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Oryx and Crake (MaddAddam Trilogy #1)

by Margaret Atwood (Goodreads Author)

3.92 · rating details · 32,616 ratings · 3,269 reviews

Oryx and Crake is at once an unforgettable love story and a compelling vision of the future. Snowman, known as Jimmy before mankind was overwhelmed by a plague, is struggling to survive in a world where he may be the last human, and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake, and the beautiful and elusive Oryx whom they both loved. In search of answers, Snowman embarks on...more

Paperback, USA Edition, 374 pages

Published July 27th 2010 by Anchor (first published May 5th 2003)

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Oct 01, 2008

Lindsay rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: diehard Atwood fans

Shelves: dystopia, science-fiction, margaret-atwood, read-for-fun, read-in-college, postapocalyptic, genetic-engineering

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This is the second dystopia Atwood has written, and I think it's less successful than The Handmaid's Tale. Her vision here is of a not-too-distant future in which the US is divided into corporate-owned gated communities where the (biotech) companies' owners and highly-paid skilled workforce live and the lawless, sprawling urban wasteland where everyone else lives.

Unlike virtually every other Atwood book I know of, the two main characters are male. The narrator, Jimmy, and his childh...moreThis is the second dystopia Atwood has written, and I think it's less successful than The Handmaid's Tale. Her vision here is of a not-too-distant future in which the US is divided into corporate-owned gated communities where the (biotech) companies' owners and highly-paid skilled workforce live and the lawless, sprawling urban wasteland where everyone else lives.

Unlike virtually every other Atwood book I know of, the two main characters are male. The narrator, Jimmy, and his childhood friend Crake grow up inside one of the gated communities, bonding over Internet pornography and shared cynicism. As Crake grows up, it becomes evident that he is a genius, so he gets accepted to an elite science-and-technology school and drafted into a biotech firm while he's still a student. While he works there, he cooks up an apocalyptic plot to release a superbug disguised as a libido-enhancing pill once he's perfected his own synthetic race of humanoids, which he designed as an answer to everything he's identified as "wrong" with human nature. For example, the "Crakers" have photosynthetic pigment in their skins, which means they do not have to kill to eat. Crake also designed them to be cheerfully promiscuous and have obvious signals of sexual receptivity, thus eliminating conflict over sex. Crake's a real humanitarian, except for the whole "kill off Mankind 1.0" part of his plan.

Structurally, the novel suffers from being too long and taking too long for the story to move forward. Indeed, the whole thing is told in flashbacks, with Jimmy reminiscing as the Crakers pester him for stories of their creator. Atwood erred on the side of too much description in Handmaid's Tale as well, but that was a shorter novel (maybe 100 less pages than Oryx and Crake) and the society she was revealing to us was better realized.

Also, a lot of touches that were clearly meant to be satirical fall flat. One of Crake and Jimmy's favorite pastimes in youth is playing computer games, and the games Atwood comes up with are transparent attempts to shock us with the nihilism of her young antiheroes. Also, every other object in the novel is given some cutesy brand name. This is clearly an attempt to mock the corporatization of global culture, but the effect is just irritating.

None of the characters particularly register, either. Two of Atwood's trademark Elusive Women figure in this novel --- Jimmy's mother runs off while Jimmy is a preteen, for reasons we never learn, and when Jimmy meets up with Crake again when they are adults, and Crake is designing his new species, Crake has a mistress named Oryx, who never allows either man to get to know her, though she sleeps with both. The difference between these and other Elusive Women (say, Grace Marks in Alias Grace, Zenia in The Robber Bride, Joan in Lady Oracle or Marian in The Edible Woman) is that the others either revealed themselves to the reader if not to the men in their lives, or (like Zenia and Grace) gave us enough interesting possibilities that we cared to speculate as to their true natures. These women elude not only Jimmy and Crake, but also the reader.

The men, though given (many) more pages of character development, are nearly as flat. Crake is a clear instance of metaphor abuse: he is indicated to be "mildly autistic," as the college he attends is nicknamed Asperger's U. and he disparages his old high school as containing "wall-to-wall neurotypicals." As his autism never appears in his behavior or becomes relevant to the story (indeed, it is never mentioned except in the chapter titled "Asperger's U."), I suspect it was only brought up to underscore the single salient point of his character, which is his detachment from the rest of the human species. The sole salient point of Jimmy's character seems to be that he is not Crake. (less)

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Dec 17, 2010

Tatiana rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Tatiana by: Gypsy Ryan, Misty

Shelves: 2010, contemporary, favorites, dystopias-post-apocalyptic, booker

I wonder if all Margaret Atwoods books are like this one? Having read "Oryx and Crake" and "The Handmaid's Tale," I am curious now how many other ways of horrifying me she has up her sleeve.

"Oryx and Crake" is a dystopian (or as Atwood calls it herself, a speculative fiction) novel set in a future where genetic engineering rules the world. The story is told from the POV of Snowman, a seemingly last Homo sapiens sapiens on Earth. He is surrounded by the ...moreI wonder if all Margaret Atwoods books are like this one? Having read "Oryx and Crake" and "The Handmaid's Tale," I am curious now how many other ways of horrifying me she has up her sleeve.

