Reviews

[b:Oryx and Crake|46756|Oryx and Crake|Margaret Atwood|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1303565743s/46756.jpg|3143431] is both post-apocalyptic and dystopian. It deals with themes of religion, sexuality, violence, oppression, genetic engineering, love, lust, and friendship. It opens with a man who calls himself Snowman living on a beach after a disaster of proportions we do not fully learn until later. There are also other beautiful beings who seem like humans, but both more advanced and more simple. Snowman's thoughts then turn inwards and backwards to his childhood, when he was called Jimmy. The book switches back and forth between Jimmy's memories of life and his present day reality. We learn about his friendship with a boy named Crake and who they both became, as well as his relationship with a girl named Oryx. We also see an unfolding picture of how and why Jimmy became Snowman and why his world is the way it is. Along the way, the themes I mentioned above also unfold, with all the questions they bring.

I found myself thinking of [b:This Perfect Day|139390|This Perfect Day|Ira Levin|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1249566974s/139390.jpg|1945300] a lot while reading this, but also of [b:Speaker for the Dead|7967|Speaker for the Dead (Ender's Saga, #2)|Orson Scott Card|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1295660894s/7967.jpg|2327777]. This has intriguing similarities to both. It is also an excellent book.

jaccosgrove's review against another edition

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tense slow-paced

4.0

aromarrie's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Happy Birthday, Jimmy. May All Your Dreams Come True.

~read for human biology course~

my god, was this a time.

Content Warnings

cinziabillson's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

5.0

bookph1le's review against another edition

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4.0

It took me a while to get into, but I was ultimately sucked in. Atwood had a special talent for sparse yet beautiful writing, and even as she's exposing something horrible, there's something starkly lovely about her books. This is a very human tale of greed and lust and their tragic outcomes.

gabriela_dreams's review against another edition

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1.0

Even if I loved the Blind Assasin, I hated this book, I couldn't finish it. I only read 200 pages, which seemed like a real torture for me. I didn't like the fact that it is very slow paced and you feel that nothing is going to happen. The main idea of the novel was good, but I didn't like the way Atwood presented it, the whole package was wrongly wrapped. I felt that I was eating a cake that looks great when you look at it, but bad when you taste it, because the ingredients weren't mixed correctly.

hannet's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I'm pretty sure I read an excerpt from this in English class years ago. I remember liking it, the weird name, and mice in a spaceship. Which do not exist in this book. So, false memory, or what? Been meaning to read Margaret Atwood for a while, and gee, she's got a lot of books, and she's only 84!? This book was written in 2003, and it kinda checks out still! People e-mail a bunch, but otherwise the 20 years haven't really taken away from the book. Only it was a bit meander-y, not a huge plot, or resolve. More like a mystery, finding out what Snowman's deal is. The whole apocalypse vibe was putting me on edge, while I also halfway expected a reveal toward the end, of Jimmy actually living in a functioning society. Guess not. Just Googled MaddAddam, because it appeared in the plot, and was also shown as another work of Atwood's, and I guess this book is the first of a trilogy, welp. To read or read the Wikipedia summary? I'm somewhat intrigued! Also while reading this I saw a news item on the first deaf child whose hearing was fixed through a genetic... vaccine...? So Crakers might not be too far off. Then again, growing new teeths is still very early days (another news article from today). Since people eating today's food in dystopian or vaguely futuristic novels always bugs me, I appreciated Atwood going into detail into what's still growing and what isn't. Though apparently the meat substitutes suck and the tofu is bland, which I don't buy. Or maybe Crake should've put his genius to better plant-based foods instead of new humans...

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