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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 - and this ...more
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 - and this ...more
I adore dystopian/post-apocalyptic fiction, and I liked Oryx and Crake very much, but I must admit I didn't think it was quite as good as The Year of the Flood. I think if you're going to read both of them, then read this one first, but it's possible to skip straight to The Year of the Flood, in which Atwood's ideas seem better fleshed out and the characters are more engaging and well-rounded. I would recommend this to people who already like Atwood, but I think if you already don't like her you
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This book was incredibly fascinating. Rarely can I finish a book and read it again shortly after. With this one, I literally read the last page, waited maybe a minute, and then flipped back to the beginning to start all over again. I've read it three times so far, and I really think it gets better the more you read it.
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How is it possible that I've gone so long without reading Margaret Atwood? Seriously.
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It's official...I love Margaret Atwood! After reading The Handmaid's Tale, I had to read another Atwood. I chose Oryx and Crake and I'm so glad I did.
Apparently, Atwood writes a lot of speculative fiction and it's amazing just how insightful she is. O&C is a look into what happens when genetic engineering and the commercialization of...well...everything goes too far. Snowman is living on the coast with genetically engineered people (?) and as we learn of his post-apocalyptic habits we also lear ...more
Apparently, Atwood writes a lot of speculative fiction and it's amazing just how insightful she is. O&C is a look into what happens when genetic engineering and the commercialization of...well...everything goes too far. Snowman is living on the coast with genetically engineered people (?) and as we learn of his post-apocalyptic habits we also lear ...more
[2005 review.] This book is amazing. Scary and sad and wonderful all at once. Full of all these gorgeous ideas about language and its connection to civilization. But so very unsettling and lonely too; I keep thinking about it, weeks later. Someone once said this is as if William Gibson wrote a Margaret Atwood novel, and I think that's very accurate.
2012 note: I wish I could tell my past self how much more she'll love Year of the Flood! ...more
2012 note: I wish I could tell my past self how much more she'll love Year of the Flood! ...more
Fantastic book! I usually love Margaret Atwood's work. This dystopian look at the not-so-distant future could be called science fiction if it weren't so believable. I really enjoyed the two narrative threads: the present "scorched earth" and the past life story of the main character. The back and forth was well done, and interesting rather than distracting. The story and characters wouldn't let me put the book down!
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Huh. Read this book when it first came out and didn't love it. But tonight I find out that an Oryx is a real thing--back from the brink of extinction. The animal is believed to be the origin of the unicorn myths. I may need to find time to read this again.
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