"Oryx and Crake" is a dystopian (or as Atwood calls it herself, a speculative fiction) novel set in a future where genetic engineering rules the world. The story is told from the POV of Snowman, a seemingly last Homo sapiens sapiens on Earth. He is surrounded by the new breed of humans - passive, docile Children of Crake who are physically flawless, void of envy and jealousy, do not understand violence or sexual drive, unable to be artistic or comprehend technology. As the story progresses, through Snowman's recollections, we gradually learn the sequence of events leading to the fall of humanity as he knew it and Snowman's own contribution to it.

The structure of the book is very similar to that of "The Handmaid's Tale." So if you liked the writing style of that book, with constant shift of tenses, past and present mingled together, you'll enjoy "Oryx and Crake" too. Once again, Atwood takes a current trend (this time it's bio/genetic engineering) and extrapolates it to an insane extent, creating a horrifying world of social disparity, violence, genetic hybrids, raging man-made viruses... The author's imagination is limitless, her command of English language is mind-blowing. This book is so much more than a science fiction novel that it so often labeled. It is a deeply philosophical book that raises numerous questions: is it wise to artificially alter something created and perfected by Nature over millions of years? does a man have a right to engineer a "perfect human" and decide who lives and who dies? or is there such a thing as a "perfect human"?

Just like "The Handmaid's Tale," the ending is uncertain. The fate of Snowman and humanity is questionable. Will the humanity survive? Will Crakers overtake? Are Crakers really what Crake intended them to be - the perfect beings? There are no answers, and I am happy there aren't. This book is not intended to tell us what is right and what is wrong, rather it makes us think about what might be...

Reading challenge: #13, 3 of 5(less)

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Nov 20, 2009

Kemper rated it

Shelves: apocalypse-now, sci-fi, modern-lit, playing-god

Geez. That was the most depressing apocalypse ever.

A guy called Snowman is playing caretaker and prophet to a strange new race of people he calls the Crakers in the ruins of civilization. As Snowman forages for supplies, his recollections make up the story of what caused a massive biological and ecological disaster that has apparently wiped all the old humans out except for him.

Snowman’s past takes place in our near future where he was once known as Jimmy in a society w...more

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Jul 12, 2010

Jennifer (aka EM) rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: canlit

I'm coming back to the authors who marked my literary 'coming of age': Vonnegut, Atwood. These two, for me, are the grand-daddy and grand-mammy of my bookish adolescence. They were life rafts held out by a couple of high school teachers. I grabbed them and held on. I simply cannot review either properly, so wrapped in nostalgia is my own point of view; so personal my reaction. I'm reading them now to see how they hold up and what they have to say to me 30 years later; and in Atwood's case, ...more

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May 12, 2010

Annalisa rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Margaret Atwood fans

Recommended to Annalisa by: Tatiana

Shelves: apocalypse, literary, speculative, sci-fi

I'm struggling to pin a rating on this book. Atwood, as always, is a beautiful writer. The first fifty or so pages I drank up her language, her description and setting. But I have to confess that I didn't like the book. Part of that could be as a parent (of an 8-year-old girl no less) there were parts of Oryx's history that I struggled to read. Child pornography (and abuse) is about the only thing that makes we want to get violent and start castrating guys. After reading that section, I struggle...moreI'm struggling to pin a rating on this book. Atwood, as always, is a beautiful writer. The first fifty or so pages I drank up her language, her description and setting. But I have to confess that I didn't like the book. Part of that could be as a parent (of an 8-year-old girl no less) there were parts of Oryx's history that I struggled to read. Child pornography (and abuse) is about the only thing that makes we want to get violent and start castrating guys. After reading that section, I struggled to keep my personal feelings out of the story.

For much of the book I thought the grittiness of these characters overdone, graphic for the sake of being graphic. By the end of the book I got it. Atwood is comparing the depravity of society with a engineered race that asks the question what is better: innocence without substance or depravity with the complexities of the human mind that include creativity and appreciation for beauty? Does the human race deserve to live with the power we have to destroy our planet and ourselves? When is artificial too much? Image alterations, genetically engineered animals, or even mankind? What are the repercussions of the world we are now creating?

I think the concept was interesting and certainly got me thinking. Snowman is left to care for the genetically engineered children of Crake after a lab-produced virus wipes out the human race. Most of the book takes place in disconnected memory, making it slow to read. Even Snowman, while I initially liked him, didn't warrant much sympathy from me. He seemed so emotionally disconnected and didn't value or open up to the myriad of women he slept with. The middle especially dragged for me. I wanted to skip through all the grittiness to the answers Snowman was building up to. And I wanted more from the characters she brushes through. In Margaret Atwood style, we don't get answers as much as questions about society. I was okay with an open ending, but I wanted to know what Crake's intentions had been. We get Snowman's assumptions, but I wasn't a hundred percent sold on his view. I guess that's not the point of the book, though. Does it really matter what intentions people with too much power have when destruction is the same.

