Rating: 
Summary: This is not a Science Fiction, but an etymologist's lament
Review: There have been so many excellent reviews here, so I don't intend to repeat the praises, just make a comment. It seems that those negative reviews did emphasize on the doomed-to-be-shallow science fictions and the lack-the-depth-or-struggle characters here, namely Crake, Jimmy, or Oryx. Yes, it is a point, but not the whole point. Even those emphasizing on the linear and unplausible plot do miss a point Atwood wants to say. In a way this is not only a sociologist's fantasy or an ecologists's fear, but also a literator's tremble and an etymologist's lamment. Fungible, pullulate, pistic, cerements, trull. Windlestraw, laryngeal, banshee, woad. I don't think there will be many readers who recognize all of these words without looking up the dictionary. If the disappearance of these words is natural, why not other words? Only after that can we know Jimmy, a man of literature-oriented, doomed to be a useless junk in a science-is-the-supreme-criterion world. This is the sorrow of Jimmy, and also the sorrow of Atwood.
Rating: 
Summary: Time Well Spent
Review: This book was quite a bit different than the usual Margaret Atwood novels and this is primarily because this is a work of science fiction. I did not particularly enjoy her other work from the science fiction genre, "The Handmaid's Tale". However, I understand that that book was one of Atwood's most popular works probably because it was a favorite among feminists. I doubt feminists would find much to relate to in this book unless it was how men have managed to finally screw everything up completely. I have never been much of a fan of science fiction but I admit that it reads better when a writer of Atwood's skills is the author. This book starts out a bit confusing and left me unsure if I should re-read the first 20 or so pages to try and figure out what was going on. However, I soon found myself in the groove of the novel and was able to piece things together as I went along. I believe this is how Atwood meant it to be as she shifts back and forth in time. We begin with what seems like an armageddon scenario and, by the end of the book, understand how it came to be. The author seems to have a fixation on how genetic engineering will be the cause of the fall of mankind. Essentially, the message is passed along that, if we create a health system that preserves us all, then we'll have to find some other way to destroy ourselves. (At least that's what I got out of the book). Along the way, Atwood has her usual keen insight to how we all interact with one another as well as how our inner thoughts seem to work. I admit that I was left wondering if I had missed a bigger theme but I was content with the one I detected. To my knowledge, Margaret Atwood has never written a bad book although I never read her poetry or essays. Sometimes the story line isn't as interesting or absorbing as others but there is always a lot to pick up on along the way. This book got better as I kept reading but then it ended rather abruptly. I believe the author left it up to us to figure out the way it should properly end. Read it and see what you think.
Rating: 
Summary: unconvincing lead character
Review: The lead character was poorly contrived and did not seem convincing on psychological, social, or behavioral levels. In other words, he didn't really "come alive" for me as a character. This is a fatal weakness, as the novel is centered around him and his thoughts/observations are the only ones we read. Her other novel have more fleshed out and convincing characters.
The novel was filled with descriptions of his actions and thoughts, but they just seemed like words on a page, with little apparent motivation. There are also long sections of subpar and longwinded descriptions of a dismal future of environmental disasters and genetic engineering gone amuck.
My opininon of Atwood as a novelist is that in terms of style, imagery, etc. she is (usually) quite good. Her ability to convincingly create characters with different personalities, rather than situations, is quite a bit poorer. Her characters and other novels usually have the same persona (usually well characterized); I could see the woman from "cat's eye" turning out the same as the the main character in "the blind assassin" if they were switched at an early enough age. Also,it sometimes appears that she is a propogandist rather than a revealer of her particular world view, esp. on women and their relationships to men and society. However, one could make that argument about many writers and their choice of topic Perhaps Oryx and Crake was her attempt to break out and try to create a character that was different from the others on a more radical level. I can't say that it was very enjoyable--it seems the literary equivalent of the successful stand-up comedian who wants to play Hamlet.
Rating: 
Summary: "lite"-lit.--most disappointing Atwood yet
Review: I was disappointed for largely the same reasons as other reviewers: Oryx and Crake is uninspiring literature. Even on the level of just "story", I would opt for Jurassic Park for gripping narrative and vivid imagination. If I read Atwood, Golding, Grasse or others that I consider accomplished "literary" writers, I look for an aesthetic pleasure. Oryx and Crake just plods; there is little beyond the events and a few clever (and distracting) neologisms to carry one along. I wouldn't even take it on the plane for a good read.
Rating:
Summary: Good soft science fiction
Review: Though Atwood has said that she does not write science fiction, I believe that this book proves that statement to be misleading. To me this book is an excellent example of well-written soft science fiction. The story's somewhat disjointed narrative works well to evoke the narrator's jumbled memories of the events leading to the decimation of the human population. The character of Oryx doesn't seem very well fleshed out, and there is the sense that she just functions as a narrative jumping off point for the changing relationship between Snowman and Crake, but as a whole, the characters were still believable to me. Atwood doesn't describe the science used in much depth, and what she does explain is a bit questionable in places, but I found the story to be very effective and literate nonetheless. And the pigoons freaked me out.
