ORYX AND CRAKE: Finished Reading (*SPOILERS*)

[Candiss]

Here's a general topic for people who have finished reading Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood.

WARNING: SPOILERS LIKELY!

[Candiss]

I read this book a couple of years ago and loved it. I wanted to reread it for this discussion, but I recently loaned it to my son's girlfriend (who has recently discovered and become a fan of Atwood) and haven't got it back yet. So any input I can contribute may be fuzzy at best.

[Melody]

Me too. I had read it a few years ago, loved it. So, when I saw it was going to be the BOTM for august, I reread it plus Year to the Flood. Now, I'm on to MaddAddam. Which has been sitting on my bookself unread ever since it was released. I highly recommend those who finish Oryx and Crake, continue on with the other two with the characters and plot fresh in mind. Very integrated, overlapping stories. So much so, that I may want to read them again very soon.
I haven't ever read any other of Atwood's novels. But, now I will definitly be seeking out more of her books.

[DivaDiane]

Thanks Melody for the rec to re-read O&C again before going on to MaddAddam. Who knows when I'll ever get around to reading it, but if I feel compelled, I will definitely follow your suggestion. Easy enough since I own O&C.

If you haven't read A Handmaid's Tale, Melody, you should! Go now and get a copy. It'll change your life.

I read O&C when it came out Lo, these many years ago. My recollection is pretty fuzzy too. So I hope someone who read it for this discussion (i.e. recently so that it's fresh in their mind) comes along to add to the discussion and perhaps jog my memory.

[Melody]

Diane, don't forget The Year of the Flood
before MaddAddam for the whole trilogy.

And yes, I do plan on getting copy of A Handmaid's Tale soon.

[DivaDiane]

Ah, seem to have missed that one completely! Thanks, Melody!

[Chris]

Although it started out slow for me, I ended up enjoying Oryx and Crake even more than The Handmaid's Tale (which I loved). One of the little things I enjoyed a lot were the games they played, like Blood and Roses, and how those games mimicked modern day war and politics with an absurdist approach. Great stuff.

[Helen]

I read this a while back for another group. Memory isn't so fresh now so I'll post a rehashed version of my comments there, hope that's okay:

My opinion on Oryx and Crake kept changing as I read. Started off thinking it would be the BEST THING EVER. I have a penchant for post-apocalyptic fiction.

However, for me it really meandered at around 45-60 per cent of the way through, when Jimmy was in college (though it certainly picks up afterwards). And I gather that the point is that you don't know the entirety of Crake's motives or indeed Oryx's decision process, but I really wanted to know.

So perhaps there's nothing wrong with the book, it's just not quite the right book for me. Great writing, good premise, but just missing that something to elevate it further.

I have looked up reviews for the next two in the sequence but they seem quite mixed? I'd like to know more about Jimmy but (vague spoilers) apparently he only appears in a bit of the last one?

Hmmm. So it's a 3.5 for me I think.

[Chris, Moderator]

I read this some time ago, but I didn't really remember it, so I read it again for this discussion. And now I know why I blocked this from my memory. What a grim read! Post apocalyptic novels just may not be my thing.

I admired the craft of the writing, and the overall plot premise was interesting. But I didn't empathize with any of the characters, except for Jimmy in the last few pages, and that was too late. I didn't understand Oryx, and I'm not sure her character served any real purpose other than to drag in long digressions on degrading pornography that made me feel slimy.

Not for me, I'm afraid.

[Beth]

Wow. This book made my skin crawl--which I suppose was the point. I found it to be quite a slog, but mainly because I wasn't in the right headspace for a (creepy, yet weirdly plausible) story like this. It definitely made me look askance at all the Big Pharma buildings I pass on my way to work in the morning.

[Juston]

@Beth the rest of the MaddAddam trilogy is even creepier! I'm about halfway through the last one now.

[J.A.]

Although I generally enjoy post-apocalyptic novels, this one didn't really grab me. I couldn't get interested or care about the characters, probably because Atwood's writing style is impersonal and external as much as because they are not pleasant people. I have, however, read books about creepy characters, where the author made me understand and care about them. I don't think Atwood likes any of her own characters, and that makes it difficult for the reader to.

[Jason]

Hi all. First post to the group. I rather enjoyed Oryx and Crake. I actually thought the most horrifying and compelling segment was the telling of Oryx's childhood and the boys' oversexualizition/desensitization to violence. It seemed the most immediately relevant of the horrors from the novel. I however thought that the adult character of Oryx and her involvement with Jimmy and Crake was fairly unbelievable. Atwood could have accomplished the same with a parallel Oryx storyline and Jimmy's unconsummated obsession.

My interest often falters in the climax and resolution stages of novels. I'm not a very plot driven reader. I'm fascinated by ideas and setting and language but when those take a back seat to plot it often becomes a slog for me. It was telling to me that my pace didn't slow down at all in the last quarter. It actually left me wanting to see what what is made of the horrifying new world Crake created.

[Heather]

I have a theory about the ending of the third book:

(view spoiler)[I believe it was TVTropes that theorized the the Crakers were designed not to grow and change as a society or a race, and that Crake designed them as such to "preserve" intelligent life while making sure we destructive human beings don't continue to wreck things. As a biologist, Crake should know our destructive streak is a result of our ability to grow, change, and event.

A species that cannot change will not survive. Crake should know this.

I think he planned the outcome of the third book. I think he designed the Crakers to (view spoiler)[breed with humans. (hide spoiler)] I think he intended the two species to balance one another out. (hide spoiler)]