Who hasn't heard of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale? Even in passing, it's hard not to pick up the vibe: Dark.  Depressing. Sad. Important. Landmark. 

Something that you really should read. It's on all the lists. From a distance, the book had an aura similar to Silent Spring, Rachel Carson's warning about DDT (which I haven't read either). You need to have this in your psychic archive.

OK. I'm not that deep into my list. I'd only just read my first Toni Morrison book last year. And I seem to always find good reason not to read "depressing" books.

Then the TV series came out and people raved. If they can make a damn TV show out of it, I'd better read it. I don't like being led around by the boob tube. So I checked out the audiobook. 

12 thumbs up. This was more like science fiction than psychodrama. And so well written. Subtle and nuanced. Spare and understated. But with plenty of life under the hood. The logic of the society the protagonist finds herself trapped in is draconian and complete, and, of course, flawed.  

So this books sits with the likes of Nineteen Eighty-Four as one for the ages, at least for me. I'd say Catcher in the Rye, if I'd re-read it more recently. And like that latter, I fully expect one day we'll a Hollywood take where the main character goes around buying all the copies of the book she can get her hands on. Maybe something with Uma Thurman, directed by Quentin Tarantino. Take that Gilead.