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As this book is considered literary sci-fi I was attracted to it but also a little concerned that in the effort to achieve literary status the author might have discarded the essence of sci-fi.
My first impressions were that the style of both the writing and the story-telling were a little old fashioned. It was lighter on the science philosophy and also less chauvanistic than such classics as Heinlein and Dick. In fact the slow, steady pace reminded me of John Windham while the constant word play ...more
My first impressions were that the style of both the writing and the story-telling were a little old fashioned. It was lighter on the science philosophy and also less chauvanistic than such classics as Heinlein and Dick. In fact the slow, steady pace reminded me of John Windham while the constant word play ...more
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
Apr 07, 2014
HeavyReader
rated it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
sciencefiction
A friend sent me this book, and I had it in my to-read pile for quite some time before picking it up and starting to read it.
Oh! My! Goodness! It grabbed me by the collar and didn't let me go until I read the last page (and the preview of the next book in the trilogy). Some nights I could barely keep my eyes open, but I needed to keep reading.
Some of the science was over my head and I didn't always follow the plot twists, but the writing was such that I just kept going.
I've read other novels a ...more
Oh! My! Goodness! It grabbed me by the collar and didn't let me go until I read the last page (and the preview of the next book in the trilogy). Some nights I could barely keep my eyes open, but I needed to keep reading.
Some of the science was over my head and I didn't always follow the plot twists, but the writing was such that I just kept going.
I've read other novels a ...more
A book which doesn't fit neatly onto any of the shelves I've created! How odd. I added it to "science fiction" after some deliberation, but don't be fooled into thinking this will read like Asimov or Heinlein. Rather, this is a poetic, mysterious dystopian novel, drawing on themes of genetic manipulation and human pride. This is a very different future than the one Atwood imagined in "The Handmaid's Tale," but one that is equally as compelling.
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Some good stuff in here, but I think it suffered from being a scifi/genre book written by someone who was not deeply involved in current-day Internet and technology culture. The cutesy names for future products were extremely out of date and '80s, the games she described the teenage boys playing were less advanced than what was available at the time of publication, and even back in 2003 I could have told you CD-ROMs and DVDs were not going to last decades (or even *a* decade) longer. The genetic
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August 2021, my third time visiting this predicted apocalypse:
Margaret Atwood sure is a pessimist about our future, but she makes her points so compellingly that it's hard to argue otherwise. I'll disagree strenuously with the back-of-book blurb that calls this "an unforgettable love story" - there's very little love in this labyrinth of manipulation - but the claim it's "a compelling vision of the future" is dead on. 16 years after its publication, her harsh view of the near-future seems even m ...more
Margaret Atwood sure is a pessimist about our future, but she makes her points so compellingly that it's hard to argue otherwise. I'll disagree strenuously with the back-of-book blurb that calls this "an unforgettable love story" - there's very little love in this labyrinth of manipulation - but the claim it's "a compelling vision of the future" is dead on. 16 years after its publication, her harsh view of the near-future seems even m ...more
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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Boring.
The point is that the world is in trouble, right? But then there’s the sweet tender way that Snowman takes care of the Crakers.
Jun 29, 2007
Wiltshire Hermit
rated it
really liked it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction,
booker-books
Jul 27, 2008
dirt
marked it as to-read
Dec 20, 2009
Liz
marked it as to-read
Aug 30, 2010
Terri FL
added it
Oct 27, 2012
Nicola
marked it as to-read
Feb 04, 2014
Leah
marked it as to-read
