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I've just started watching "The Handmaid's Tale" and now I really want to read the novels by Margaret Atwood. To anyone that's read the series, how is it?
And to anyone that's both read and watched "The Handmaid's Tale," how do they compare?
In my experience, the novels are always much better than the film adaptations, but I'd really like a second opinion.
Thanks in advance~!

I just got done with the book and I have watched the first season. I was enamored with the book and marathon read it when I could. The book has some interesting story telling quarks that are entirely due to the narrators voice and mental state, that can be hard to follow sometimes. I think it might have been written that way on purpose though, as it captures just how much Offred daydreams to cope.
As far as I can say, while avoiding spoilers, is that the series follows the book... adequately. People who need an exact replica of the book to be translated on screen will be disappointed. That being said, I personally think it has been one of the better(if not best) book to screen adaptation. The key scenes are there, some times in an order that it wasn't in the book, sometimes toned down from how brutal the book can get. The Offred on screen quotes actual lines from the book frequently. The series adds on to characters that in the book are rather throw away. In fact, the series takes liberties to add things to the story that, I think, answer some questions that Atwood purposefully left unanswered in the book. If that isn't something that you typically like you probably won't like the show. I'm looking forward to rewatching the series because the book left me wanting at the end, in both a satisfied and dissatisfied way.
This part is speculation, but the second season probably will have little to do with the book.
In the end I say: read the book for sure before the series, because it's a good book. Then maybe give the series a try if you aren't a screen adaption purist and you liked the book.

I read the book for a college class and actually really enjoyed it. After I read the book, I watched the show so I could get a more comprehensive idea of the content. The first few episodes of the show follow the book pretty well, but after that, it's pretty different. Both the show and the book are worth looking into.

After watching the Hulu series, I decided to go back and read the novel again. I read it many years ago, after it first came out but couldn't remember much about it. I'm glad I read it again because it is so relevant in today's world. I will say that I was disappointed in the novel's ending epilogue, which seemed totally unnecessary. That said, the plot of the novel is followed somewhat in the new series. The show makes some updates so that it seems to be happening in present time and considering all the things that are going on now, there are some interesting similarities between life and fiction. The first season ends the way the novel does, minus the epilogue, and the second season starts a new chapter in the handmaid's life. I really love the series and would recommend it to those who enjoy a cautionary tale.

I didn't know that the series was based on a book. I have seen it advertised on TV but I really didn't know what it was about. Can any tell me more about what The Handmaid's Tale is about. Thank you.

JUST A WARNING. THIS IS A SPOILER WARNING.
I have read and am up to date on the series. They are built similarly but the characters ages and sequence is a little off. Seirina, (sorry if miss-spelled) is supposed to be a little passed her fifties but is shown as a woman just getting to her forties. (Same with Mr.Waterford.) A cane and limp ailing her every movement as she looks slightly down a June.

There is a very mixed up sequential order; I am kind of lost between the book and the series. Some sections in the series are not even mentioned in the book. And a certain handmaid, in the book, has had two more lost children than in the series.

Good book over all but the TV series wins the beans on this one.

The message in the novel and the TV series are the same, but I think they are still different enough. The TV series is able to show us more of what is happening in the world in general because it is from multiple peoples' perspectives. The book is strictly from one perspective.

I am almost done with the book and planning on watching the series when I am done. I usually like when television series mirror the original novel, but I have heard so many good things about the series. I am hoping I haven't hyped it in my head too much. lol. And I recently found out that an older movie was made in 1990, which now I want to see!!!

Still planning to read the books before I start the series!

I read only the book, but did not watch the TV series. As I remember, this story is about a woman from the state of Gilead. This is a theocracy where Christian fanatics control the lives of citizens.
For some reason, some women in Gilead have become barren. To have children, they force other women to sleep with their husbands and then take these children for themselves.
These poor breeder women are called Handmaids, because the Bible has a story about how a barren woman made her slave handmaids sleep with her husband and then take their children. The real maidservants are called "Marthas" after Martha from the new covenant.

However, there was nothing in the book about how this terrible Gilead appeared in North America. It is also not clear why some women have become barren. Does the TV series have the answers to these questions?

i have watched that too and i loved the story. i feel pity on the women.

I never read the book but I wanted to say that I absolutely love the Tv series!!!

I have never read the books of seen the show but I have heard a lot about it. Everything I have heard makes me want to give it a try.

I read the novel for a college course and really enjoyed it. I decided to watch the Hulu series afterwards and, while parts were different, the first season does an amazing job bringing the book to life. The second season no longer follows the book (as the first season ends with the ending of the novel), but is still great. I enjoyed both the novel and the T.V. series for different reasons, but I would definitely recommend checking out both!

I enjoyed this book. & Also enjoyed the series. They did vary, and I won't give out any spoilers... I did stop watching the series once it progressed passed the book.

I know "The Handmaids Tale" was the first book...what was the second book?? Was it the one that just came out? Or had it come out before the series aired.

I felt like the series did really capture the "feeling" the book was trying to give off. The demeanor of the characters as well as the environments in which they lived was really brought to life, in my opinion. Id recommend both. Book first, always.