I'd say the book is a good one for Margaret Atwood fans. I wouldn't say it's as good as Handmaid's Tale, but along the same alley. I may come back and up my rating once the grittiness of the characters is shed and the impression of the novel is left.(less)

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Oct 30, 2007

James rated it

Recommends it for: Looking for something different

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, science-fiction

This is the first book I've ever read by Margaret Atwood. I wrote a story years ago that people told me was a lot like "The Handmaid's Tale" and since have been afraid to read her out of fear of connection. I grew out of it but figured I'd start with a more recent work. I liked this book a whole lot, and if it weren't for a few parts in the book, I might have given it four or even five stars. The story was dark and moving throughout and kept me interested to the very end. The prob...moreThis is the first book I've ever read by Margaret Atwood. I wrote a story years ago that people told me was a lot like "The Handmaid's Tale" and since have been afraid to read her out of fear of connection. I grew out of it but figured I'd start with a more recent work. I liked this book a whole lot, and if it weren't for a few parts in the book, I might have given it four or even five stars. The story was dark and moving throughout and kept me interested to the very end. The problem was that several of the important points (emotional and plot driven sequences) felt rushed despite the rest of the narrative being intellectually dense. This novel could have been a hundred pages longer and it probably would have only made it better. I'd be surprised if readers couldn't guess the two major parts I'm talking about if asked to guess (I'm not mentioning any to save the plot line for those who haven't read the book, its worth a read).

While Oryx and Crake are two of the main characters, the protagonist is centrally Jimmy, or the Snowman, who may or may not be the last figure of the mankind we know of (the suggestion of mankind's extinction is not the premise really). I found a lot of relevance in myself to this book, and not because the protagonist and I share the same name and (strangely true) not because his parents also share the same names as mine, the relevance is in how Atwood constructs this dark dystopia with images and scientific advancements that already exist today. The future of "Oryx and Crake" is too near-distant and familiar to allow a decent nights sleep to the conscientious reader.

Atwood is a clearly a great writer and it humbles me to know that I've put off the pleasure of reading her for so long. Ive often heard her described as a prophet, and while I don't know if she would necessarily shun the title, I think it is more accurate to say that she writes blueprints for the actions of humanity. For though her stories contain future and science fiction elements, the eerie and unsettling aspect of her work is that her characters act exactly how humans act anyway. There is nothing in these future human actions that differ from our race at present. (less)

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Aug 07, 2007

Cori rated it

Recommends it for: those who don't mind feeling uneasy.

From my blog:

This book was creep-tastically good. Seriously. Reading it disqueted my soul in a way that made me lose my appetite and really hope that this is fiction and not prophecy.

Atwood has a knack for writing dystopian novels that are set in the near-enough future to be completely relevant. She basically takes things that we have today, and stretches them into a terrifying future (as she did in the Handmaid's Tale, one of my all-time favorite books). In Oryx and Cra...more

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Dec 28, 2007

Ratiocination rated it

A mainstream author writing science fiction badly. Basically, tries to have it both ways: referencing real-world, present-day biotechnology without bothering to be accurate about it. I didn't enjoy reading it, and I don't like the implication-- that writing SF just involves throwing terminology around. One wouldn't have much patience for a legal thriller that ignored basic courtroom procedure; one wouldn't have much patience for a medical drama that got human anatomy wrong. I don't have much pa...more

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Jul 21, 2011

Aloha rated it

Shelves: a-audios, a-ebooks, a-own, b-apocalyptic-post-apocalyptic, genre-sci-fi, z-atwood-margaret, a-favorites, b-dystopian, a-reviewed

I started this book knowing that this is a post-apocalyptic novel. I knew that Snowman had survived some sort of mass destruction of mankind because of an experiment gone awry and is fighting for survival. The story started with Snowman sleeping in a tree, waking up in a survival mode, with the last of his provisions. He then observes the children at a distance, obviously not surprised or afraid of them. They knew him as they approached him and chanted his name, “Snowman, oh Snowman.” Who ...moreI started this book knowing that this is a post-apocalyptic novel. I knew that Snowman had survived some sort of mass destruction of mankind because of an experiment gone awry and is fighting for survival. The story started with Snowman sleeping in a tree, waking up in a survival mode, with the last of his provisions. He then observes the children at a distance, obviously not surprised or afraid of them. They knew him as they approached him and chanted his name, “Snowman, oh Snowman.” Who are these children? They questioned him about found items that most of us would know, a hubcap, a computer mouse, his beard that they call “moss”, etc. I wondered about the children and why they're so innocent of things we take for granted in this world. I’m thinking that the children must have been babies when the apocalypse happened. But wait, I read that it's only been 2-3 mos. since the apocalypse. Then peculiar descriptions of the children began, such as skin resistant to ultra-violet light, each perfect, each a different skin color, but all with green eyes. And then there’s this Crake that Snowman kept on referring back to as the maker of rules, as the one he has to go to for answers. Snowman makes a pretend gesture with his broken watch as if receiving signals from Crake for answers, to satisfy the children’s questions. Then Oryx comes into the picture. Snowman talks to her, a pretend entity. The tale alternates between Snowman, a name from when Jimmy jokingly references himself as The Abominable Snowman to the Crakers, as he survives his post-apocalyptic world and his past.

