Oryx and Crake
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Recommended By
Angelzen, Deepti, Rebecca Adler, J. Kaye Oldner, deobald, Abby Bowman, siguy, bunnicula, pjhoward, Jerrett Taylor, Ugleeduck, Lin Snow, and Andrew Cheyne.
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Molly Peterson, neko, ArtichokeHeart, and divajess.
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Daniel Insley, Kathy Plant, and Lynx.
Book Details
Written by Margaret Atwood.
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($14.95)
Editorial Review (from Amazon.com)
With the same stunning blend of prophecy and social satire she brought to her classic The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood gives us a keenly prescient novel about the future of humanity—and its present.Humanity here equals Snowman, and in Snowman’s recollections Atwood re-creates a time much like our own, when a boy named Jimmy loved an elusive, damaged girl called Oryx and a sardonic genius called Crake. But now Snowman is alone, and as we learn why we also learn about a world that could become ours one day.
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Lin Snow thinks this book is Excellent.
The most outstanding book I've read in a very long time!
The future that Atwood presents to the reader is scary, but not unrealistic. I love the descriptions of the crazy biological experiments (for example, the ratunk: racoon genes mixed with that of a skunk), and the descriptions of what has become of the internet (again, not unrealistic!). The story is interestingly told, with the main story mixed with what happened to the character in the past. A complex style that is well done manages to not be confusing.
Definitely can be classified as a "page turner"... I finished it in one day! Impossible to put down... I'd like to see this made into a movie so I can share it with my friends who will never read the damn thing!
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Shelley Rees thinks this book is Good.
I read my books over and over again, but there are two novels in the world that I read, acknowledged as brilliant, and declined to re-read, having no desire to relive the utter creeping willies I suffered while reading them the first time. One is A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, and the other is The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. I literally shuddered just now, typing that sentence.
Thus, when I saw that Margaret Atwood’s new book Oryx and Crake was another futuristic dystopia novel, I was wary. The Handmaid’s Tale is so subtle, so different; it’s the kind of story that sneaks up on you, that doesn’t really seem that scary until you turn out the light and try to go to sleep. I suspect that Oryx and Crake is supposed to be scary too, but it never disturbed my sleep. It’s a “last man†story and, like most modern versions of the archetype, it indicts human arrogance and out-of-control technology for the destruction of nature, humanity, the planet—everything, really. All we have is our “last man†narrator, Snowman, left alone to deal with his genius best friend’s mess.
Frankly, the book’s bogeymen are just too obvious: global warming and mad-scientist genetic manipulation. Nothing subtle there. In fact, the ozone hole bit almost seems an afterthought, some nasty weather to make the setting of Snowman’s isolation that much more unpleasant. In effect, the “shocking future†here sometimes comes across too “ripped from the headlinesâ€; it’s vaguely Law and Order: Parallel Universe.
That said, though, there are still precious few storytellers with Atwood’s dexterity, and her control over every word, every image, never falters for a moment. You catch your breath reading Atwood’s prose, from the sheer force of the language. Oryx and Crake contains plenty of Atwood’s astonishing style and would be worth reading for that alone. It also employs some effective Biblical allusion: If Snowman is our Noah, his buddy Crake makes himself God, the God of the flood, judge, jury and executioner over humanity, and, thanks to technology, Crake wields the godlike power to destroy and create at will. Again, this rhetoric rings familiar, with anti-cloning arguments so often characterizing science as “playing God.†In the hands of Atwood, though, even a plot that’s not terribly creative can shine, so while Oryx and Crake is not Handmaid’s Tale, it’s still Margaret Atwood, and time spent with her is never wasted, willies or no willies.
J. Kaye Oldner thinks this book is Worth Reading.
To say Atwood is a marvelous writer would be an understatement and I agree with the excellent reviews; but for me, this was a depressing book. The author’s wording did bring a smile to my face, but the ending, the characters are all very, very sad.
Rebecca Adler thinks this book is Excellent.
It took me a couple of days to read this book because it was so good I didn't want it to end.
Basically, the book is about what would happen if global warming and genetic engineering got out of control. A scientist splices the human genome with positive aspects of other species, creating a new human species. He then nearly destroys the human race with a plague. The book is told from the point of view of the last human, who describes the world and how it got to such a drastic point in the future. The book is amazingly well written and has wonderful imagery throughout. I highly recommend picking it up.