must have missed something important - why did baby nicole have to be the one to go back into canada to transport the info? couldnt any mayday member who could pass for baby nicole at that age go back with the tattoo and do it? i feel like i missed a major thing here? (hide spoiler)]
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This answer contains spoilers… (view spoiler)[ well wouldn't you choose a relatively-sheltered teenager to whom you've never even really spoken, whose presumptive parents had just been murdered, to…more well wouldn't you choose a relatively-sheltered teenager to whom you've never even really spoken, whose presumptive parents had just been murdered, to take on an extremely dangerous and very important mission for which she's entirely unprepared? I mean, obviously the right choice. Good thing it only takes a couple days of training to learn to punch people exactly right.(less) (hide spoiler)]
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Start your review of The Testaments (The Handmaid's Tale, #2)
Nov 28, 2018 Tatiana rated it did not like it
Recommends it for: big fans of the TV show version
Shelves: 2019, dystopias-post-apocalyptic, booker, i-am-so-over-you, why-the-hype
I guess I'll have to be the one who says what nobody else is willing to say. This novel is terrible, and Booker judges are starstruck, hype-driven sellouts. And that no professional literary critic has the guts to tell the truth about how poorly conceived and written The Testaments is, is a true shame.
I can't decide which work Atwood should be embarrassed for more - Angel Catbird, Vol. 1 or The Testaments. The book doesn't read like a novel written by one of the most lauded authors of the 20st I guess I'll have to be the one who says what nobody else is willing to say. This novel is terrible, and Booker judges are starstruck, hype-driven sellouts. And that no professional literary critic has the guts to tell the truth about how poorly conceived and written The Testaments is, is a true shame.
I can't decide which work Atwood should be embarrassed for more - Angel Catbird, Vol. 1 or The Testaments. The book doesn't read like a novel written by one of the most lauded authors of the 20st century. The Testaments reads like a standard-issue feminist YA dystopia, filled with every overused dystopian trope and every stereotype, penned by an author who writes for teen audience, and is published by Harper Teen. As such, it undoubtedly has some appeal to a part of Atwood's readership, but literary merit The Testaments has none. If this book had a different name on it, I would have DNFed it after 50 pages for its lack of originality, predictability and mediocre writing style. I've read a fair number of similar novels, I am not opposed to them, I enjoyed some of them, and some of them (for example the upcoming The Grace Year) held my attention much better. As an Atwood novel, The Testaments gets one disappointed, angry, heart-broken star from me.
Why did the publishers embargo Atwood's new creation, I wonder? Surely there is nothing to spoil. Maybe to conceal its poor execution, or its transparent, shallow, simplistic, and ridiculous plot?
The story is told from 3 POVs - Aunt Lydia's and two teen girls' - one growing up in Gilead and another - in Canada. Oh my, who those girls might be? Twist!
You can only glimpse Atwood's former brilliance in Aunt Lydia's POV, but just for a few moments here and there. If the whole novel was written about Aunt Lydia, maybe Atwood would have made her journey more convincing, but alas. The other two girls are quintessential YA dystopian heroines - one abused by an evil oppressive regime, and the other - a bratty teen on the run from bad people, but who nevertheless has time for some romance. Yum! Like I said, these POVs are so similar to what's been regurgitated over and over in teen publishing, it's uncanny. Has The Testaments been partially ghost-written by Lauren Oliver? I am not trying to dump on Oliver, she has her fans and her place in the industry, but I expected something infinitely more sophisticated from Margaret Atwood.
The new information about Gilead Atwood promised? Well, new details of Gilead made the regime more nonsensical and less plausible than ever before. Who benefits from living in Gilead becomes unfathomable in this book, thus making the entire concept pointless (kind of like in Wither). Totalitarian regimes work, at least temporarily, because they are supported by a mass of true believers. Where are they in this book? But if you yearn for some more torture porn in addition to that supplied by the 3 seasons of the TV show, then sure. Rapists, molesters, killers, suicide victims galore, plus solitary confinement - there is an overabundance of that. All of it written bluntly, rashly, exploitatively and without any kind of nuance. There is no overarching theme in The Testaments except GILEAD IS BAD. The plot to overthrow it is a joke.
If you are looking for a clever, thoughtful, well-written companion to The Handmaid's Tale, you are out of luck. If you want a bland, basic TV show fanfic ripe with action adventure and genre tropes, enjoy! The Testaments was written just for you. ...more
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Victoria I'm just confused where you found any romance. It's normal for teenagers to have crushes but it's disingenuous to claim there was any romance plot I'm just confused where you found any romance. It's normal for teenagers to have crushes but it's disingenuous to claim there was any romance plot happening anywhere. ...more
Jason X Good review. Especially your point about no "true believers" except maybe Becka, and what the author did with her was pointless, unnecessary and Good review. Especially your point about no "true believers" except maybe Becka, and what the author did with her was pointless, unnecessary and awful. ...more
Nov 28, 2018 Emily May rated it it was ok · review of another edition
Shelves: modern-lit, 2019
I can sum it up simply: this book is not needed.
I hoped that wouldn't be the case. I really really hoped Atwood had something important to add to the world of Gilead with this book, but she honestly doesn't. If anything, The Testaments serves only to weaken the power of The Handmaid's Tale.
In the past, I have spoken highly of authors who are not afraid to "be evil" with their books. This may give the impression that they are doing something particularly nefarious, but, in fact, it's not so much I can sum it up simply: this book is not needed.
In the past, I have spoken highly of authors who are not afraid to "be evil" with their books. This may give the impression that they are doing something particularly nefarious, but, in fact, it's not so much something they do, but everything they don't. It's an act of self-restraint to not say everything, to leave some things unanswered, some happy endings unexplored. That, I feel, is one of the greatest strengths of The Handmaid's Tale.
Because there is so much we don't know; can't know. Everything we experience comes from Offred's narrow world view. Everything Offred doesn't know-- we don't know. The ending, too, is famously ambiguous. And these are extremely powerful tools. What we don't know is powerful. Ambiguity is powerful. Knowing when to finish is powerful. As Aunt Lydia notes herself in this very book:
Where there is emptiness, the mind will obligingly fill it up. Fear is always at hand to supply any vacancies, as is curiosity.
The Handmaid's Tale forces us to wonder, to imagine, to fear the worst and hope for the best. The Testaments not so much.
What this book does is remove the ambiguity. It provides answers to thirty-five year old mysteries that were best left unanswered. I am reminded somewhat comically of Jojo Moyes' inability to let go of her Me Before You characters, repeatedly opening up the story after leaving it on an emotional high. Not every "ooh, I wonder what the characters did next?" should be answered. Sometimes not knowing is so much more effective. And that's Moyes. I didn't expect Atwood to indulge in this sentimentality.
The Handmaid's Tale uses one limited perspective to make us think; The Testaments uses three perspectives and an epilogue in the future to colour in all the corners, leaving nothing to the imagination.
I gave this book two stars for Aunt Lydia's perspective. Without her contribution I am honestly not sure I would have pushed through the second half of the book. The rest of the book is told from the perspective of two teenage girls, one living in Canada and the other in Gilead, and the "twists" regarding them are so glaringly obvious that it is actually a bit embarrassing to read the scenes with the dramatic reveals (chapter cliffhanger obviously). The whole infiltration by the resistance thing was straight out of every other dime a dozen dystopia.
I had so hoped this was going to do something new and important. I hoped it was going to impart a new message, perhaps relevant to modern times. I hoped it was going to be smart and thought-provoking. I am disappointed.
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Hussein Haji I love reading books but i dont how to view it
Cynema Yeah. I dnf'd after 2 chapters. You deserve a medal for slogging through it.
Sep 10, 2019 Marchpane rated it really liked it
Shelves: 2019-releases
Return to Gilead
Check your expectations at the door: The Testaments is a highly entertaining page turner, but it is also probably quite different from whatever you were anticipating.
It differs from its 1985 antecedent, The Handmaid's Tale, in tone, voice and literary heft. That earlier book had a power and a gravitas that is not recaptured here. For me the most striking thing about The Handmaid's Tale has always been Atwood's choice of narrator. Offred (in the book she has no other name) is so Return to Gilead
It differs from its 1985 antecedent, The Handmaid's Tale, in tone, voice and literary heft. That earlier book had a power and a gravitas that is not recaptured here. For me the most striking thing about The Handmaid's Tale has always been Atwood's choice of narrator. Offred (in the book she has no other name) is so confined by her circumstances; her isolation is claustrophobic. She is essentially passive, keeping her head down and daring to aim only for survival, while other characters have more agency (Moira and Ofglen both find proactive ways to thwart the Gilead regime, either would have been a more natural choice for a protagonist). Offred is an Everywoman – with her passivity she confronts the reader: Well, what would you do in my place? And don't kid yourself. It's bleak, but the novel's power is in its intimate portrait of powerlessness.
The Testaments is more action-driven, more hopeful, and by extension, less realistic. We follow three characters who are prepared to buck the system, to risk everything to crush the patriarchy. That two of them are teenagers feeds the sense of buoyancy, you get the feeling that Atwood too thinks the kids are gonna save us.