The story flashes to Snowman’s memory of his childhood. His name was Jimmy then. He was raised in a dystopian society in which genetic engineering was encouraged for economic success and supersedes over any moral qualms. This was because mankind has depleted their natural resources and ruined the environment. His father worked at OrganInc Farms, a genographer who was one of the chief architects of the Pigoon project. The pigoons were meant to be hosts to organs that could be easily transplanted to humans to avoid rejection, a reference to our current experimentations such as the Vacanti mouse: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacanti_mou... - which has a human ear grown on its back and meant to avoid rejection upon transplantation. In this dystopian world, the architects of genetic engineering were the top dogs as they were encouraged to do whatever needs to be done to make life better for the humans. His family lives in luxury within the Compounds, built by biotech companies for their employees. They live among the high IQ genetic engineering elites and their children. The Compounds are protected by CorpSeCorps, keeping out the pleeblands, the less intelligent and talented humans who are left to live in the ruins of mankind’s waste, the desperate consumer of products created by the elites. In this world, the biotech companies rule because they provide what mankind desperately wants, genetically engineered food to replace naturally-created food that is no longer viable, feel-good drugs as relief from an increasing nightmarish world of depleting resources and crime, and products that enhances looks and sexual desire.

Jimmy befriends Glenn, who later becomes known as Crake. Glenn’s nickname is from his codename Crake on an online game called Extinctathon, a trivia game in which they name the extinct species of animals and plant life. The genius Crake is the ultimate rational overcoming any human empathy he may have, the premier reflection of their society’s treasuring of the mental elite and devaluing of arts and the humanities. Jimmy and Crake spent many teenage bonding hours together traversing the internet and playing games that reflect their world of cheap life and instant gratification of violence and sex. They played violent games like Three-Dimensional Waco, Barbarian Stomp, and Kwiktime Osama. Crake is an expert at side maneuvers, where you not only have to see where you’re going, but you have to see where your opponent is going. They visited voyeur websites such as nitee-nite.com, for viewing people committing assisted suicide, and various porn sites. It is at one of these sites, HottTotts, that they first encountered Oryx, an approximately 8 year old child from a southeast Asian country who was sold into child sex slavery and forced to perform porn acts. Her haunted eyes seemed to stare at Jimmy, the guilty voyeur, the distant participant to her slavery. He kept a print out of her because she touched his humanity, the part that made him feel guilty for the first time at the things he was doing.

Crake later became an elite researcher and saved Jimmy from a life of working in a monotonous low-level job. When Jimmy came to work for Crake as the marketing man, Crake revealed to him that he was working with human embryos, to create a race of humans with what he considers harmful qualities removed. They are all of different shades of multi-colored skin to avoid racism. They are placid and has no need for hierarchy or territoriality. They have cyclical and plural sexuality, and mating rituals to promote reproduction-only in order to avoid sexual frustrations, rape and jealousy. They are meant to be a religion-free, placid race. It was also while working for Crake that he encountered the adult Oryx, who was working to help the Crakers adapt to the world and who was also Crake’s whore, purely to satisfy his sexual frustration. Then there came a triangle of Jimmy’s friendship with Crake and Jimmy’s deep love for Oryx. Ultimately, Crake, an expert at side maneuvers in online games, pulled a side maneuver on the society he detested, to leave Jimmy alone in the world to be guardian over his genetically engineered children.

The three main characters have symbolic meanings. Crake, with his hierarchy, logic, and anti-art, represents the masculine or yang quality. Oryx, with her forgiveness and adaptability, represents the female or yin quality. Finally, Jimmy represents the balance of the male and female, the aggression and the bending, the yin and the yang. Crake’s blaming of sexual frustration on the ills of society reflects the historical masculine point of view that women, considered the instigator of sexual feelings from men, are the root of evil. This results in traditions that have caused evils to be done to women because they were blamed for inciting men’s lust. Oryx was the all-suffering yet forgiving female. She was the total placid female made to cater to the male sexual desire. Through all this, she sees good in all and adjusts amazingly to her situations. She, therefore, can see any situation from a forgiving, loving and kind perspective. Snowman (Jimmy), the blending of the yin and yang, the flawed humanity, was selected to lead the new “perfect” race to safety. Jimmy’s humanity lies in his imperfect yet resilient qualities. Snowman is a terrific every man character. We can relate to him because he is realistic in his discomfort and ruminations, yet there is a hidden strength which enables him to survive. He is vulnerable and yet strong at the same time. We've all had times where we feel we can't go on, but we do, anyway. For all his flaws, it is Jimmy that Crake chose to lead and protect the children of Crake. Jimmy, being whimsical, ironically turned Crake into a godlike being. He also became somewhat like a shaman, using the whimsical term "feathers" to describe his hairy chest instead of the scientific name. He often lets his imagination runs away with him as he tells stories of Oryx and Crake, and explains things to the Crakers.

