Set in a dystopian future, "Oryx and Crake" tells the story of how the world was all but destroyed from the perspective of Snowman a.k.a. Jimmy, whose best friend Crake is the person responsible for that destruction. Through flashbacks, Snowman recalls what led up to Crake's decision to obliterate mankind and populate the new earth with genetically engineered creatures known as The children of Crake. The book bounces back and forth between a dystopia and a post-apocalyptic setting, using flashbacks and oblique references to narrate a story that challenges beliefs and ideas ingrained in society. Margaret Atwood crafts a well-written science fiction morality play that does not dumb down the story with exposition or hokey explanations, asking big questions without answering them directly.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings for Oryx and Crake include themes of genetic engineering, child pornography, violence, and the aftermath of an apocalyptic plague.
From The Publisher:
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Handmaid's Tale
Oryx and Crake is at once an unforgettable love story and a compelling vision of the future. Snowman, known as Jimmy before mankind was overwhelmed by a plague, is struggling to survive in a world where he may be the last human, and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake, and the beautiful and elusive Oryx whom they both loved. In search of answers, Snowman embarks on a journey-with the help of the green-eyed Children of Crake-through the lush wilderness that was so recently a great city, until powerful corporations took mankind on an uncontrolled genetic engineering ride. Margaret Atwood projects us into a near future that is both all too familiar and beyond our imagining.
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7 comment(s)
i know atwood doesn't want to call this science fiction for some reasons
but it's science fiction
it's about a dystopian future in which corporations have created a caste system
(and possibly taken over the government)
and they are forging ahead with science to alter humans and everything else genetically
this book is ultimately about the tension between science and art
jimmy, known as snowman after the apocalypse, was a smart kid raised in a corporate compound who wasn't the science genius his father wanted; he's more of a words guy
he treasures words, keeps lists of them in his head, and tries to hold onto them after a man-made plague has killed most of humanity
he gets a job in advertising, using words to sell the potions and miracle cures made by the scientists
crake, jimmy's childhood friend, is a science/math genius who goes on to be at the top of the best corporations doing the science to make everyone young, beautiful, and healthy forever
crake looks down on poetry, on what we would call "the humanities"
but as he grows in power, he becomes interested in what the humanities address: the meaning of life, the nature of humanity, how to move towards utopia, relationships and how they affect society
problem: crake don't care about what philosophers, poets, and artists have to say about this, he just wants to play god
so he has all this power, making Blysspluss at the RejuvenEssence compound (fake words) and he decides to use it to change the nature of humanity
he decides science knows enough about humans to iron out the problems that lead to war, famine, overpopulation, all problems current in his world
jimmy, who survives the plague and holds on desperately to beautiful words while his memory erodes, tells the story of how he and crake grew up and got to these different places
i'm so glad this turned into a trilogy so i can see what the heck happens next
I would categorize this book as a "Sci-fiction" book.
This books shows a possibility of life on earth if certain things happened which in turn may lead to the fate of mankind t start over with a new path.
Oryx and Crake are normal humans but with some abnormal ideas on evolution of mankind. They want a better world , a better human, a better livelihood. And Snowman is the only one who's left to see that part and to judge on the creation of Oryx and Crake.
I loved some of the quotes like-
"Toast is me.I am toast."
"It was Crake preserving his dignity, because the alternative would have been losing it."
“She liked to keep only the bright side of herself turned towards him. She liked to shine.”
and all the quotes on Crake's fridge magnets :)
Oryx and Crake has an interesting dystopian premise, where genetic engineering has taken over every aspect of life - from food to pets to staying young etc. The narrative is told through flashbacks and the present day situation.
However I did not enjoy it because I found it too dragged out in the middle. I could not visualise Oryx at all, despite her being the titular character. I have read Margaret Atwood previously and she really writes female characters very well, so this came as a surprise to me.
The story picks up pace towards the end and things come together, I stuck till the end to know how both the storylines converge but ended up feeling slightly disappointed. Will definitely give the next 2 books in the trilogy a miss.
I think I missed out of the mind blowing, world shattering revelations that other people had when they read the book. I thought it was very interesting how Atwood was so on point with her predictions of the future back in 2003 - the world is steadily heading to this predicted world, but that really doesn't make the book more interesting. This book is so one note and bland or maybe I have fallen prey to the desensitization of the modern world to violence. Who knows at this point. Maybe I think its bland because I feel like I have already read this world in all the other sci-fi books and this was the original one that inspired the rest.
The novel may have fallen flat for me because it was plot driven rather than character driven but there were some wonderful lines in the book that really stood out to me.
Maybe Jimmy could never get far enough away from his father to see all the parts at once.
The line about Blood and Roses was also wonderful.
the Blood player usually won, but winning meant you inherited a wasteland.
Overall a good book, but not one I will likely read again or continue down the trilogy. It feels like a book I would enjoy post-reading for school after analyzing and picking it a part to the point where I only remember my favourite parts.
Solid ScfFi, but not compelled to read next books
Readers should be aware that there is a very detailed description of a child being forced to do porn.
The ending at first was unsatisfactory, but I ended up really liking the ambiguity. Good book! Nice and depressing, the way I like it.
What can you read after
Oryx and Crake?
About the Author:
Margaret Atwood, whose work has been published in more than forty-five countries, is the author of more than fifty books of fiction, poetry, critical essays, and graphic novels.
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