The shift in tone will be familiar to viewers of Hulu's TV series — perhaps both Atwood and the showrunners 'read the room' and recognised that the catharsis of a feelgood fightback is what we crave and need most right now. If the idea of a book set in Gilead being entertaining — even fun — dismays you, best skip this one.
Indeed The Testaments, rather shrewdly on Atwood's part, functions as a sequel to both the first book AND the TV adaptation — deftly combining elements from each, while avoiding the show's most glaring faults (eg its over-reliance on a single character, and tendency to get bogged down plot-wise).
This novel isn't flawless either. One of the narrative voices is by far more compelling than the others (no prizes for guessing that it's the mature, morally compromised Aunt Lydia, not one of the idealistic teenagers). It's a little too TV-ready in the way the characters intersect. Certain plot twists are loudly telegraphed and the narratives don't always jive with the historical documents they purport to be. And my eyes rolled more than once (Underground Femaleroad, really?).
Still there's much to enjoy. The conniving duplicity and monstrous ambivalence of Aunt Lydia makes for thrilling reading. Atwood's prose and story-spinning have lost none of their magic, and for an 80 year old she writes teenage voices surprisingly well! Most importantly, it's compulsively readable.
The Testaments is unlikely to become a perennially relevant classic like its predecessor, and it's unreasonable to expect that kind of greatness from it. As an expansion of the Gilead mythos though, it more than satisfies. ...more
Sep 17, 2019 Nilufer Ozmekik rated it it was ok · review of another edition
Winner of best fiction category but it's not my winner. That's my opinion and I respect fans' opinions
Two stars for the love of Aunt Lydia! If she wasn't in this book, I could do something first by giving minus five stars to a book! See how I disliked and how I felt frustrated about this hope stealing, time wasting, one of the biggest failures of the year!!!! One of the tasteless testament you could ever have!
2019 could be one of this year I got really disappointed by movies, series books. Winner of best fiction category but it's not my winner. That's my opinion and I respect fans' opinions 😣😣
2019 could be one of this year I got really disappointed by movies, series books. They were like several ugly stabs to your stomach. I was unlucky to read Cari Mora ( After 13 years of waiting patiently Thomas Harris released this…hmm…itshouldnotbenamed, yes this is worse than Voldemort!), Mister( My bad, I shouldn't pick this one! The joke is on me!), several romance books released by Jewel E. Ann, Karina Halle, K. A. Tucker, Renee Carlino etc. I watched GOT's final and started to fantasize how to punch the screenwriters who are also series-killers (worse occupation than being serial killer) in 101 different ways!
And now I'm holding a book which is the worst betrayal to the memory of Handmaid's Tale, one of the best dystopian books that have ever been written.
I didn't understand the writer's motive stick to the characters of their previous works. Did I want to know what happened to June? Never, I just wanted to move on and get rid of terrifying, penetrating, mind numbing affect to book left on me.
And here we are with 3 different POVs- Aunt Lydia(If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't add two more stars, but at least her parts kept me reading more because too many times I wanted to drop it and added to my DNF and HNITF-have no intention to finish- list) and two teenage girls ( one from Canada and one from Gilead). I really think, on those teenagers' narration parts, the author stopped writing and summoned her interns who returned back from getting her clothes from dry-cleaner and her coffee orders and made them take her seat and write all those parts as she had a meeting with Hulu for the future episodes of Handmaid's Tale.
And twisty part about teenagers, oh please you don't need to have spider senses to foresee it, even my ten years old nephew caught the surprise when I told him some specifics about the book. (I'm good with kids and their intellectual evaluation)
What about the details of Gilead? Still senseless, illogical and more irritating than before. True believers supporting the system work properly. But I just wanted to learn something new, different, exploring something astonishing, shocking and more provoking. But no…nada…
Now I'm sulking, fists clenched but this time as a big change I don't want to punch any characters, I think the creator of them more deserved my slaps. I already sent my bill to the publishers for wasting my priceless time for nothing. ...more
Sep 13, 2019 Emily (Books with Emily Fox) rated it it was ok
I haven't even finished season 2 of the tv show since it was so emotionally draining but here I am reading this!!
Nov 28, 2018 Sean Barrs the Bookdragon rated it did not like it · review of another edition
Shelves: my-most-anticipated-reads-of-2019
A review in 5 words:
Unnecessary. Pointless. Ruining. Bland. Spoilers.
Sep 14, 2019 Felicia rated it it was ok · review of another edition
This was my most anticipated book for 2019.
Wait... I should amend that statement...
THIS WAS THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF MY MISERABLE FRIGGIN LIFE!
And much like my life, it was an epic disappointment.
The Handmaid's Tale is on my Top 10 shelf. It is, in my opinion, the greatest dystopian novel of all time. It is everything you expect from the genre and more. Shocking, terrifying, an unflinching account of a fucking nightmarish scenario that could actually happen.
At the end of The Handmaid's Tale This was my most anticipated book for 2019.
At the end of The Handmaid's Tale I was left devastated and bereft of words. I loved the ambiguity and found myself never wanting to know what happened to June. I consider this decision by Atwood to be the crowning achievement of the novel.
With The Testaments Atwood took that crown and crushed it beneath her pen.
Obliterated it.
And nearly took The Handmaid's Tale with it. ...more
Nov 28, 2018 Lisa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Shelves: margaret-atwood
"How tedious is a tyranny in the throes of enactment. It's always the same plot."
So why does Margaret Atwood choose to tell the story again? That question has haunted me since I heard the announcement of the project almost a year ago. WHY? I was convinced I would hate the hype and the gushing reviews and the book itself, and started reading with the attitude of someone who knew the story didn't need telling again.
To my surprise, I liked it from the start, and soon engaged in the thriller "How tedious is a tyranny in the throes of enactment. It's always the same plot."
To my surprise, I liked it from the start, and soon engaged in the thriller unfolding with a rare reading joy, still wondering why Atwood wasted her precious time on a sequel like this. Not much new was added to the dystopian plot of Gilead, I thought.
But then a shift occurred in my mind.
I always saw The Handmaid's Tale as a warning of the slow normalisation of religious fanaticism and of the strengthening of patriarchal structures in our modern era, and the story itself as a mirror of our all too human tendencies to adjust to the most absurd situations if we are caught off-guard and left confused.
The Testaments has a different purpose, and it comes as a challenge in the era of #MeToo. Don't accept the unacceptable. Act on injustice. Speak up. Do what has to be done to make the world safer for women and children. Say no to the objectification of your body. No tyranny will last forever if you are brave enough to do your individual bit.
Whenever Aunt Lydia's badly executed statue was mentioned, I had this strange feeling that it was some kind of Atwoodian insider joke, but I could not put my finger on the reference. In the end I gave up trying to figure out what she meant, as I found my own truth. And I had to wait until the very end: the last page made me laugh out loud.
Another scientific conference on Gileadean Studies, another reflection on the difficulty to find truth in details. Truth is in the symbol though, and that noseless, broken statue of Aunt Lydia that was found after the breakdown of Gilead spoke of the ephemeral immortality (deliberately oxymoronic from the start) that Ozimandias fell victim to in Shelley's famous sonnet. I will close with him, as he speaks of the timelessness of power(lessness) and (im)mutability:
"I met a traveller from an antique land,
Nothing beside remains to be said. I leave my earlier testimonies as a tribute to the process of discovering the truth of the storyteller in each (his)story:
My predictions will face reality(or fiction?)-check now! I can't believe I am actually holding a brandnew copy of The Testaments in my hands... we are writing the date of 9/11 Anno Domini 2019.
Let the journey begin!
Thoughts on hearing it was coming in 2018:
Based on the scary prophetic power of some of Margaret Atwood's other dystopian social studies, I am not sure I can even stomach the idea of what will happen to Offred next.
May I suggest a feel-good start, changing her name into Nofred?
No, that's not going to happen. I think the world is currently growing into Margaret Atwood's new novel, demonstrating the insanity a bit more each day. Getting very, very impatient by now.
If I were to embrace a religion (No!), it would have to be the religion of literature, and I would praise the special god in Atwood's MaddAddam every day by now: "Oh Fuck", as Snowman-the-Jimmy said only when it was really, really bad (which was quite often). ...more
Sep 18, 2019 Justin Tate rated it liked it
It's not easy being the most anticipated book of the year. I would argue that most of the negative reactions - including my own - are based largely on expectations. Since published in 1985, The Handmaid's Tale has become sacred ground in the literary world; a true modern classic further amplified by the successful show and current political tensions. Stakes for a sequel couldn't be higher and, even for the ever-talented Margaret Atwood, that's a tough performance to deliver. All in all, this is It's not easy being the most anticipated book of the year. I would argue that most of the negative reactions - including my own - are based largely on expectations. Since published in 1985, The Handmaid's Tale has become sacred ground in the literary world; a true modern classic further amplified by the successful show and current political tensions. Stakes for a sequel couldn't be higher and, even for the ever-talented Margaret Atwood, that's a tough performance to deliver. All in all, this is a well-written adventure story that expands the world building hinted at and alluded to by the original. But it's also boring, mostly unsurprising, and generally feels like a cash-in opportunity.