In the end, the elitist, hierarchical, “masculine” society that was destined for destruction was saved by their product, humans who inhabit mostly “female” qualities of placidity and non-hierarchal tribal community, and who, in the end, became religious.(less)

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Jul 08, 2011

Jamie rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Atwood fans, everyone else

Shelves: read-in-2010, read-in-2011

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. What a fabulous joyride. I've read Handmaid's Tale (one of my favorite books EVER), a short story collection (hit or miss, but the good stories are amazing), and The Edible Woman (I wasn't a huge fan), so I was hesitant to pick up my next Atwood novel. But I had heard Oryx and Crake was another piece of "speculative fiction" with some pretty apocalyptic overtones, so I picked it up and finished within three days. In fact, I went out clubbing a few nights ago, came home, and read the...moreWhat a fabulous joyride. I've read Handmaid's Tale (one of my favorite books EVER), a short story collection (hit or miss, but the good stories are amazing), and The Edible Woman (I wasn't a huge fan), so I was hesitant to pick up my next Atwood novel. But I had heard Oryx and Crake was another piece of "speculative fiction" with some pretty apocalyptic overtones, so I picked it up and finished within three days. In fact, I went out clubbing a few nights ago, came home, and read the last 50 pages. It was just thrilling.

Though I must admit I wanted more, I think the fact that Atwood holds back is actually to her credit. I wanted more, but I could have read another 1000 pages of this novel and probably still have wanted more. The scope of the novel is so large, and her decision to be selective with the narrative ended up, I think, really tantalizing. The three primary characters--Jimmy, Oryx, and of course, Crake are all so perfectly drawn for me--in addition to Jimmy's mother and father and, well...the animals? The Crakers? Not major players, but I could visualize it all. And ultimately, Atwood's vision here of the fall of civilization is terrifying in how viciously realistic it seems. I could see about everything in the book coming true at some point in my lifetime (well, except perhaps the super-humans...but the animal splicing/organ harvesting, rapid climate change, viral pandemic--possibly even orchestrated intentionally, as Crake does). And that, I think, is where Atwood draws the line between science fiction and what she terms "speculative" fiction. Chilling.

Update: 10.03.09

Just finished a re-reading of O&C in preparation for "The Year of the Flood." On a second reading, it didn't hold up as well for me. Sure, it's a great dystopian novel, but as an Atwood novel, it doesn't have the heart that some of her other works do. I think, in part, this is because it is a far stricter dystopic narrative--people frequently compare "The Handmaid's Tale" to Orwell, but if Atwood's got an Orwellian novel, it would be this one. And the characters suffer a bit, are less fully drawn, because I think the narrative gets more caught in detail and in action than many of her novels do. That said, it's a completely exhilarating experience--perhaps even moreso than on my first read, because I knew what was coming, and had the opportunity to immerse myself more fully in the language and the suspense of the characters themselves. Snowman is an interesting figure--obviously, we get more of a sense of him than either Oryx or Crake (who are the biggest sufferers of shadowy characterization--to a limited good effect, in that they remain enigmas), but the fact of it is that I think Atwood writes female characters better. Not to be reductive, I really don't mean it in the sense that Atwood, as a woman, can only write women, but that she seems to have a more emotionally potent way of constructing their consciousnesses than she did in this case. I haven't read "Life Before Man" yet, though--doesn't that have male protagonists? Any case, it's a great read, but ultimately, I'd take "Handmaid" or "Cat's Eye" or "Alias Grace" over this one. So stoked for "Year of the Flood" though!(less)

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Mar 07, 2008

Katie rated it

Shelves: sciencefiction

Like A Handmaid's Tale and mumble's Mumble Mumble Mumble*, Oryx and Crake is a dystopian novel exploring the post-apocalyptic future of sex and the human race by following a small number of characters very closely.

In this case, the main character appears to be the only member of homo sapiens left alive, and the sole caretaker of a new human-like species, the Children of Crake, genetically re-engineered to be peaceful, happy, naturally insect-repellant vegans perfectly suited to the...moreLike A Handmaid's Tale and mumble's Mumble Mumble Mumble*, Oryx and Crake is a dystopian novel exploring the post-apocalyptic future of sex and the human race by following a small number of characters very closely.

In this case, the main character appears to be the only member of homo sapiens left alive, and the sole caretaker of a new human-like species, the Children of Crake, genetically re-engineered to be peaceful, happy, naturally insect-repellant vegans perfectly suited to their environment. The book focuses on the main character's life, from childhood, through his friendship with the aforementioned Crake and later with Oryx, eventually building up to the catastrophe that left him the last man on earth, victim and friend of a genius and a madman.

The first 2/3 of the book or so goes very quickly -- she starts you off at 90% of the way through the story, and the foreshadowing and sense of pacing Atwood employs as she backfills all the details make for highly motivated reading. Once the backstory is resolved however, she dumps the main character at the beginning of a brand new plot element and gives up. Feel free to stop reading after the Children of Crake try to fix his foot -- the remaining pages of the book add nothing, and you'll be less frustrated than you will be when you turn the page and see "About the Author" instead of a proper ending.