Rating: 
Summary: Worst Atwood Yet
Review: Atwood is my favorite author. Personally, this novel is her worst - almost as bad as her poetry. Less than half way through, I just didn't care what would happen to the main character and the ending left me without feeling. Atwood has wonderful talent for delving into humanity and psychological realism, but Oryx and Crake was minimal in these areas. She seemed to have left the novel incomplete and without purpose. It has no point and didn't do a good job of having no point! Try Cat's Eye!
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: One of the year's best novels for 2003
Review: ORYX AND CRAKE by Margaret Atwood Shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2003, ORYX AND CRAKE is Margaret Atwood's most apocalyptic story to date. For those of you who have read THE HANDMAID'S TALE, ORYX AND CRAKE is a lot more grim and depressing, in terms of the plight of the human race. It may be a challenge for some to get through this book. Those who are fans of Science Fiction and Speculative Fiction, however, may embrace this novel as I did. It is probably one of the best novels written by Margaret Atwood. There are two main themes in ORYX AND CRAKE. First, the novel takes place in the distant future, where global warming has changed the earth so much that the coastal cities no longer exist, and New York is now New New York. Going outside in the sun is a death sentence, so the wealthier areas of the world are protected under places known as compounds, although areas known as The Pleebands still exist, where people live and are still exposed to nature in all its glory. The second major plot line has to do with three central characters. Snowman is the narrator, also known as Jimmy, who at the start of the book is the only known surviving human being on the face of the planet. The book starts off with Snowman sleeping in a tree, barely alive, knowing that he does not have too much longer to live. Food is scarce, the sun is so hot he has blisters all over his body, and the genetically engineered creatures the wolvogs and the pigoons that have escaped are now roaming the grounds. While he tries to keep alive, Snowman also keeps watch over a group of humanoid creatures called the Crakers, named after his "best" friend Crake, who was somehow responsible over the creation of these people. These Crakers are supposedly the ideal humans. They have no emotional desires, in particular no sex drives, except to pro-create. There is no reason for war, with this new type of human being. They are vegetarians, and do not desire meat. They are very simple people, and Snowman had promised to care for them if anything happened to Crake. As Snowman goes back in time to reflect on the past, we learn more about Crake, who was an egotistical brilliant young man who had visions of a so-called better world. The third main character is Oryx, a woman whose history takes the reader to a third world Asian country where she was sold into a type of servitude, and eventually becomes a prostitute. She then finds her way to the western world and ends up working with Crake, becoming part of his plan when he creates the Crakers. Their story is revealed in pieces, told while Snowman goes on an adventure to find food and seek out the compound where it had all began. Snowman wants to go back to this place, hoping to find answers and food and supplies, and to remember the reasons why the human race was nearly obliterated. It's the story of these three and their lopsided relationship that leads us to answers of why the world "ended". The new concepts and horrors that are being introduced in the book may overwhelm the reader. However, the most important theme to focus on is "what really happened"? Why is Snowman the only person left on the planet? What happened to Oryx and Crake? This is what drove me to finish this book. I could not put it down. The reader is left in the dark until the very end, when it is finally revealed how the human race was nearly wiped out. It is a very futuristic and depressing story of how mankind can go wrong in the search of a better world. I have always had a fascination with books that take on a type of apocalyptic theme. Margaret Atwood's vision of the earth's future is not a pretty sight, but it was her story of Oryx, Crake and Snowman that made the book worthwhile. I am giving this book 5 stars, and it will most likely be in my top 5 for 2003.
Rating:
Summary: A Fascinating Modern-Day Frankenstein - Great SciFi!
Review: In ORYX AND CRAKE, Margaret Atwood has once again used her unique brand of storytelling to create a disturbing alternative reality which explores controversial scientific issues such as genetic engineering and bioterrorism. This is an well-written dystopian tale that only leaves the readers with a glimmer of hope regarding the fate of humanity. By exploring the god-like role often assumed by the scientific community, Margaret Atwood effectively asks "Why is it he feels that some line has been crossed, some boundary transgressed? How much is too much, how far is too far?" (p.206, Hardcover Edition). Weird, yet uniquely intriguing!
Rating:
Summary: Stunningly disappointing
Review: After reading reviews of Oryx and Crake I was eagerly anticipating reading this novel by such a highly acclaimed author. I was stunningly disappointed by the poor quality of this novel. I have read Margaret Atwood's novels in the past and have enjoyed them. Did the reviewers really read this one? The book reads more like a grade school creative writing project. I am truly dumbfounded.
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