More specifically, I was turned off by all the young characters. About 67% of the book is narrated by youth. Their lack of maturity creates a Middle Grade narrative voice that is jarring and undesired. Not necessarily unrealistic, just annoying. Their kiddish thoughts go on for pages and pages when a few brief lines would have sufficed to assure us these characters are indeed children.
Another downer is how many questions this book doesn't answer. The original ended with such a dramatic cliffhanger, but the unresolved threads there remain largely unresolved here. I won't say which ones to keep this spoiler-free, but it's important to read this book with more appropriate expectations than what was set up by the publisher. You won't get all of your burning questions answered. Probably not any of them.
As for its positive attributes, the few sections narrated by Aunt Lydia are truly spectacular. Aunt Lydia has always been a captivating villain and pulling back the curtain on her thoughts is endlessly intriguing. Listeners of the audiobook are in for an additional treat, since they brought in Ann Dowd from the show to reprise her role for the reading.
Again, all in all, this is a decent yarn. It's not going to be a classic, but it's an okay pop novel. I knew pretty much from the first chapter that it wasn't going to deliver everything I desired for a sequel and by a quarter of the way in it was pretty clear what the ending surprise would be, but it still moved at a good pace and kept me moderately in suspense. For Handmaid's Tale fans, as long as you lower your expectations there's no reason why you can't find enjoyment in these further adventures of Gilead. ...more
Oct 23, 2019 Ariel added it
I liked this one more than A Handmaid's Tale! Call me crazy! But I loved that there was this exciting plot that was pushing the momentum forwards and that we were learning more about Gilead and the world outside and the way it came to be. I read this DIRECTLY after A Handmaid's Tale, like I read both of them in the span of a few days, and I felt this enriched the world so much more.
Oct 04, 2019 Meredith rated it liked it
Shelves: overdrive
"One mysterious box, when opened, so often conceals another."
In relation to The Handmaid's Tale Hulu series, I found The Testaments entertaining. As a follow up to the novel, I found it lacking.
I am holding off on a complete review until I have finished rereading The Handmaid's Tale.
Nov 15, 2019 Matthew rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: library, 2019, audio, post-apocalyptic-dystopian
3.5 to 4 stars
I was going to go with 3 stars because while I liked it, it did not impress me as much as the first book. But, after discussing the book with my wife at dinner last night, I realized I got more from it than I thought, so I am upping my rating a bit.
In the afterword, Atwood hints at the fact that this was written in response to the recently renewed popularity of the first book and the current state of affairs in America. Because of this, it does kind of read like it was written to 3.5 to 4 stars
In the afterword, Atwood hints at the fact that this was written in response to the recently renewed popularity of the first book and the current state of affairs in America. Because of this, it does kind of read like it was written to appease the fans instead of an original sequel that she came up with all on her own. I am not saying this as a good or bad thing, it's just how it felt to me – some people really like this sort of thing, so it may be perfect for you.
I really enjoyed the first half to two-thirds of the book. At first, I was not sure how much I would remember about the first book since it has been about three years since I read it. Also, I have not been watching the TV show. But, the book did a pretty good job getting me back into the story and I thought the story and character development were both very good.
However . . . with only about 25% of the book left, for me it got kind of "Hollywood" – a bit cheesy and unbelievable. Suddenly the characters were making odd choices that felt like they served no purpose other that to move the book quickly to a resolution. To have such a rushed and far-fetched resolution to such a richly developed story/dystopian world felt kind of weird. This is where the book lost points for me.
I think that fans of the book and TV show should give this one a try and likely enjoy it. However, be prepared to find it a bit lacking compared to the first book.
Sep 03, 2019 Meike rated it really liked it
Shelves: 2019-booker, canada, 2019-read
Winner of the Booker Prize 2019 (together with Girl, Woman, Other)
This is a flashy, placative, but also intelligent thriller, here to make some points about society and to entertain - it's certainly not the most layered or subtle literature ever written, but you know what? It's engaging, rather suspenseful and great fun to read, full of quips and commentary on the world we live in, and sometimes, that's more than enough. And honestly: The Handmaid's Tale wasn't particularly ambiguous or Winner of the Booker Prize 2019 (together with Girl, Woman, Other)
This is a flashy, placative, but also intelligent thriller, here to make some points about society and to entertain - it's certainly not the most layered or subtle literature ever written, but you know what? It's engaging, rather suspenseful and great fun to read, full of quips and commentary on the world we live in, and sometimes, that's more than enough. And honestly: The Handmaid's Tale wasn't particularly ambiguous or enigmatic either.
As we already know from the book's predecessor, the theocratic terror regime of Gilead did fall - the book ended with a historic symposium on the failed state. "The Testaments" now tells us how this downfall came about, and we hear the story from the alternating perspectives of three women: The infamous and powerful Aunt Lydia from #1, who is one of the women who helped develop the misogynist rules and rites of Gileadean society; a teenage girl who grows up in Gilead and is supposed to submit to her role as a women without any rights; and another young girl who lives in Canada (which borders to Gilead) and discovers her family's connection to Mayday, the resistance group that aims to save women and bring down the vicious regime. In case you are now wondering what happened to Offred, the handmaid at the center of #1, let me tell you that all of the characters are somehow connected to her - beware, readers, it does not make much sense to start "The Testaments" before reading The Handmaid's Tale first.
Atwood does a great job addressing all kinds of current issues within the narrative: Not only the misogyny of the current US President is lurking between the lines, there are also parts that refer to ISIS, the refugee crisis at state borders and in the Mediterranean, xenophobia and the lack of empathy and solidarity. Another important topic is that of opportunism: We learn how Aunt Lydia became an instrumental part in a machine that systemtically exploits and violates women, and as we all know, it's the mass of enablers who keep such machines running, not those at the very top. Just like in #1, the threat of fascism is at the core of the whole story: When inventing Gilead, Atwood was inspired by the diaries of Joseph Goebbels, and the appearence of the women in the book was influenced by the aesthetics of Leni Riefenstahl's propaganda film "Triumph of the Will".
And yes, Atwood paints with very broad brush strokes: This book is highly accessible, and readers aren't required to do much work themselves. I also suppose that the enormous marketing campaign put some people off and, in the eyes of quite a few readers, compromised the novel as a work of "serious" literature. I have to say that I don't really mind though: If "serious" movies with world-class actors can have major premiere events with red carpets, fancy dresses, press frenzy and all, why shouldn't a world-class writer like Margaret Atwood live it up at Waterstones London with her gang of Jeanette Winterson and freakin' Neil Gaiman as well as people dressed as handmaids and Pearl Girls while the whole literary world watches? More power to you, Ms Atwood!
So if you expect intricately crafted, subtly plotted, lyrically written prose, or a completely new twist on the whole Gilead saga, this novel will probably disappoint you. But if you want to read a straightfoward, intelligent, well-paced, witty thriller spiced with social commentary in which women take down the patriarchy, this is the book for you. This text has the potential to reach many readers who normally wouldn't pick up a book on feminism, and it will allow people to join the conversation. ...more
Oct 07, 2019 Cecily rated it liked it
Shelves: dystopian, politics, canada-and-usa, god-religion-faith, unreliable-narrators
Why did Atwood write this more than thirty years after The Handmaid's Tale (see my review HERE), when she'd already written sequels to that for the TV series? Because "we started moving towards Gilead instead of away from it – particularly in the United States" and more specifically, to answer "How did Gilead fall?" and "How do you get to be such a person [as Aunt Lydia]?".
Why read it? Hype, a heavy discount, and morbid curiosity. It's an easy read and enough of a page-turner to finish Why?
Why read it? Hype, a heavy discount, and morbid curiosity. It's an easy read and enough of a page-turner to finish quickly. It answers plenty of questions - and raises more.
No spoilers below.
But, it's a weird hybrid. It's almost as if she'd planned adult and YA versions, then wove them into a single plait.
The Decline and Fall…?
"Per ardua cum estrus"
The plot is predictable, the writing is full of clichés (excusable for Biblical homilies and Gilead sayings), and the more delicately variegated symbolism of Handmaid (especially red and tulips) degrades to more heavy handed mentions of flowers (usually blue ones - the colour for wives).
Image: Tulips and forget-me-nots (Source.)
Overall, it felt lazy, yet I eagerly read it to the end. It's better than the unnecessary MaddAddam (see my review HERE) and the execrable The Heart Goes Last (see my review HERE).
Old and Wise or Young and Annoying?
There are three narrators, in short alternating chapters, mostly concerning events around 15 years after the end of Handmaid. It was obvious how and when the threads would cross and eventually join.
The "Ardua Hall Holograph" was secretly written by Aunt Lydia, as events unfolded, though with relevant backstory about her life before Gilead. The TV series had already presented a more rounded, complex, and sympathetic view of her than the original novel, and this expands on that. It's 4*.
"He owes me, but that could prove a liability. Some people do not enjoy being indebted."
Aunt Lydia is strong, shrewd, knowledgeable, and ruthless. She's the chief Aunt, but no one expects a woman to do all that she does or know all that she knows; her increasing power goes unnoticed. She knows the value of information; she plots, and bides her time. I was reminded of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies (which I confess I saw on TV, rather than read).
