« facadual is a perfectly cromulent word | Main | omniscient point of view »

February 18, 2004

I am The Handmaid's Tale

I have confessed elsewhere my weakness for quizzes. Usually I can keep the results to myself, but this one made me laugh out loud.

You're The Handmaid's Tale!
by Margaret Atwood
An outraged feminist, you have been oppressed and even silenced in your life, fueling your fury against the society as it stands. Your role has been strictly defined by society and you are almost certainly unsatisfied with it. You have some vague idea of how this has come to be, but insufficient power to stop it, let alone reverse the trend. And somehow you blame yourself for everything because people ask you to. Beware people renaming your nation a Republic.
Take the Book Quiz at the Blue Pyramid.

Aside: I met Margaret Atwood in London when we were both there for the Orange Prize festivities a few years ago. Neither one of us won, but all the nominees got along well behind the scenes. Margaret will live forever in my memory for her performance (while the photographers were busy with somebody else) of Frost's A Road Less Travelled to the tune of "Fernando's Hideaway". Correction: that should be Hernando, not Fernando; thanks, Ter.

February 18, 2004 04:44 AM

Comments

Ummm....is that the song from The Pajama Game?

It's "Hernando's Hideaway".

Apologies if I sound too pedantic. I review opera, and it makes me sad that many listeners don't notice the lyrics. That also happens when arias turn up in commercials, where the lyrics are at odds with the product being sold - and it's clear the producers aren't being ironic.

Posted by: Ter Matthies at February 18, 2004 10:15 AM

Oh, dear, I'm Kingsolver's "Poisonwood Bible":
"Deeply rooted in a religious background, you have since become both isolated and schizophrenic. You were naively sure that your actions would help people, but of course they were resistant to your message and ultimately disaster ensued. Since you can see so many sides of the same issue, you are both wise beyond your years and tied to worthless perspectives. If you were a type of waffle, it would be Belgian."

Well, um, there ARE certain points there which I would have trouble rebutting... but then, I can sort of see you as The Handmaid's Tale, too

Posted by: robyn bender at February 18, 2004 04:40 PM

I don't know if I should laugh or smack you. Probably both, you Belgian waffle.

Ter: I have to admit I don't know much about opera except that sometimes a particular aria gets stuck in my head, and I confess, the lyrics are beside the point in that situation. It's the voice and the instrumentation and the melody. Point me to some lyrics, I'll try to mend my ways.

Posted by: sara at February 18, 2004 04:49 PM

Bloody hell. I'm Barbara Tuchman's "The Guns of August":
"Though you're interested in war, what you really want to know is what
causes war. You're out to expose imperialism, militarism, and nationalism for what they
really are. Nevertheless, you're always living in the past and have a hard time dealing
with what's going on today. You're also far more focused on Europe than anywhere else in
the world. A fitting motto for you might be "Guns do kill, but so can
diplomats."

I'm going to go re-take it.

Posted by: christina at February 23, 2004 12:02 PM