* Okay, so I read a book after taking Rob's History of Sci-Fi half-course, that I thought was by Atwood but turns out it wasn't, and damned if I can't remember the title or the author. A human anthropologist visits another planet, where the native humanoids are sexless except when in estrus. During this period they can take either form -- meaning that someone with two kids could have been the father of one and the mother of the other. At a monastery, they have developed a way to form a group of individuals into a sort of oracle, where one of the roles in the group must be filled by someone with a disorder leaving them constantly in estrus. The culture is otherwise analogous to Earth humans of the late 20th century, and the story is character-focused. It's not post-apocalyptic, but it's definitely melancholy and certainly saying something about how ridiculous human sex is.(less)

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Oct 22, 2009

Aerin rated it

Shelves: favorites, apocalyptic

One of the (many) things that has always struck me as ridiculous about the concept of ~~creationism~~ - sorry, sorry, "intelligent design" - is the idea that an infinitely kind and intelligent god designed human beings, and yet this is the best he could do. Give me some ultimate power, and I could design a better species. One not so prone to runny noses and cancer, for starters. One where the trachea and esophagus don't share an opening - that might cut down on that pesky "choking...more

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Jul 22, 2011

Jennifer rated it

Shelves: apocalyptic-dystopian, five-star-books

ETA: I can't stop thinking about this book. It's haunting me. After careful consideration I've come to the conclusion that I have to change my initial rating to 5 stars. All of the issues I listed below were my initial reaction to the story, and I don't totally discredit that. After much soul searching, re-reading, and conversation with other readers, I can appreciate the subtle genius of Margaret Atwood's writing. My knee-jerk reaction was rooted in the idea that while this is realistic...we ...more ETA: I can't stop thinking about this book. It's haunting me. After careful consideration I've come to the conclusion that I have to change my initial rating to 5 stars. All of the issues I listed below were my initial reaction to the story, and I don't totally discredit that. After much soul searching, re-reading, and conversation with other readers, I can appreciate the subtle genius of Margaret Atwood's writing. My knee-jerk reaction was rooted in the idea that while this is realistic...we are so far from this possibility. Actually, we're closer than I thought (I had to remove my rose colored glasses, which is always a painful process). She presented the taboo subjects with objectivity rather than preachiness...I missed that subtlety the first time around. I felt like I wanted more insight into Crake and Oryx...it's there in Snowman/Jimmy's narrative, but it's layered and complex. The reader needs to look far beyond the surface. It's not a stretch to do that, I just missed it the first time around. Ms. Atwood, I salute you for writing such thought-provoking, genius of a story. And I thank you!
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Wow, how to rate a book like this? I feel a little guilty for giving the book 3 stars because the actual writing would be more along the lines of 4 stars. Atwood's writing style in this book was well-paced and made it easy to want to keep reading. I think it's hard for me to give it more than 3 stars because of the content and the way she handled the content. Let me explain (without spoiling too much of the story):

The premise is certainly intriguing. What happens when genetic research/modification is approached with a no-holds-barred, limitless corporate funding modus operundi? Who gets to decide how far it goes? What are the consequences when an extremely intelligent man decides to play the role of God? (The I-know-what-the-problem-with-humanity-is-and-I-can-fix-it-because-I-know-better complex). The story is told through the eyes of Snowman, a person who appears to be the only "human" survivor of some sort of apocalypse. Snowman explores the circumstances leading up to his current horrifying situation through a series of memories of his past as he struggles to make sense of it all.

That brings me to my decision to give the story 3 stars. The concept is deeply disturbing but not totally unrealistic. Atwood really made me think. I just don't agree with some of the foundational principles (or lack thereof) that she proposes led the people, and society in general, down the paths they went down. Could we get to a point where the things that take place in the book happen? Certainly. However, I felt there was just something lacking in the conclusion. There were too many unanswered questions. There were situations and events that took place that I struggled to integrate into the purpose and meaning of the story. Particularly, the prevalence of child pornography. While her descriptions in these episodes were tastefully written, it's a topic that's hard to stomach regardless. I'm just not sure I got the point she was trying to make or how ultimately she was tying it into the story. I suppose that happens in real life as well...we just don't always have the answers. Maybe I want my fictional stories, even the ones about death and destruction, to be tied up neatly in the end. I realize this is the first in a series, and maybe she will explore and explain some of the themes she introduces in this book later. I think this is a book that I'll be thinking about for a long time. Maybe that was Margaret Atwood's goal.(less)

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Aug 03, 2007

mim rated it

Margaret Atwood began scaring me with Handmaiden's Tale. I thought it wouldn't happen again, but it did. This book was frighting

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Jan 11, 2009

Bonnie added it

Shelves: reviewed-books, canadian-author, science-fiction

I am sure it is well-written, but I simply could not get into it. Not my style...

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Feb 07, 2012

Rita rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: own, fiction, my-reviews, post-apocalyptic-and-dystopian, 2011

I'm not going to tell you what this book is about - plenty of other reviews spend more than enough time on that already as it is, seems redundant to me if you ask me when we already have a book description on the book-page :P I will tell you this though: this book is a frightful example of where genetic experimentation might take us in a not so distant future, if the genetic scientists continue to go down the path that they have been on for two decades, or more.

This books makes me w...more

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Nov 11, 2007

R. rated it

Shelves: 2007

1. The novelization of Talking Heads' Fear of Music.

2. Not a little of Neil Patrick Harris circa Starship Troopers in Crake.

3. He'd been unhappy too, of course. It went without saying, his unhappiness. He'd put a lot of energy into it. (pgs. 71-72)

4. Docked a WHOLE STAR for that vague-ass ending. Up to that point, that last page, it was a five star read.

5. Sadly, Alex the parrot died in Sept. 2007: Alex died quickly. He had a sudden, unexpe...more

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Aug 18, 2008

Lori rated it

I thought I had read this before, but I hadn't really - I had skimmed it. Wasn't the right time - after my son was born in 96 I had been far too vulnerable and avoided all dystopian literature. It seems this year I am again ready as I'll ever be - The Road, then this!