The other sections are "Transcripts of Witness Testimony" by two different women, describing their teen years, apparently written years after the events described. Agnes, the wide-eyed innocent child of a commander in Gilead, and Daisy, a bit of a know-it-all, living free in Canada.
After a dramatic event, the change in Daisy's character and voice is disproportionate. She becomes an insufferable teen, complete with irrelevant crush. Her adult self alters tone accordingly. As the end of the story approaches, the mood and intended audience feels increasingly like The Hunger Games (see my review HERE) and its ilk. Not my thing, so I rate these narrations 2*.
Contemporary Shadows?
All three women have at least two very different roles and identities during their lives. The different names are not confusing, but the switching is sometimes inconsistent and thus distracting. All three find risky ways to resist the patriarchy and to stand up for women.
This is written in the light (dark?) of #MeToo as much and the resurgence of religious-backed populist demagogues. Atwood is clearly on the side of women, and against authoritarian regimes, but I expect her readers already are. Unlike Handmaid, she doesn't have anything very new to say, despite increased emphasis on bloodlines and whether the "real" mother is the one who gave birth or the one who raised and loved the child.
Humour?
For reasons I cannot fathom, Peter Kemp classed this as comedy in his review for The Times. There was a puerile pun (the Aunts say "Pen Is Envy", because other women can't read or write), but other than that…?
Rapid Reading?
I read this quickly for a book of more than 400 pages. More impressively, supplicant aunts, totally illiterate when they arrive in their mid teens, are fluent readers of adult books in less than six months, with a basic knowledge of geography too, even though most of each day is filled with arduous chores. As a former primary school teacher, I'd love to know how! (All we're told is that they start off with Dick and Jane books, whose illustrations had the clothes made more modest.)
Meanwhile, Aunt Lydia's favourite books are not quick reads: Jane Eyre, Anna Karenina, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Paradise Lost, and Lives of Girls and Women. Quite a tribute to Alice Munro from her compatriot!
Unreliable?
"History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes."
Like Handmaid, this ends with a Symposium of Gileadean Studies in the far future, discussing the newly-found testimonies (cassette tapes in Handmaid, documents here). It's the first time we hear directly from a man.
He questions the authenticity and accuracy - as men often do with women's testimonies. But it's important in an academic context, dealing with a regime that ruled with fear and relentless propaganda, and where few women were able to write. Aunt Lydia had plenty of reasons justify her role in the regime, so her embroidery may not be of the petit-point variety that future wives were taught. But Atwood didn't leave enough doubt to make it worth raising the question.
Image: Petit-point embroidered blue flowers (Source.)
Redemption?
For a book that is firmly against a perverted version of Christianity, redemption is a strong element.
•	Aunt Lydia wants to redeem herself in the eyes of possible future readers.
•	One person demonstrates the greatest love (John 15:13), yet we never hear from them directly.
•	By the time I finished this review, Atwood had redeemed herself in my eyes. I am still a fan, though I prefer her earlier works.
•	"She was no longer a precious flower, but a much more dangerous creature." [Post puberty]
•	"The body has its twitches, which it can be humiliating as well as rewarding to obey." [Sex]
•	"We were precious flowers that had to be kept safely inside glass houses, or else we would be ambushed and our petals would be torn off and oru treasure would be stolen and we would be ripped apart and trampled by the ravenous men who might lurk around any corner, out there in the wide sharp-edged sin-ridden world." [Bit of a mouthful!]
•	"The crocuses have melted, the daffodils have shrivelled to paper, the tulips have performed their enticing dance, flipping their petal skirts inside out before dropping them completely."
•	"Bibles brooded in the darkness of their locked boxes, glowing with arcane energy."
•	"Melanie had a distant smell… Like a floral guest soap in a strange house… She didn't smell to me like my mother."
•	Family photos, "as if they lived their lives twice, once in reality and the second time for the photo."
•	"I feared I might lose my faith. If you've never had a faith, you will not understand… You feel as if your best friend is dying… The world was emptying itself of meaning."
•	"All that festers is not gold, but it can be made profitable in non-monetary ways."
•	"Gratitude is valuable to me. I like to bank it."
•	"Any forced change of leadership is always followed by a move to rush the opposition."
•	"How tedious is a tyranny in the throes of enactment. It's always the same plot."
•	"It has an acid smell, fear. It's corrosive."
•	"Terror does not exactly reign. Instead it paralyses."
•	"You'd be surprised who quickly the mind goes soggy in the absence of other people. One person alone is not a full person: we exist in relation to others."
Image: Empty cradle (Source.) ...more
Sep 10, 2019 Gumble's Yard rated it liked it
Shelves: 2019-booker-longlist, 2019, 2019-booker-shortlist
Joint Winner of the 2019 Booker Prize - which I captured in this photo.
You'll labour over this manuscript of mine, reading and rereading, picking nits as you go.
I was fortunate enough to attend one of the live cinema screenings of the readings and author Q&A from the National Theatre on the evening of the book's official publication, managing to complete my first read of the book just as the event started.
The event was excellent - and I think only reinforced my view that Handmaid's Tale is Joint Winner of the 2019 Booker Prize - which I captured in this photo.
The event was excellent - and I think only reinforced my view that Handmaid's Tale is a great works of fiction. Great firstly because it proved so prescient - I always felt that Brave New World was a better written book than 1984, but only one is still widely quoted and referred to today - and Handmaid's Tale has I think equalled if not eclipsed 1984. And great also because it has inspired and resonated with so many people.
Trump and anti-abortion male legislatures (Atwood remarked that young, fertile women - a minority in any society have across so many civilisations and cultures been a resource that society feels it can shape for its own purpose and without their consent) have been subject to the silent but dramatically effective protest of the Handmaids.
Even these last two weeks in the light of the proposed (and now executed) prorogation of the UK parliament a quote from the Handmaid's Tale is going viral:
"That was when they suspended the Constitution. They said it would be temporary. There wasn't even any rioting in the street. People stayed at home at night, watching television"
So to the extent that the publication of the Testaments causes people to revisit the novel - address some of the misconceptions around its message, celebrate Atwood as a writer then I welcome it.
But it is the novel itself where I start to pick nits:
Atwood has said that she was inspired to write the novel as she wanted to examine how oppressive regimes fall, and perhaps secondarily to explore how people survive in those regimes and even what causes people to resist the regimes.
On the second front I think she does succeed. The Aunt Lydia character is an excellent one - inspired heavily by Thomas Cromwell. From the event this evening Atwood is fascinated by the paralles between Gilead and Henry VIIs court and particularly the way in which Thomas Cromwell navigated his way to a position of power while carrying out his own schemings. She is obviously familiar with and a fan of both the Mantel trilogy (well the two published and knows of the one to come - she jokingly stage whispered "it doesn't end well for him") and the Diarmaid MacCulloch biography last year (she did not mention the author).
On the first though I struggle really to see the insights she brings. Atwood has made a big thing - in both books (and as a pre-condition for the TV serialisation of the Gilead world) that all events must have a basis in real life events. However I am struggling to tie the way in which the Gilead regime to the downfall of various regimes that she references heavily as inspirations for the book. These include USSR (where the Stalinist purges are a key inspiration for this novel), East Germany (more of an inspiration for the first), Pinochet's Chile, the Argentina Junta (the latter two inspiring the stadium scenes in this book and the disappeared babies of Argentina having clear parallels with one of the characters here). In most if not all the cases the actual abuses of the regime I think emerged as a result of (and post) their fall rather than precipitating it.
And the resistance part of the novel ends more as a rather simplistic adventure story - I don't really read literary fiction for passages like this
"Glad you made it," said Captain Mishimengo. He shook our hands; he had two fingers missing. He was stocky, about sixty, with tanned skin and a short black beard. "Now here's our story, supposing you're asked: this is a cod schooner, solar, with fuel backup. Flag of convenience is Lebanon. We've delivered a cargo of cod and lemons by special licence, which means the grey market, and now we're heading back out. You'll need to stay out of sight during the day: I heard from my contact, via Bert who dropped you at the dock, that they're bound to be looking for you soon. There's a place for you to sleep, in the hold. If there's an inspection, coast guard, it won't be thorough, it's guys we know." He rubbed his fingers together, which I knew meant money.
I also felt that rather than illuminating how things in Gilead worked, the book at times struggled to maintain a coherent and consistent world view (for example I was not entirely convinced how the extreme punitive emphasis on the sanctity of the handmaids tied with the dentists ability to abuse children; the food shortages did not always seem prevalent; the continuing use of "MayDay" as a password by an organisation known to everyone as MayDay, and the addition of "June Moon" to add more secrecy is just silly) and other than the Pearl Girls I did not gain as much additional understanding of new depths to the societal picture as I had wished.
And whereas I liked the Aunt Lydia character - her depth and complexity, the other characters seemed far more one-dimensional. While I think I can excuse this for the Gilead based girl (and I think she does give a sense of how people can rapidly become assimilated to any culture if they have grown up with it); the Canadian girl was much less convincing - the device of having her unable to curb her language, attitude or atheism was significantly over-used and her (lack of) reaction to the murder of the people she thought were her parents for the first 16 years of her life was simply implausible.
