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Summary: The Crakers weren't all they were cracked up to be.
Review: I have been a fan and avid reader of Ms. Atwood's since the mid-80's, and have read most of her novels. I eagerly waited for Oryx and Crake, and raced through it in less than three days. It had all the hallmarks of an Atwood novel: dystopian future nightmare; silly (but not unthinkable) product names; characters with multiple lives and secrets. But it was missing the most important hallmarks of an Atwood novel: it just wasn't entertaining or engaging on a par with her previous works. Perhaps the fact that it was set in a future that is entirely possible given today's environment, or that we're surrounded by SARS and anthrax scares, but I just did not find it frightening or illuminating. The scare that is the backbone of the novel isn't scary enough. The character's secrets weren't that secret. The horrors of pornography weren't that horrible. The ability for one person to create global cataclysmic chaos is a bit far-fetched. The Crakers weren't all they were cracked up to be. All in all, I was disappointed. Ms. Atwood has made a career of postulating tales that are "out there" enough to disturb you, but not so far out there that they are impossible or pure science fiction. What I found wanting was more of a leap to the range of "out there". This would be an excellent "introductory" novel to Ms. Atwood's writing, but serious fans shouldn't thrash themselves if they don't rush out to get it. Wait for the paperback (better yet, borrow it from your library).
Rating: 
Summary: Uneven to the Extreme
Review: I have read most of Margaret Atwood's works and consider her one of the best storytellers around. The language and sentence structure has always appeared somewhat disjointed, perhaps like the thought processes of her characters. Still, she says what she wants to say better than almost any modern writer. But delivery is only one element of literature. As important is what is being said and who is saying it. Rare is the artist who combines a mesmerizing tale with a tantalizing plot, geniune characters and sculptured sentences. Atwood succeeds in some of these arenas but not in all. After a little while you find your mind wandering to others of the same genre - Twelve Monkeys, The Stand, On the Beach. Then there are the always ephemeral characters, floating from present to past to streams of consciousness. Their lives seem more like shadowy episodes, vignettes to remember, rather than actual lives. And then there is the diatribe against genetic testing that seems a mantra of so many these days. Marketing, drugs, advertising, indeed capitalism itself, takes it on the head over and over. [Oddly, those that blast the market systems rarely offer an alternative, say fascism or tribalism?] The characters are thoroughly detestable, amoral throughout and to the end. It is like devoting oneself to a cause only to discover that it is all a big act. I could find no sympathy whatsoever for the sociopathic scientist (what a tritism) or the teller of the saga. Indeed, this world seemed as weird as others of this type - starvation, world-wide depressions, barbarism, starvation, war, epidimics,yet....yet science continues merrily onward as if everything were AOK. Some of the reading was interesting, some of it informative, but on the whole, it does not compare to the Handmaid's Tale.
Rating: 
Summary: Atwood
Review: I have to agree with the other reviewers it's Atwood at her best, and so help me disturbing as can be, disturbing as the Handmaid's tale. I have actually listened to the audio-book (unabridged!) and it is the absolute best narration - the way he reads it makes you believe you are there with Jimmy or Snowman if you wish - I really loved this book and am sorry, it's over.
Rating: 
Summary: Intriguing and well-writen speculative fiction
Review: It's a testament to Atwood's writing skill that Oryx & Crake is so readable, despite having so little plot. For the first 200 pages or so, I found myself thinking that I should be annoyed at how slowly the story was progressing, and yet I wasn't. Atwood's exploration of a possible future society was fascinating. It doesn't qualify as story - those looking for something plot-driven rather than mainly speculative should try elsewhere - but it was a very enjoyable read.
