Oryx and Crake (MaddAddam, #1) in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Feb 04, 2010 Shayla rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library-book-club

This book was unlike any that I have read before, but I totally dug it. As I dicussed with one of my colleagues, this book is "scary" in that all of the things which have happened in the world that Atwood creates are completely believable. The intellectuals and elites live in guarded Compounds, while the regular folks live in the dingy, dirty Pleeblands, viruses and bacteria can kill people in a second, and animals are being spliced and bred for their organs. Snowman, the narrator, appears to be ...more

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Feb 27, 2011 Chinoiseries rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, library, dystopia, canada

Oryx and Crake (the first in the MaddAddam Trilogy) is yet another eerie concoction effortlessly thrown together by the brilliant Margaret Atwood. Human beings, just like in The Handmaid's Tale, are confronted with the harsh reality of their own making. Her writing is convincing, because it is based on contemporary issues like (fear of) terrorism, overpopulation and the resulting food shortage. Climate change, be it human-induced or part of a natural cycle, has made many parts of the world inhab Oryx and Crake (the first in the MaddAddam Trilogy) is yet another eerie concoction effortlessly thrown together by the brilliant Margaret Atwood. Human beings, just like in The Handmaid's Tale, are confronted with the harsh reality of their own making. Her writing is convincing, because it is based on contemporary issues like (fear of) terrorism, overpopulation and the resulting food shortage. Climate change, be it human-induced or part of a natural cycle, has made many parts of the world inhabitable. The ozone layer has withered away and only the strongest sunblock can protect human skin against burning. Fear of violence (and a good supply of money) led to the creation of Compounds, in which research is conducted to make human life more comfortable. Playing God has never been easier: mankind unscrupulously devises pigoons (pigs that carry cloned human skin and/or organs, even brain tissue), wolvogs (a doglike creature that is as wild as a wolf) and some kind of chicken that consists mostly of drumsticks (or whatever the market demands), among others. Non-brainiacs do not have the pleasure of living in the clean and heavily guarded Compounds, but are condemned to the nature-ravaged Pleeblands, i.e. everywhere else in the world.
Jimmy, as Snowman used to be known, spent his youth in different Compounds, depending on the company that was employing his father at that time. His childhood was not a happy one and his only friend, Glenn, much smarter than him. This strange, rational boy guides Jimmy through the internet of the future: a place that does not shy away from any flavor of sexuality (it is here that they first spot Oryx, or a girl that looks like her) or vicious murder. Tomorrow's world suffers from entertainment overload. Nothing is shocking to the eye, everything becomes numbingly mundane. And our future selves are eager to participate, to stand out from the crazy crowds, to the point that even public suicide becomes common. Never would Jimmy have guessed that Glenn, also known as Crake, was in fact weighing humanity's worth, before passing an unfavorable judgement.
Indeed, this was a science fiction novel that I enjoyed very much. It was thrilling and depressing at the same time, its compelling story urging me to read on and on. The best science fiction (and dystopia) is the kind that is built on realistic scenarios, and Atwood is quite the master at spine-chilling plots. Ultimately, we have only ourselves to fear, and boy, are we capable of some scary stuff!
I only have one gripe: while I can clearly envisage Crake as the genius who lost control over his emotions in the end, Oryx remained vague in my mind's eye, akin to (many of) the women in Haruki Murakami's novels. Oryx is real to the touch, but untouchable at the same time. She's like a ghost passing through, solidifying only at her own whim. But perhaps she was intentionally written this way? ...more

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Sep 12, 2011 Ally rated it liked it

I love Margaret Atwood, so I wanted to love this book...but I didn't. It was the usual blunt yet engaging style that is Atwood's signature, but the story itself was thin and I think she tried a little too hard to show this potential future rather than just telling us about it. This review is a little vague because I don't want to give too much plot away because I think the best way to read this book is to dive in blindly. ...more

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Jul 09, 2010 Alvin rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2010

There was a certain calm to this book that I enjoyed. I'm thankful for the small bite-sized chapters, because oftentimes I'd be confused where the story was going. Things came together at the end, but left me unsatisfied. I'll read The Year of the Flood with more realistic expectations and hope that Oryx and Crake was merely a foundation to a greater story. ...more

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Apr 05, 2013 Nick rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

What a stunning, devastating book. If you want to truly understand nihilism, and feel the utter worthlessness of humanity, this book will do it. The inverted parallels to the Divine Comedy are also very well done and beautifully effective.

The most disturbing part about this book though, is how even though it was written 10 years ago we are still so clearly on the path laid out the story. If you didn't have reason to worry about genetically modified food and the pharmaceutical industry already, ...more

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Apr 16, 2008 aimee rated it really liked it

This is the post-apocalyptic book that people should be shitting their pants about, not Cormac McCarthy's "The Road". Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed The Road, it just reach the heights of Atwood's brilliance in that particular little genre ...more

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Aug 11, 2008 Halsted Bernard rated it really liked it

Shelves: dystopia

This is a remarkable book, an insightful commentary on biotech and today's culture of apathy. I was shocked and disappointed by the ending, and will have to re-read the last tenth to understand why the author chose to do it. ...more

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