The book ends - like Handmaid's Tale - with a 22nd Century Symposium looking back at the events of Gilead and using source materials (which are effectively the book we have been reading).
This is one area where The Testaments is better constructed than its predecessor - we are given more convincing explanations of the provenance of the documents that make the novel and even a clever hint by Atwood (via a link with Mary Queen of Scots and the Casket Letters) that the Aunt Lydia piece may even be a fake - Atwood left a rather hanging comment in the launch event that she is "fascinated by forgeries".
The character links between this book and its predecessor (taken for granted in pretty well every review - not least due to the influence of the TV series) are instead described as "not definitively excluded .... jumping to conclusions .... [for] future scholars to examine"
We are also told that the Professor and his assistant prepared a "facsimile edition of the three batches of materials, which we have interleaved in an order that made approximate narrative sense to us" - initially for the symposium attendees but also for the "benefit of a broader audience".
And here I think is the crux of my dilemma with this novel. The Handmaid's Tale even as a novel had moved well beyond the literary fiction space, and the TV series took it into popular culture. Atwood has I think written a novel which is deliberately broad in its appeal: it cleverly builds on the novel, fan theories and the TV series while adding her own stamp; it is also much more clearly an adventure type book and less literary. But its those very strengths which I think will lessen its appeal to fans of literary fiction.
So on the day of its publication I am: more convinced then ever of the greatness of its predecessor; glad I read this book; pleased it has been written; unconvinced of its individual literary merits; of the view that a lifetime achievement Nobel Prize would be a more appropriate recognition for the author than the Booker would be for this book. ...more
Sep 03, 2019 Ron Charles rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: political-fiction
"The Testaments" opens in Gilead about 15 years after "The Handmaid's Tale," but it's an entirely different novel in form and tone. Inevitably, the details are less shocking — at least in part because the horrors of Gilead's male-centered theocracy are already so well known. When Offred first told her "sad and mutilated story," we were hearing about the hangings, the Unbabies and the Sons of Jacob for the first time. But by now, Gildead's breeding Ceremony is a creepy cultural touchstone.
Atwood "The Testaments" opens in Gilead about 15 years after "The Handmaid's Tale," but it's an entirely different novel in form and tone. Inevitably, the details are less shocking — at least in part because the horrors of Gilead's male-centered theocracy are already so well known. When Offred first told her "sad and mutilated story," we were hearing about the hangings, the Unbabies and the Sons of Jacob for the first time. But by now, Gildead's breeding Ceremony is a creepy cultural touchstone.
Atwood responds to the challenge of that familiarity by giving us the narrator we least expect: Aunt Lydia. It's a brilliant strategic move that turns the world of Gilead inside out. In "The Handmaid's Tale," Aunt Lydia is the orthodox teacher whose platitudes and instructions cycle through Offred's mind. But in "The Testaments," Aunt Lydia speaks directly to us in all her conflicted complexity. She has become the supreme matriarch of this masculine cult. "I control the women's side of their enterprise with an iron fist in a leather glove in a woollen mitten," she says. "And I keep things orderly: like a harem eunuch." As a living legend, the very model of moral perfection and feminine wisdom, she enjoys a special position of extraordinary power — and she knows just how. . . .
To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entert... ...more
Nov 28, 2018 Charlotte May marked it as library-loans · review of another edition
Library copy available for pick up
Nov 28, 2018 Sara rated it liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: fiction, science-fiction, literary-fiction
3.5 stars.
It pains me to write this, because I love The Handmaid's Tale, but this book just felt incredibly unnecessary. The plot is predictable, with 'revelations' that are glaringly obvious, and characters that just don't have the same level of depth of emotion that Offred had. With The Handmaid's Tale, we have a novel that leaves a lot to the reader's imagination. The ending is ambiguous and interesting, with a story that features an incredibly narrowed view of a world by a woman so 3.5 stars.
It pains me to write this, because I love The Handmaid's Tale, but this book just felt incredibly unnecessary. The plot is predictable, with 'revelations' that are glaringly obvious, and characters that just don't have the same level of depth of emotion that Offred had. With The Handmaid's Tale, we have a novel that leaves a lot to the reader's imagination. The ending is ambiguous and interesting, with a story that features an incredibly narrowed view of a world by a woman so obviously wronged by it, and I felt that all of that is taken away here. Blanks are filled that didn't need filling in, and it ends up just feeling gratuitous.
Unlike The Handmaid's Tale, this is told through the interweaving lives of three women. One, a girl growing up in Canada with a mysterious link to Gilead, one a girl growing up within the walls of Gilead, and Aunt Lydia - a founder Aunt, and a character we first see from Offred's perspective in The Handmaid's Tale. Aunt Lydia's is by far the most interesting perspective, as we delve into her past and some of the more dubious choices she makes to become so powerful in a world that favours men. In terms of her story, I enjoyed looking back at the founding of Gilead and the struggles women faced during the initial upheavals, and their transition from powerful professions like lawyers and doctors, to nothing. If anything, I would have liked more of this time period to add some more emotional depth to the future plots. Some of Aunt Lydia's decisions later on the book also seemed a little out of character however, and I struggled to understand her reasonings behind them, given what she goes through to 'get to the top'. I did love her interactions with the other founder Aunts though and the many levels of scheming and backstabbing that goes on amongst them. They made the chapters, and I would have loved if this was explored more.
In terms of the other characters, Agnes and Daisy, I struggled to differentiate between the two at times, as their voices are so similar. I also didn't find their stories particularly engaging and Daisy in particular is extremely irritating at times. The passage of time over the overall plot is also a little disorientating, without any clear idea of how much time passes between chapters. Agnes goes from being a child to early twenties with very little comment. The use of secondary characters in these later chapters is also largely underdeveloped, and used only for plot progression (a very obvious one) that makes future developments feel a little cheap.
I know I've mainly slated this, but I do love Atwood's writing style. After a slow start getting in to this, I flew through it in a couple of days - which can be credited to Atwood's ability to create a world I still find deeply intriguing. I just wish there had been more to add to this story instead of taking away my wonderful experiences of the original novel. Disappointing. ...more
Sep 03, 2019 Paul Fulcher rated it it was ok
Shelves: 2019, booker-2019
Here I also keep another set of files, accessible only to a very few; I think of them as the secret histories of Gilead. All that festers is not gold, but it can be made profitable in non-monetary ways: knowledge is power.
It was an "extraordinarily complicated process" to get copies of the manuscript, which is protected by a "ferocious" non-disclosure agreement.
Chair of Booker Judges as told to the Guardian
When, in 2197, the Thirteenth Symposium on Amazonian Studies takes place, the Here I also keep another set of files, accessible only to a very few; I think of them as the secret histories of Gilead. All that festers is not gold, but it can be made profitable in non-monetary ways: knowledge is power.
When, in 2197, the Thirteenth Symposium on Amazonian Studies takes place, the assembled historians, looking for evidence of the Great Amazon PRH war, will pore over the details of the launch of The Testaments as one of the first skirmishes that signalled the epic conflict to come.
With a midnight launch planned by PRH for September 9th 2019, a plan with which the Amazonias had officially concurred, suddenly on September 3rd the Twittersphere was set ablaze by two separate breaches of the agreement.
Select Agents of the mysterious Prime organisation had been sent copies of the top-secret document, although the Amazon empire denied any deliberate malpractice and even, although only once it was too late to remedy the situation, issued a, nearly unprecedented, apology via diplomatic channels.
Simultaneously media outlets in the free world began to release details of The Testaments, despite a worldwide embargo, the first from the publicly funded NPR, quickly followed by the Washington Post and New York Times, each competing to reveal as many of the secrets as possible. How this information was shared despite a strict worldwide embargo remains unclear, but a microdot may have played a part:
"Microdot?" I asked. "What is that?"
"An old technology that has fallen into disuse, but that is still perfectly viable. Documents are photographed with a miniature camera that reduces them to microscopic size. Then they are printed on minute plastic dots, which can be applied to almost any surface and read by the recipient with a custom viewer small enough to be concealed in, for instance, a pen."
"Astonishing," I exclaimed. "Not for nothing do we at Ardua Hall say 'Pen Is Envy.'"
It was a fascinating saga, which is unfortunately rather more than (that one good joke aside) I can say for the book itself. Atwood was once an author whose books I eagerly awaited but this, after Hag Seed and The Heart That Goes Last, is the third major disappointment of recent years.
Ultimately Atwood appears to be trying to please too many audiences at once: those who have been waiting 35 years for a sequel to the Handmaid's Tale, and forming their own theories in the meantime: fans of the TV series (who feel the primary target); and prize judges swayed by ferocious NDAs. Indeed there are some quite clever nods to each group that will pass others by. But the net effect is to leave this literary fiction fan distinctly underwhelmed. The end result has cardboard characters (a cliched teenager who seems completely unphased by the death of her parents in a terrorist attack, rapidly followed by being told they weren't her real parents), a hokey plot (as pointed out by Gumble's Yard, the infamous resistance organisation Mayday has as its password ... Mayday?!) and a tedious drip..drip..drip of revelations that are obvious to the reader well beforehand (to be fair not helped by the fact that all the early embargo breaking press reviews competed to reveal as much of the plot as possible).
