From the Bookshelf of The Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge…

Oryx and Crake (MaddAddam, #1)

Margaret Atwood

Start date: November 1, 2018

Finish date: November 30, 2018

Discussion: Book Discussions (Archive)

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Book Discussions (Archive)

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What Members Thought

Jul 16, 2019 Jocelyn rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobooking, straight-outta-the-library

Whew, really intense but really good. I'm going to have a book hangover for awhile after this one. ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Jun 08, 2020 Kate rated it really liked it

Shelves: mature-content, 2020, canadian

It has taken me a while to figure out exactly what I want to say about this novel. This is the first Margaret Atwood novel I have read and, well, it was a wild ride. While it is spectacular and interesting, it was also vulgar at times and brutal for me, personally, to read. I think the purpose was to make me uncomfortable (maybe to inform me about the world and the possibilities?) and Atwood definitely does this. I liked many of the themes within the book. I admire Atwood for delving into many u It has taken me a while to figure out exactly what I want to say about this novel. This is the first Margaret Atwood novel I have read and, well, it was a wild ride. While it is spectacular and interesting, it was also vulgar at times and brutal for me, personally, to read. I think the purpose was to make me uncomfortable (maybe to inform me about the world and the possibilities?) and Atwood definitely does this. I liked many of the themes within the book. I admire Atwood for delving into many untypical topics (for me at least) such as the sex trade and child pornography. Not in great detail, but in a straightforward way (even though Oryx deters Jimmy in their chapters together). I mostly did not like how vulgar Jimmy could be, but I still preferred him over any other character (except for Oryx, but we see her so little). That is not to say that I did not like Crake, but of all the complex, morally ambiguous characters within this novel, Jimmy was a gem. A dirty, prickly gem. It was excellent that we got to read about Jimmy's childhood, though, because we gain an understanding of Jimmy, but also a reminder that children sometimes grow up in families where parents don't want to know their child and that was devastating.
One of my favourite quotes from the novel speaks to this: "...and check to make sure Jimmy was asleep and hadn't heard. Then they could tick off that item on the Terrific Parenting checklist they both carted around inside their heads. It wasn't the bad stuff they did that made Jimmy so angry, it was the good stuff. The stuff that was suppose to be good, or good enough for him. The stuff they patted themselves on the backs for. They knew nothing about him, what he liked, what he hated, what he longed for. They thought he was only what they could see. " That hit me hard. Margaret Atwood truly is a fantastic storyteller.

Overall, I personally did not enjoy the vulgarity in this novel, but at the end of the day I found myself liking the story and will probably continue with this trilogy. ...more

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