Oryx and Crake

Rating:
Summary: nothing wrong with bio-engineering? think again...
Review: 'Oryx and Crake' is a very well-observed, fictionalized account of how modern day bio-engineering science can literally destroy mankind, to be replaced by a wide variety of human-engineered entities. Of course it is *science fiction*, and much of what Ms Atwood describes is a bit far-fetched. But only a bit. This reader until now thought nothing wrong of bio-engineered crops and current activities involving animal (and human?) cloning. Thanks to 'Oryx and Crake' I can now see where everything can go horribly wrong.

In 'Oryx and Crake' we have North America some fifty years in the future. Science has really achieved breakthroughs bio-engineering animals for such purposes as growing human organs, all with a total disregard of the consequences. Corporate competitiveness drives such activity to manic proportions when, unsurprisingly, complete disaster strikes. All this is told through a survivor, Snowman, as he relates his life and those of Crake, his genius friend, and Oryx, their love interest.

No, this book isn't at the supreme quality of Atwood's brilliant 'The Blind Assassin'. The prose is only decent, as are the characterizations. But 'Oryx and Crake' certainly doesn't disappoint; Ms Atwood has done herself proud.

Bottom line: the future as it might very well be. Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling story
Review: Atwood is a poet. This book, while not her best, is nonetheless a chilling, riveting story. Fans of The Handmaid's Tale will enjoy her return to sci-fi writing. Those who prefer Atwood's more traditional novels may not love this one, but even they won't be able to help being tranfixed by her craftsmanship.

Rating:
Summary: An Unfortunately too Possible Plot
Review: I read relatively little fiction. An occasional science fiction or fantasy book, or more rarely historical fiction or mysteries are about as far as I go. This looked like an interesting plot involving some biology and so I decided to read it. It was well worth the effort! Despite the depressing insight on arrogant and stupid human motivations, Margaret Atwood has produced a cautionary tale of the not too distant future where genetic engineering has reached its ultimate technical level. This is an age where our common pets are replaced with genetically altered or spliced rakunks and organs are farmed in pigoons (which later turn out to have picked up some human intelligence in the process!). It is not difficult for a warped genius like Crake to utilize his skill and the desires of his fellow humans to spread a deadly virus that destroys nearly all of humanity. His "friend" Jimmy- now called Snowman- who is immunized against the plague Crake has unleashed, and the "Crakers"- genetically altered humans who live at a basic level of their own- seem to be all that is left. Crake and his "girlfriend" Oryx who we see originally as the subject of a kiddie porn site when she is eight years old, die apparently as a result of Crake's jealousy of the secret sexual relationship between Oryx and Jimmy. The final ending (which I will not reveal) is a bit surprising, but believable and after 9/11, the anthrax attacks and our current state of semi-war, it is unfortunately not too difficult to imagine this tale of technology gone wrong as a possible, but preventable, future.

I recommend this book as a chilling reminder of man's inhumanity to man and where it might lead.

Rating:
Summary: Atwood's Best?
Review: Perhaps not. In terms of her use of language, form, depth of charaterisation etc. the 'The Blind Assassin' is technically Atwood's greatest novel so far. But having read all her novels, I've got to say that 'Oryx and Crake' is my personal favourite. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed this book, how engrossed I was with every word, and how moving, shocking and disturbing I found it. It's one of the best books I've ever read. It's one of those books that, once you've finished the last page, stays with you, and when you're not reading it you're thinking of it. And it's one of those books that, when you finally close it, you so wish that you could've put your name to it yourself. It's an immense work of imagination. I finished it well over a week ago and still think of it. I found it extraordinary. The way Atwood evokes her distopian futuristic world in every detail and makes it come alive and breathe is quite incredible. I was hooked. I was hoping it would be good but it far exceeded my expectations. The book's nightmarish vision of the future makes 'The Handmaid's Tale' look like a picnic, and while you're reading Atwood makes you live in that world, makes you feel what Snowman is feeling. What horror. Frighteningly, plausibly, brilliant!

Rating:
Summary: An Engaging Cautionary Tale
Review: The book introduces us to Snowmanm, a futuristic Robinson Crusoe who lives in a tree on a beach brimming with civilization's debris. A plague decimated the earth's population and he is the last human being alive. He is also the surrogate parent to human prototypes called Crakers, creatures with green eyes who eat grass. In a hostile environment full of genetically spliced creatures, he attempts to survive; as he looks for food and supplies, he provides a disjointed narrative which unravels the past that brought him to his nightmarish present.

He used to be known as Jimmy, the son of scientists employed by a biotech company. A cataclysmic event killed off the world's food supply and most food forms were genetically engineered. Science and industry reigned supreme, and the world was divided into the Compounds--strictly controlled self-contained biospheres--and the Pleeblands, where everyone else lived. Abandoned by his mother, Jimmy befriended a new kid named Glenn who has lost his father. They played computer games like Extinctathon where Glenn is known as Crake; one time they entered a porn site and saw a young girl whom they would later know as Oryx. Jimmy languished in a low-level job after college until he was rescued by his genius friend Crake, who became project head for a big biotech company. It proved to be a fateful reunion which precipitated the tragic events that altered human existence.

Margaret Atwood is a prolific writer who has penned several literary works. Here she weaves a cautionary tale that is frightening for being so plausible and familiar. Although Jimmy is her first male protagonist, she is able to speak in his voice convincingly. Unfortunately, the other characters are not as well defined. Her prose is engaging but pales in comparison to the outstanding The Blind Assasin, which won her the Booker Prize. In spite of its flaws, I still enjoyed Oryx and Crake as the dystopian fantasy that succesfully makes you wonder whether we as a species are engineering our own demise.

Rating:
Summary: A page-turner but not Atwood's best
Review: This books follows Atwood's usual formula of a slight mystery and a slow revel. The plot centres around one character, Snowman, who is living in an abandoned post-global warming world. He retraces the events of his life, starting with his childhood on an elite research compound where people work to develop genetically modified creatures, a place separate from the "pleeblands" where most ordinary humans leave. Snowman also slowly reveals the characters Oryx and Crake and their role in his life and current situation.

Atwood definitely succeeds at creating a sense of place - a terrifying, overgrown world of characters split between the elite research facilities of Snowman's childhood and the dangerous "pleeblands" where average people live. I couldn't put the book down because I wanted to find how Snowman got to the place he was.

But the characters in this novel aren't fleshed out. At the end we are still left wondering about the motivations of Oryx and Crake and Snowman himself.

There is also a child pornography sub-plot that was kind of pointless. We are expecting a great denouement but get none. I was left wondering "so what?" Why was this tawdry industry explored if not to offer us some sort of meaningful criticism of it?

To a lesser degree, the same is true of the genetic modification theme. Atwood is clearly horrified by the dangers but also seems fascinated by the possibilities, and in the end the question is not entirely resolved.

While I enjoyed this book, it felt more like a tawdry paperback than a novel by one of Canada's foremost authors. I am shocked that of all of her novels, this one won the Booker Prize. If you want Atwood sci-fi read The Handmaid's Tale. And if you want a compelling, mysterious read try Alias Grace.