1.5 stars rounded up to 2 for the fun of the botched launch. ...more
Sep 13, 2019 Jenny (Reading Envy) rated it liked it
Shelves: read2019, tournament-of-books, sci-fi-fantasy, audiobook, 2019-laser, post-apocalypse-and-dystopia, booker-winners-and-listed
I've had less than good experiences in my last few Atwood reads - first I spent money on the novella series that was then removed from my Kindle with no renumeration. Then I held off and finally read The Heart Goes Last and ended up sorely disappointed in it. You can read my 2-star review but part of my complaint had to do with a feeling of author laziness on some level. Claiming it was an all new book, but to me half of it being very familiar since I'd already read it in the novella version. I've had less than good experiences in my last few Atwood reads - first I spent money on the novella series that was then removed from my Kindle with no renumeration. Then I held off and finally read The Heart Goes Last and ended up sorely disappointed in it. You can read my 2-star review but part of my complaint had to do with a feeling of author laziness on some level. Claiming it was an all new book, but to me half of it being very familiar since I'd already read it in the novella version. And paid for it twice.
I've reread The Handmaid's Tale in the last few years, and it holds up. The MaddAddam trilogy has a fond place in my heart. I don't believe I should have to watch a TV series to appreciate a book, and this forms the major part of my criticism of this book. I did watch the first season of The Handmaid's Tale, but the episodes came slower and slower, because I was having nightmares. I delayed watching the second season because real life seemed dark enough, and my husband finally went ahead and watched it without me.
When I got to the end of this book, I went and read the synopses of seasons 2 and 3 of the show and here's the thing - this book intertwines with the show and you simply will not understand it without all the parts. This is more aggravating than I can express.
My second major complaint is a complex frustration of this book being included in the Man Booker Shortlist. It is a good enough book in the sense that there are three narrators that rotate and tell different pieces of a somewhat exciting story, but as others have pointed out since two of the narrators are teenagers the novel reads like a pretty typical dystopian YA novel. And maybe not the best one I've ever read (The Hunger Games, for instance, has far more complexity, higher stakes, and dynamic characters.) The writing serves for the pace of a thriller-dystopia but there is nothing literary about it. Even Justin Cronin's vampire novels are of a more literary nature than this book, and I feel like the Man Booker judges are decades, maybe centuries, away from considering such a novel on their list. It does not deserve the spot it is occupying; there were books far better in writing and creativity and voice that were excluded for what, a nostalgia spot?
This is not the bitter accusations of someone who is whining because she didn't get a review copy. I don't always, I'm not important enough, so I hadn't even tried. I was happy to purchase it the day it came out in Audible and listen to it in all my spare time to finish it by last night.
I also feel the book leaves several questions unanswered but as a reader, I don't even know if I should remark on them or assume they are explained in the show, to the extent that Margaret Atwood felt she didn't need to. For now I'll let them be. ...more
Sep 11, 2019 Richard Derus rated it liked it
Shelves: returned, borrowed
UPDATE OCTOBER 2019 The Coode Street Podcast goes into the SFnal roots of this title.
My hold came in today!! The librarians saw my name on the holds list and our library bought one, instead of relying on the system's many multiple copies. That way I got my hold immediately instead of being wherever I was, deep in the triple digits.
They like me. They really like me.
All three stars are for Aunt Lydia's sections. Agnes is annoying, a lump of nothing as required by her upbringing; it didn't make UPDATE OCTOBER 2019 The Coode Street Podcast goes into the SFnal roots of this title.
All three stars are for Aunt Lydia's sections. Agnes is annoying, a lump of nothing as required by her upbringing; it didn't make her any fun at all to read about. Daisy is intolerable, both for her backstory and her impossibly selflessly perfect nature; we're unsurprised at her actions because she is The Chosen One.
Try this: Only read Aunt Lydia's sections, flipping quickly past the character-as-mouthpiece young women. You'll get an interesting sidebar to the amazing [The Handmaid's Tale]. Aunt Lydia's story is, in fact, better than the original book.
I'll only get yelled at if I say more so that's it. ...more
Dec 04, 2019 Paula rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Recommended to Paula by: Booker
Shelves: audio-book, booker-prize, dystopia, literary-fiction, cultural, favorite-books, published-2019, read-in-2019
Co-winner of the Booker prize 2019
Brilliant! Absolutely phenomenal!
What a fantastic ride coming back to the world of Gilead 15 years later. The sequel to The Handmaid's Tale is written very different from Margaret Atwood's dystopian classic, but in no way does it suffer as a follow-up. The Testaments is superbly narrated by three women- two young women with one who escaped to Canada as a child, the other raised in Gilead, and, last but not least, the very powerful and dangerous, Aunt Lydia. I am Co-winner of the Booker prize 2019
What a fantastic ride coming back to the world of Gilead 15 years later. The sequel to The Handmaid's Tale is written very different from Margaret Atwood's dystopian classic, but in no way does it suffer as a follow-up. The Testaments is superbly narrated by three women- two young women with one who escaped to Canada as a child, the other raised in Gilead, and, last but not least, the very powerful and dangerous, Aunt Lydia. I am thankful to have listened to the audiobook as the voice of Aunt Lydia is narrated by the formidable actress Ann Dowd who plays said character in the amazing Hulu series.
If you wish to learn about the secrets of Gilead and how Aunt Lydia got to where she was, do read this book. It is exceptionally suspenseful and entertaining and meshes well with the Hulu series.
The Testaments gave me the shivers many times while listening...so frightening at times...
5 out of 5 Booker worthy stars
Shona Thomson I gave this book 5 stars too. An amazing follow up to The Handmaid's Tale.
Paula Shona wrote: "I gave this book 5 stars too. An amazing follow up to The Handmaid's Tale."
So true, Shona. Thanks for commenting!
Sep 14, 2019 Collin rated it really liked it
At the opening of The Testaments, a statue is unveiled. This is a statue of the infamous, puppet-master, Aunt Lydia. Readers of The Handmaid's Tale will know her well.
The Testaments is narrated by three narrators, but Aunt Lydia is the dominant of the three. Through her secretive writings, we learn of her history, and how she rose to power to become the mastermind that sets in motion the destruction of Gilead. Again readers of The Handmaid's Tale will recognise the diary style of writing that At the opening of The Testaments, a statue is unveiled. This is a statue of the infamous, puppet-master, Aunt Lydia. Readers of The Handmaid's Tale will know her well.
The Testaments is narrated by three narrators, but Aunt Lydia is the dominant of the three. Through her secretive writings, we learn of her history, and how she rose to power to become the mastermind that sets in motion the destruction of Gilead. Again readers of The Handmaid's Tale will recognise the diary style of writing that is employed by Aunt Lydia as she records her actions and deeds, hopefully to be found by historians in the future.
Aunt Lydia is such a wonderful character and the irony in which a woman, albeit the most powerful of the Aunts, but still a woman, seen by the men of the Republic of Gilead as second class citizens, barely more than vessels for carrying babies, brings the Republic crashing down around their heads.
Aunt Lydia may be the dominant narrator, but the other two have vital roles to play in the narrative as well. Their chapters are labelled as "Witness Testimony 369A" and "Witness Testimony 369B" respectively. Both narrators give the reader valuable insight to Gilead and how young impressionable minds are easily directed and nurtured into the beliefs of a theocracy. One comes from outside Gilead and provides a contrasting view to the other who was raised in Gilead. Atwood skilfully shifts perspective back and forth with these characters at just the right moments and it works a treat.
It is interesting towards the end of the book when the young girl raised in Gilead does not even know how big Gilead is, its geographical location, which countries surround it and share borders. This is what happens when a theocracy is in power and the women, apart from the Aunts, are not even allowed to read. Information, and intelligence, as Aunt Lydia proves so succinctly are a powerful weapon.
This book was always going to face intense scrutiny being the sequel to such a classic book and the
length of years it has taken Atwood to answer her fan's pleas. The Testaments has a very different feel to The Handmaid's Tale, but for me at least, it loses nothing in comparison. After reading some negative reviews, I went back and read this a second time because I was enjoying it so much. I think that most readers will agree that this novel will not be considered the classic that The Handmaid's Tale is, but for sheer enjoyment, it holds its head high. To be able to find out the history of Aunt Lydia, and to watch her plan and scheme the destruction of Gilead was worth reading the book for me.
There is a tenuous link found at the end of the book to Offred, that will tantalise fans of the first book.
Just like any sequel trying to live up to impossible hype, this book is going to have its critics, but if you are a fan of the world of Gilead, I urge you to give it a try, you may be pleasantly surprised.
A well deserved 4 Stars!
Sep 02, 2019 Hugh rated it liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: read-2019, modern-lit, booker-winners
Joint Winner of the Booker Prize 2019
I can't help but be a little disappointed with this book. In my view The Handmaid's Tale didn't need a sequel, but I suppose we can't begrudge Atwood the opportunity to cash in on the popularity of the TV version. In my view this book is not worthy of a Booker shortlisting, and is possibly the weakest of the Atwood novels I have read.
