We never got to read stuff like this...

[Frug]

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Canada/ ... 40186.html

The school in question is about 4 blocks from my house.

We never got to read anything with loads of sex in it. What the hell!?

I'm jealous.

[Pagusel]

Uhh, don't get too jealous. The Handmaid's Tale isn't exactly full of "loads of sex." I think the most explicit it gets is something along the lines of "So I cringed and bore it until he was finished with his awkward movements." It does NOT get steamy or whatever.

I think maybe what they're more upset about is the fact that it paints a dystopia involving a sort of radical Christian fundamentalist government. The dad in the article also says the language is foul and would get kids in trouble if they said it in the halls, but that's true of plenty of stuff that was on my reading list in high school. It just a load of the exact same stuff people complain about whatever the day and age.

[Jasmina Apsara]

Yeah, exactly what Ming said.

The book deals with sexuality, but mainly in terms of concepts like feminism, misogyny, freedom versus repression, religion, and... of course hugely... reproduction.

It's a novel in which sex (mainly an obsession with procreation) is a heavy undercurrent, but actually not really that explicit. It's honestly not a "sexy" book in the slightest, and in fact paints a rather horrifying view of how sexuality can be twisted by religious absolutism.

I suspect, like Ming, that the basis of the criticism referred to in the article is, at the root of it, more about the portrayal of religion than about any elements of sexuality the novel contains.

That said, I do think it's a bit "old" for the reading level described in the article in terms of the themes actually being resonant, so I probably would pitch the book to a more mature (and by that I mean emotionally mature, not like porn-mature) audience.

[Maeve]

After Edwards complained, his son was assigned another book, Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World,” and will step out of class during any discussions on “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

*facepalm*

It's most definitely the "anti-religion" parts that must be mostly upsetting this guy or else he wouldn't have gotten that as a replacement (or maybe he just didn't read it). I haven't read The Handmaid's Tale but I can't imagine it being 'worse' (by their standards) than Brave New World.

[Jasmina Apsara]

I haven't read The Handmaid's Tale but I can't imagine it being 'worse' (by their standards) than Brave New World.

Having read both, I think that your perception is correct.

I wouldn't actually say Handmaid's Tale is anti-religion per se. It's anti-religious totalitarianism, and anti-exploitation being done in the name of religion. I didn't get any strong stance on it one way or the other about personal religious morality. However, I don't think that people who are into book challenging like this would necessarily perceive that distinction. I know I'm stereotyping, but the whole thing is so reactionary...

[Frug]

Well, I HAVE read brave new world, and that's just a hilarious attempt at a replacement.

[Maeve]

Well, I HAVE read brave new world, and that's just a hilarious attempt at a replacement.

Exactly. I'll wait for the next article to be "wth kind of replacement is this?" when the dad reads that one. But I'm betting that won't happen.