Rating:
Summary: A Harrowing Tale of Speculative Fiction
Review: Margaret Atwood paints a frightening and all too realistic portrait of a possible future in her new novel, "Oryx and Crake". It is a story of science gone awry, love and betrayal, and how the best of intentions can lead to the worst of consequences. The story is told through the eyes of Snowman, as he calls himself in the post-disaster world, who was just Jimmy before the whole place went to hell. The novel opens with a description of the world he now inhabits, and his not-quite-human companions, genetic creations he calls "Crakers". The "Crakers" look to Snowman as a prohpet of sorts for Oryx and Crake, whom Snowman has told them are basically benevolent Gods who watch over them. Who they really are, or were, is told through the narrative of the story. The tale follows Snowman as he leaves his sanctuary by the ocean to venture back towards what was once civilization to find supplies. In between the description of his journey and all the things that inhabut this new world, mostly hostile genetic creations like "wolvogs"(the aggression of a wolf with the friendly look of a kind dog), "bobkittens"(smaller, easier to fight off bobcats), and "pigoons"(pigs that were engineered to develop extra organs for human transplant), is the tale of how Jimmy became Snowman, how it all went to hell. The world that Jimmy grew up on his sparsely described but richly imagined. The well off now live in compounds, huge gated communities owned by corporations that house their entire workforce. Most of these corporations are genetic research companies looking at a niche market. Jimmy's father works at the company that develops new farm animals. The entire world is like this, genetics out of control, and Atwood succeeds in creating a vision of a future in which ethics seem to have left science completely. She places the blame for this on the profit hungry corporations, who seem to run the government. Jimmy's parents are detached from him, his mother brooding, his father distant, and into his dull life comes Crake, a hyper-intelligent kid who becomes Jimmy's best friend. Together, they explore an internet world that seems to be the very worst we could imagine, with sites like brainfrizz(executions) and HottTotts(I think you can guess). On HottTotts, Jimmy is transfixed by the eyes of an 8 year old girl, and becomes obsessed with her. This is Oryx, who is always in Jimmy's thoughts until they finally meet later in life. They also play online games like Extictathon and other stuff we would find morally repellent but is common place to them. Crake becomes a leading genetic expert, working for the biggest firm, while Jimmy is forced to go to a collapsing liberal arts college, which are now looked down upon. The environemnt has collapsed, snow is a memory, and cities are now called "pleeblands" that seem to be the last truely free places on earth, even if they are polluted and dangerous. As the plot moves forward, Jimmy's character is defined, while Crake remains a bit of a cipher right until his departure from the story, which seems about right considering what happens. Oryx also remains a mystery, mainly because Jimmy never understands her, an Atwood seems to think that Jimmy's love of her blinds his analysis of her. He realizes this too, and agonizes over it throughout the story. When the book ends, you look back and you see that the tale is extremely cynical, as Atwood tends to be, and that no one in this future is innocent in the end. It seems that this outcome for the world is the only one that is possible considering all the twists that take place, and the way life is valued only in how much money you can make. But the tale is not told without humor, and it is an enjoyable ride, that makes you think about where we are going, where we have been, and what we would like our future to be.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: An unforgettable and frightening story about inequality and the bleak horror of genetic assimilation. It was fabulously constructed, and I couldn't put it down. I particularly enjoyed all the flashbacks to the past. While Oryx is not a particlarly likable character, she proves an important counterpoint to the priveleged life of Jimmy and Crake, and aptly illustrates their obsession with perfection. This book was fabulous!!!
Rating:
Summary: futuristic satire or allegory
Review: At first one views this as a pure work of science fiction, complete with desolate futuristic landscapes, humanoids, and the distraught paranoid hero suffering from malnutrition and dressed in rags, searching the remnants of civilization for sustenance and human companionship, idolized as a god and misunderstood by the humanoids. It is "Planet Of the Apes" all over again. The novel also works well, perhaps better, as a satire of contemporary America: it has all the elements, disguised in the not-too-distant future; the corporate culture,computer games,the quest for eternal youth, the cut-throat college competition,the surveillance, the futuristic dysfunctional families,the poverty (those living outside the compound),the genetically-engineered animals and also child pornography. Atwood is not afraid of the grotesque--Oryx, sold into semi-prostitution, is a pathetic figure. She is a love slave. Atwood has put "all her eggs in one barrel" in the figure of Oryx. All of the novel's other characters are successful corporate types--different levels of success, to be sure, but all part of the corporate culture.Crake, the boy genius, develops a race of humanoids who are devoid of agggressive or territorial impulses and who are preprogrammed to have sex in a regimented way. Then there are the numerous creatures, "pigoons" and "snats" for example, who are genetically engineered animals which appear to sometimes serve humanity, and sometimes to simply antagonize humanity. They certainly antagonize "Snowman." These populate the book with some regularity and provide a minor theme for the reader as well as another pitfall for our hero. Atwood tends to minimize the importance of poverty or life "outside the compound."
Rating:
Summary: Compelling, somewhat familiar, and that's just fine.
Review: This is the kind of book Michael Chrichton would have written if his muse was speaking more loudly than his bank account. Nuanced, ironic, wry, terrifying, relevant, appropriately terse and incomplete, I could not put it down. If you haven't read Atwood, start here. While Oryx & Crake lacks some of the finesse of some of her other works, it is certainly one of her most powerful. Welcome to a contemporary treasure.
Rating:
Summary: Atwood Pleases Greatly!
Review: This was quite a satisfying read! As a huge fan of Margaret Atwood, I was impressed at the language and engaging story - this book reads like a more developed version of The Handmaid's Tale - very very good read!!!
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Summary: Science Run Amok
Review: I thought the Handmaid's Tale was disturbing! I think Margaret Atwood is one of our best contemporary authors and Oryx and Crake exemplifies her creative talents. The premise is eerily possible and makes you take a more serious look at bioengineering, cloning, etc. I found this to be a very important and also very disturbing book.
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