There are two main problems - firstly by alternating the accounts of three narrators, the distinctive voices are lost, and Joint Winner of the Booker Prize 2019
There are two main problems - firstly by alternating the accounts of three narrators, the distinctive voices are lost, and secondly the final part of the book lacks subtlety, and its plotting defies credibility. The book does not really stand alone - too much knowledge of the original is assumed for that. Another problem is that the three narrations interleave a little too neatly.
I did quite enjoy the first half - Aunt Lydia as a subversive plotting the downfall of Gilead is a neat twist, I liked the contrast between life in Gilead and life in neighbouring Canada, and the perspectives added by the two younger narrators were interesting, as was Lydia's account of how she came to work for the Gilead regime.
I could have written a more detailed review, but I would rather leave that to those who enjoyed it more. ...more
flag 97 likes · Like · see review
Sep 21, 2019 Maxwell rated it liked it
Shelves: i-own-it, canadian-lit, 2019
[3.5 stars] So I'm finally getting around to reviewing this. I finished it about 2 weeks ago, and didn't really mean to wait that long to write a proper review of it—but I'm glad I did. As I've sat with this book after finishing it, I think my initial feelings have faded a tiny bit. I will say first and foremost, reading this was incredibly enjoyable. It affirmed my love of Atwood's writing, at a sentence level, and storytelling. Her ability to weave plots and deliver complex themes in a very [3.5 stars] So I'm finally getting around to reviewing this. I finished it about 2 weeks ago, and didn't really mean to wait that long to write a proper review of it—but I'm glad I did. As I've sat with this book after finishing it, I think my initial feelings have faded a tiny bit. I will say first and foremost, reading this was incredibly enjoyable. It affirmed my love of Atwood's writing, at a sentence level, and storytelling. Her ability to weave plots and deliver complex themes in a very accessible but elevated way is quite a feat. I'm impressed that she can balance a propelling, engaging story with complicated characters all wrapped in beautiful prose.
That being said, I think this one is really hard for me to rate/review because I am such a fan of the show, and this is sort of auxiliary material if you watch the show. BUT, you do NOT have to watch the show to read this book. If you've only read The Handmaid's Tale but never seen the show, you can absolutely read this. There will just be some little easter eggs you will miss or reveals you won't see coming, but watching the show is NOT required to read this by any means.
Unlike the first Handmaid's novel, however, I found this one to be a bit tidy. It's a lot more crafty and, maybe, because it has the show to play off of, feels almost restricted by what it can and cannot do. After thinking about it for a couple of weeks, I've had less to stew on than when I originally read The Handmaid's Tale. This one definitely seems to tie things up a bit more neatly and may serve as a coda for whenever the show is finally finished. But at this point, who knows what the show will choose to do with the information here. It doesn't really matter.
I'd still recommend this one for fans of the first book, and especially for viewers of the show, but it might not have the staying power that book #1 had for me. Nevertheless, Atwood is a skilled storyteller and writer who will keep you turning the pages. ...more
Sep 30, 2019 Johann (jobis89) rated it really liked it · review of another edition
"You don't believe the sky is falling until a chunk of it falls on you."
In the highly anticipated sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood answers some of the questions that have tantalised readers for decades.
I'm not gonna lie... I could read about Gilead until the cows come home. I find this dystopian world absolutely fascinating - and equally terrifying, given our current climate. Combine this with Atwood's sharp, insightful commentary and her stunning prose, and you have all the "You don't believe the sky is falling until a chunk of it falls on you."
I'm not gonna lie... I could read about Gilead until the cows come home. I find this dystopian world absolutely fascinating - and equally terrifying, given our current climate. Combine this with Atwood's sharp, insightful commentary and her stunning prose, and you have all the necessary ingredients for an amazing book!
However, I do feel like it pales in comparison to The Handmaid's Tale. It's perhaps unfair to compare it to a book that has become so revered and well-loved, but I couldn't help doing that as I was reading along. There are three narratives in The Testaments, and as many of the reviews I read agreed with, one of the narratives is just not as enjoyable as the other two. I can do without an annoyingly whiny teen, thank you very much. Aunt Lydia's narrative was certainly the highlight of the book for me! I'd have been more than happy if the entire book was from her perspective.
That being said, it did feel a tad predictable at times... and some parts felt spoon-fed. A lot of the ambiguity that worked so well in The Handmaid's Tale was missing here.
I've seen a lot of comments about how this novel was simply unnecessary and I can totally understand that viewpoint. I just really enjoyed being back in Gilead and I can't deny that I found this to be a real page-turner! I had a good time! However on reflection I did end up deducting half a star from my original rating. 3.5 stars. ...more
Sep 19, 2019 sue rated it liked it
Shelves: historical-fiction, part-of-series
Well, it's written by Margaret Atwood who pens a very good read in all her books, so I added another *. Or it would have been 2.75*
The book itself in MHO is that it should have been left as it was.
So why did I buy it?
Because I was hoping it lead on from the previous book The Handmaids Tale.
For over 60% of this read it focused on the children. Nothing wrong with that, it was written really well.
On the whole I enjoyed it but it was slow moving, tedious at times.
Lydia is still around and as in the Well, it's written by Margaret Atwood who pens a very good read in all her books, so I added another *. Or it would have been 2.75*
Lydia is still around and as in the last book she's still a force to be reckoned with.
For me, this could have spoilt my enjoyment of the Vintage Classic of The Handmaids Tale. It didn't because it IS a pure classic.
I can't help thinking as other reviewers, did the publishers and author actually see an avenue to make money? Of course they did. But readers were excited, eager to get their hands on this hyped up book. I was!
It's GREAT writing. It's what you'd expect from this author.
She tells the tale so well that you have to continue to read it.
I notice there are some sitting on the fence to read this. Some really loving it and others knowing and realising it's not what we were expecting although, still good in its own right.
The children were of course important. The emphasis just a little too much drawn out.
It's Margaret Atwood though, so what can you say? You just have to read it. Hype or no hype. ...more
Nov 13, 2019 Matt rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Recommended to Matt by: Rae
Shelves: audiobook, buddy-read, mind-the-bookshelf-gap
In the stunning and much anticipated sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood sheds light on the dystopia she created all those years ago and which resonates on televisions even today. Welcome back to Gilead, which has been running as its own theocratic dictatorship for over fifteen years. Life has been interesting, though the almighty power of the Commanders seems to have developed cracks—just don't tell them that. Agnes is a girl who has lived her entire life under Gilead, knowing no In the stunning and much anticipated sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood sheds light on the dystopia she created all those years ago and which resonates on televisions even today. Welcome back to Gilead, which has been running as its own theocratic dictatorship for over fifteen years. Life has been interesting, though the almighty power of the Commanders seems to have developed cracks—just don't tell them that. Agnes is a girl who has lived her entire life under Gilead, knowing no different. She is a 'child of the state' and has now reached the age when she will need to be partnered off to become a subservient wife. She has her own ideas, but knows that she must work within the rules of Gilead. Daisy also has lived her entire life knowing nothing before Gilead, but on the other side of the border. She lives in Canada, where her parents have been fighting to free people from under the thumb of Gilead, protesting and helping those who are courageous enough to make it out. When terrorism strikes on the streets of Toronto, Daisy must make a decision that will surely change her life and many around her. These two girls are inextricably tied to a third woman, Aunt Lydia. The Founding Aunt of Gilead, Lydia tells her own story about living in Gilead and helping to found some of its pillars. As pressure mounts to locate the long-lost Baby Nicole, the people of Gilead turn to their leaders who are determined to exact revenge on those who caused such grief. Agnes, Lydia, and Daisy are at the heart of this, though their agendas are all their own. Brilliantly concocted, Atwood does what she promised, providing a great peek behind the curtain into the inner workings of Gilead, while drawing some parallels to current circumstances where leaders stand, sensing they are above the law. Highly recommended to those who are well-versed in all things Handmaid, as well as the reader who loves dystopian writing at its best.
I arrived late(r) to the Handmaid party, but am fully caught up with all the hype. I devoured the first book and have nothing but praise for the television adaptation, which left me very eager to read this sequel. While some books flop when they seek to add onto the original content, Atwood has worked with her original premise as well as themes found in the television programme to create a stunning piece of writing. The reader learns so much about all three protagonists, who come from different backgrounds but feel the power of Gilead all the same. Lydia tells of her capture as Gilead rose and how she became an Aunt, as well as the programs she created to keep the state running effectively. The reader will likely find this intriguing, as it fills holes left by both the book and television programme, while adding new and exciting tangents. Agnes lives a life of apparent piety as a Child of Gilead, something that has never been explored in either aforementioned medium. The reader can see some of intricacies of grooming the young girls for a life as wives to those in power. Daisy, who becomes Jade at one point, has been schooled on the evils of Gilead, though knows only what her textbooks and parents tell her. Now, she is given the chance to branch out on her own and make a difference for all she loves, even if she is still learning about herself. The premise of this piece is quite good and it seems as though Atwood did precisely what was asked of her, to delve deeper and offer answers to threads left blowing in the wind. The story moves forward through these three protagonists, told in journal entries (Lydia) and witness statements (Agnes and Daisy). These forms of first-person narratives offer the most insight into the goings-on of Gilead and the struggle to dismantle it. I could not have thought of a better way to do it and Atwood proves why she is a master of her craft.