This was even better than The Handmaid's Tale. Funny as hell yet dark and foreboding because this future has already started, not just scientifically but the path humans follow is utterly within our nature and more than...more

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Oct 01, 2010

Synesthesia rated it

Uh, this is getting a bit squicky.

I'm having a hard time putting this book down. It's been a while since that has happened. I really must stop reading it and work but it's so good.

I don't know how to feel about this book. I finished reading it so I'm re-reading it in between other books but the idea of a post-Apocalyptic world is so upsetting to me to put it mildly. All I can do is go, scientists, please do not destroy the world or give everyone some kind of disease becau...more

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Sep 29, 2010

Barb rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: series, canlit, owned-books, 5-stars

The thing that creeps me out the most about this story, is just how plausible it is. It's really not a stretch to say that in the not-so-distant future the world will be run by giant corporations, and science will cross over ethical boundaries in pursuit of profit for said corporations. It kind of makes me sad ... and somewhat afraid of the grocery store.
I enjoyed reading this book for her prose, the well written characters, and the questions it raised about the current state of our soci...more

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Dec 17, 2008

Colin Miller rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: novels

No other genre has ideas that blow me away by their sheer creativity and in their butchered execution than science fiction. Amid plot clichés, bad dialogue, monstrously superfluous text, made-up technology solutions, and the flat-out lack of effort sci-fi writers put in to a genre that should be the most innovative—sacrificing cohesiveness for whim, new territory for old innovation cum stale sci-fi law, relying on the fan base to simply buy everything—one subgenre has remained faithful to good s...moreNo other genre has ideas that blow me away by their sheer creativity and in their butchered execution than science fiction. Amid plot clichés, bad dialogue, monstrously superfluous text, made-up technology solutions, and the flat-out lack of effort sci-fi writers put in to a genre that should be the most innovative—sacrificing cohesiveness for whim, new territory for old innovation cum stale sci-fi law, relying on the fan base to simply buy everything—one subgenre has remained faithful to good storytelling: dystopian fiction.

Margaret Atwood’s effort Oryx and Crake maintains that proud tradition.

Snowman is seemingly the last human on Earth, though he’s visited by human-like creatures called the Children of Crake. Snowman has flashbacks to when he was a boy, Jimmy, befriending another boy, most often referred to as Crake. Raised in rich corporate compounds, set apart from the poor and dangerous urban pleeblands, Crake excels in school and in fantasy computer games, but his genius later warps into mad geneticist, setting into motion the events that will alter the landscape of Earth. They initially meet Oryx via computer screen, where she is a child prostitute on a pornography website. Her eyes haunt Jimmy, but Crake brings her in many years later to be his personal assistant.

Oryx and Crake is set in the near future and is more of a play on what we have now going horridly wrong than fantastical technologies coming out of nowhere. The gap between rich and poor has grown even wider; animals are genetically created with multiple organs and human DNA; and the commoditization of human life has stretched to an extreme degree, even with sexuality. As a result, the book is easily tied to The Island of Doctor Moreau, Gulliver’s Travels and Brave New World. Oryx and Crake is also considered a sequel to Atwood’s previous dystopian novel, The Handmaid’s Tale (which I haven’t read, but am willing to do so now). Though the dialogue sometimes goes into the clunky sci-fi cliché and the devices can be heavy-handed, Oryx and Crake holds its own in a subgenre that could soon fall into the pitfalls of mainstream science fiction itself. Three stars.
(less)

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Oct 22, 2009

karen rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: dysto-teque, littry-fiction, the-end

eh.

bore-x and crake. this is a very all right book. i was just unwowed by it. initially, i liked the pacing of the book, and the way the story was spooling out between the present and past, doling its secrets out in dribs and drabs. but the characters just seemed so flimsy, and i was ultimately left with more questions than explanations. and the cutesy futuristic products and consumer culture bits are best left in the hands of a george saunders, not the queen of the long pen. however...more

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Jun 26, 2009

Julie rated it

Revision, 6.26.09: Not that it's that important, but I have changed my rating to 3 stars. The more I thought about it . . . and I'm sure Margaret Atwood will survive the disappointment.

Not since Beloved have I read a book that was so well done but so depressing that I could hardly continue at many points. I thought of giving it 3 stars just because of the sheer misery of the story, but, of course, this is Margaret Atwood, and both the quality of the writing and the details of the sto...more

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May 03, 2008

Danika rated it

Recommends it for: Sci-fi or Atwood fans

This book took me FOREVER to get through. Normally, I love Margaret Atwood, but I never really got into this book. It's post-apocalyptic and deals with issues around genetic modification. Interesting topic, and I wound up sticking with it until the end, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it. Maybe it was just me as every one else seems to rate it pretty highly.