As I am sure to get some general questions about this book, please see my Q and A below:
* Should I read The Handmaid's Tale first? As a long-time proponent of reading a series in order, I would say yes. There is also much to be learned from the foundational novel before leaping into this one.
* Should I have seen the television programme before reading this? Not necessary, but it will make things a lot clearer. If the reader has a general understanding of the show's premise, they will have an easier time.
* Is this book all about religion and praying? No, but Gilead is, so either hold your nose or skip this book!
Kudos, Madam Atwood, for a wonderful spin on things. I have tried to keep the spoilers out, but you did so much in this single book!
This book fulfills the November 2019 requirement of the Mind the Bookshelf Gap reading challenge.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
Sep 16, 2019 Diane Barnes rated it really liked it
When it comes to highly anticipated books, assuming it's one I actually want to read, I like to get hold of a copy early on and read it before the hype gets started. In this case, I re-read Handmaid's Tale a few months ago to get a fresh take, then put a hold on this one at the library to ensure being at the head of the line. I did watch the first season of the Hulu series, since I had been told that followed the first book very closely, but stopped there until the book was published.
My opinion When it comes to highly anticipated books, assuming it's one I actually want to read, I like to get hold of a copy early on and read it before the hype gets started. In this case, I re-read Handmaid's Tale a few months ago to get a fresh take, then put a hold on this one at the library to ensure being at the head of the line. I did watch the first season of the Hulu series, since I had been told that followed the first book very closely, but stopped there until the book was published.
My opinion is this: Handmaid's Tale was complete in itself for me. I had never expected a continuation of Offred's story, and when she climbed into the back of that van, my imagination could continue her story or end it. It was my choice.
However, I appreciated The Testaments for the new insights it afforded into the world of Gilead. Set 15 years after the end of Handmaid, we see the realities of the wives, the children, and most importantly, the Aunts. The Aunts make us realize that true power lies with those who know things, and men who underestimate women's strength are doomed. Maybe that's what Atwood is trying to say. Strength is not limited to the physical, intelligence and guile can be just as effective. But then, we women have always known that, haven't we? ...more
Aug 16, 2019 Nick marked it as to-read
this is the most unexpected thing of 2019 so far
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Overdue Podcast: Ep 396 - The Testaments by Margaret Atwood 1 24 Jan 13, 2020 12:30PM
Tournament of Books: The Testaments 8 89 Jan 13, 2020 04:16AM
Bailey's/Orange W...: * January 2020 The Testaments 8 29 Jan 08, 2020 10:36PM
The Little Book t...: Folder # 1 The Testaments by Margaret Atwood 2 3 Jan 07, 2020 02:48PM
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About Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood was born in 1939 in Ottawa and grew up in northern Ontario, Quebec, and Toronto. She received her undergraduate degree from Victoria College at the University of Toronto and her master's degree from Radcliffe College.
Throughout her writing career, Margaret Atwood has received numerous awards and honourary degrees. She is the author of more than thirty-five volumes of poetry, Margaret Atwood was born in 1939 in Ottawa and grew up in northern Ontario, Quebec, and Toronto. She received her undergraduate degree from Victoria College at the University of Toronto and her master's degree from Radcliffe College.
Throughout her writing career, Margaret Atwood has received numerous awards and honourary degrees. She is the author of more than thirty-five volumes of poetry, children's literature, fiction, and non-fiction and is perhaps best known for her novels, which include The Edible Woman (1970), The Handmaid's Tale (1983), The Robber Bride (1994), Alias Grace (1996), and The Blind Assassin, which won the prestigious Booker Prize in 2000. Atwood's dystopic novel, Oryx and Crake, was published in 2003. The Tent (mini-fictions) and Moral Disorder (short stories) both appeared in 2006. Her most recent volume of poetry, The Door, was published in 2007. Her non-fiction book, Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth  in the Massey series, appeared in 2008, and her most recent novel, The Year of the Flood, in the autumn of 2009. Ms. Atwood's work has been published in more than forty languages, including Farsi, Japanese, Turkish, Finnish, Korean, Icelandic and Estonian. In 2004 she co-invented the Long Pen TM.
Margaret Atwood currently lives in Toronto with writer Graeme Gibson.
Associations: Margaret Atwood was President of the Writers' Union of Canada from May 1981 to May 1982, and was President of International P.E.N., Canadian Centre (English Speaking) from 1984-1986. She and Graeme Gibson are the Joint Honourary Presidents of the Rare Bird Society within BirdLife International. Ms. Atwood is also a current Vice-President of PEN International.
The Handmaid's Tale (2 books)
Books by Margaret Atwood
Trivia About The Testaments (T...
1 trivia question
More quizzes & trivia...
Quotes from The Testaments
"You don't believe the sky is falling until a chunk of it falls on you." — 61 likes
"As they say, history does not repeat itself, but it rhymes." — 58 likes

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: in node js ,how to set login permission on facebook developer API? My code is:- .. and they give me error in the "output"
,How can i solve it??
code:
var FB=require('fb');
    FB.login(function(response) {
        // handle the response
        if (response.status === 'connected') {
            console.log('Logged in.');
        }
        else {
            FB.login();
        }
    },
    {scope: 'publish_actions',
        return_scopes: true
    });

  Output: FB.login(function(response) {
       ^

    TypeError: FB.login is not a function
        at Object.<anonymous> (C:\Users\vvLocal\Desktop\work\facebook\fbLogin.js:3:4)

A: var options = {}
var FB = require('fb'),
fb = new FB.Facebook(options);

fb.login(function(response) {
    // handle the response
    if (response.status === 'connected') {
        console.log('Logged in.');
    }
    else {
        fb.login();
    }
},
{scope: 'publish_actions',
    return_scopes: true
});

Try that even I didn't test ;)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


This massive work for orchestra and four choirs was commissioned by Mario di Bonaventura for the Hopkins Centre, Dartmouth College, Hanover, USA. It was first performed by the BBC singers and the Dutch Radio Orchestra, conducted by John Poole, as part of the Holland Festival 1974. This performance was recorded by the BBC an subsequently broadcast on radio and television.
Ideally, Ultimos Ritos should be performed in a cathedral or large church with gallery space.


Books! Books! Books! and more books will be for sale on Saturday, April 6, at Los Angeles County Library's systemwide used book sale.
Sales will be booming at all LA County Library locations, including Stevenson Ranch, Castaic and Acton/Agua Dulce, that are regularly open on Saturdays. Whether it's a mystery, a cookbook, or a picture book, readers will find what they're looking for at the largest book sale in the County.
The sale is sponsored by LA County Library's Friends of the Library Groups and the Los Angeles County Library Foundation. All proceeds will be used to benefit library locations within the LA County Library system.
The Books! Books! Books! event is scheduled to coincide with National Library Week, April 7-13, 2019. During this week, libraries throughout the nation celebrate the importance of books, reading, and library services.
Drop by your local LA County Library and join the celebration of libraries while you pick up a few bargain books for your reading enjoyment.
Find library LA County library locations [here].
Founded in 1912, LA County Library is one of the largest and most innovative library systems in the US. It offers free public resources including books, music, multimedia materials, computer and internet access, and educational and recreational services to 3.4 million residents across 3,000 square miles through its 87 community libraries and mobile fleet of 18 vehicles, including 3 Bookmobiles, 10 MākMō maker mobiles, and 5 Reading Machines. LA County Library is dedicated to reducing barriers and increasing access to and equity of public services for all. To learn more, visit LACountyLibrary.org.https://lacountylibrary.org/library-locator/.


text:
"Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once and Always"
"Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once and Always" is a 30th anniversary, scripted, stand-alone TV special produced by Hasbro and Entertainment One, featuring the original cast of "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers", including David Yost, Walter E. Jones and Barbara Goodson aka 'Rita Repulsa', streaming April 19, 2023 on Netflix:
Premiering in 1993, the original series adapted stock footage from the Japanese live-action TV series "Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger", "Gosei Sentai Dairanger" and "Ninja Sentai Kakuranger".
"...on an exploratory mission, two astronauts discover an extraterrestrial container and breach the unit, inadvertently releasing the evil alien 'Rita Repulsa' from 10,000 years of confinement.
"Upon her release, she and her army of evil space aliens set their sights on conquering the nearest planet—Earth. The wise sage 'Zordon', later becomes aware of her release and orders his robotic assistant 'Alpha 5' to select five teenagers with attitude to defend the Earth from Rita's attacks.
"The five teens chosen are 'Jason Lee Scott', 'Kimberly Hart', 'Zack Taylor', 'Trini Kwan' and 'Billy Cranston'. Zordon gives them the ability to transform into a superhuman fighting force known as the 'Power Rangers'.
"This provides them with formidable abilities and an arsenal of weapons, including the 'Zord' assault vehicles, called Zords which can combine into a giant humanoid machine known as the 'Megazord'..."
Click the images to enlarge....