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Jul 13, 2010

Adrienne rated it

This is the first Atwood book I've picked up. I began reading it over Christmas break, and am determined to finish it this summer despite loosing interest in it when I was too busy to read in the springtime. The subject matter is a bit depressing, the characters are not extremely likable, yet Atwood's descriptive storytelling does keep things moving... The book starts in the middle of the end, and then flashes back and forward to fill in the gaps. There is a lesson here about human beings in...more

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Mar 14, 2009

Jennifer rated it

Shelves: sf-and-fantasy-and-horror

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I heard about this book from a book club that I've recently joined that focuses on post-apocalyptic fiction. Oryx and Crake definitely fits the theme. The only other book I've read by Margaret Atwood is The Handmaid's Tale. Oryx and Crake reminds me of this book only in what seems to be its purpose - commentary on the flaws of modern society.

The near future of this book is one where the US is split between privileged and hermetically sealed Compounds (with all of the worse excesse...more

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Feb 16, 2009

Rebecca rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to Rebecca by: Stephanie

I am calling complete, and total, bullshit.

There are so many things wrong with this book that it's hard to know where to begin. For starters, the idea of having a couple of different timelines going at once, and shift tenses according--present tense for the present, regular past tenses for the past--causes some serious grammatical problems, and is an utter BS plot device. I'm not a huge fan of telling a story through flashbacks, but it can be done reasonably while retaining proper g...moreI am calling complete, and total, bullshit.

There are so many things wrong with this book that it's hard to know where to begin. For starters, the idea of having a couple of different timelines going at once, and shift tenses according--present tense for the present, regular past tenses for the past--causes some serious grammatical problems, and is an utter BS plot device. I'm not a huge fan of telling a story through flashbacks, but it can be done reasonably while retaining proper grammar. It's not brain surgery.

I admit that I went into this book predisposed not to like it, for a variety of reasons. I didn't like The Blind Assassin (yes, I might be the only person IN THE WORLD who can say that), but I thought that I should be fair and give an author another chance before I make up my mind. I also generally dislike dystopic literature, because it's so rarely done right. Her basic idea was kind of interesting (if done better in Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, and even that had its problems), but the execution was fatally flawed. I don't know much about science, but I do know that some of the research was wrong and the timelines don't add up. She seemed like she researched just enough to be able to throw words around, but not enough to use them correctly--a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. The biggest problem was the characters, though: three such utterly unsympathetic main characters do not make it easy to like anything about the story. Crake was a rabid dog that needed to be put down a lot sooner than he was, Oryx was probably insane and too cold to make you care, and Snowman was just too damn stupid. Also, characters that you meet while they're watching child porn to me means that they should be first in line for the electric chair, not that I should care about their personal problems.

The biggest problem I have with Atwood, though, is a problem that seems to be systemic in her works: she's so bloody arrogant. When you open one of her books, you're immediately hit in the face by a thought bubble: She is writing World Changing Literature, and you should grovel before her genius. You have to dig through layers of ego just to get to the plot. She has talent, no doubt, but she is so full of herself and her ability to be a Literary Writer that you miss the book forest for the literary trees.

Also-also, she probably thought that ending was clever, but it was, in fact, a cop out. She was bored with the book, she wanted to end it, so she did. It must be convenient to not have to actually tie up her loose ends.

In summary, I am clearly too much of a plebeian to appreciate the full extent of her genius, and I should crawl back to the benighted hole from whence I came.(less)

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Jan 19, 2011

Trisha rated it

wow, one of those stories that you read and think "did I really like that?" and then, you take a day or two and you keep thinking about it. it invades your dreams and thoughts and you find yourself telling other people about the book. It just gets under your skin.

I'd read the 2nd one for a book club and was so disappointed to see that there was a companion novel. But, now that I've read them both, I think I'm okay with order I read them. I identified much more with the femal...more

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Jan 17, 2012

Preeti rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: post-apocalyptic

This showed up as available on my ebooks account at the library so I decided to read it right away or I'd lose my spot on the waiting list. I didn't quite know what to expect - I'd just read a short description of the book a while back, which I reread before starting the book.

At first, it was a bit confusing but the story is told in presence-tense interspersed with flashbacks so we learn what transpired in the past.

Initially I wasn't sure I was really into the story but as I ...more

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Sep 18, 2007

Amanda rated it

Atwood is very good at painting a scary yet plausible parallel universe. If you haven't read this, add it to the top of your list.

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topics	posts	views	last activity
SciFi and Fantasy...: So these characters...(Spoilers)	20	163	Dec 07, 2011 02:20am
SciFi and Fantasy...: Finished Reading? (Spoilers)	57	97	Dec 06, 2011 12:46am
Oryx's Role	17	158	Dec 03, 2011 12:49am
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SciFi and Fantasy...: It's the end of the world...	32	82	Nov 29, 2011 08:42pm
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About Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood was born in 1939 in Ottawa and grew up in northern Ontario, Quebec, and Toronto. She received her undergraduate degree from Victoria College at the University of Toronto and her master's degree from Radcliffe College.

Throughout her writing career, Margaret Atwood has received numerous awards and honourary degrees. She is the author of more than thirty-five volumes of po...more

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“He doesn't know which is worse, a past he can't regain or a present that will destroy him if he looks at it too clearly. Then there's the future. Sheer vertigo.” — 28 people liked it

“If he wants to be an asshole, it's a free country. Millions before him have made the same life choice” — 26 people liked it

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