Margaret Atwood: Oryx And Crake

[Ell]

I'm not sure you could call me a fan of her work, but I am intrigued by her writing, I have to admit. Do you perhaps have some more suggestions?

Here's an old Margaret Atwood thread with a few suggestions. The membership has changed since then so if you resurrect it you may get some new input.

I still stand by my favourite, The Blind Assassin but it may not be everyone's cup of tea.

Back to Oryx and Crake:
Ions, I did think about KFC with those 'chickens' -- makes me shudder every time I think about it.

I originally read a library copy but recently bought a brand new hard cover from a bargain table at Chapters. Will need to re-read it soon.

Atwood did a remarkable job showing a world that, given the path our society is on, seems quite plausible. Mega-corporations, genetic manipulation, even the 'gated communities' -- she's got it all there. That's probably what scared the **it out of me when I first read it. We're getting very, very close to the Oryx and Crake world. I just wonder who the real-world Crake might be.

ell

 

[ions]

I'm not sure you could call me a fan of her work, but I am intrigued by her writing, I have to admit. Do you perhaps have some more suggestions?

The Blind Assasin won her the Man Booker Prize in 2000. Like I said earlier it will be the next book of hers I read. Having not read any other of her books I can't say personally which are better but critically I don't think she's written a dud. I presume you're pretty safe in getting a good novel when you pick an Atwood.

 

[ions]

I originally read a library copy but recently bought a brand new hard cover from a bargain table at Chapters. Will need to re-read it soon.

Where I got mine as well.

Atwood did a remarkable job showing a world that, given the path our society is on, seems quite plausible. Mega-corporations, genetic manipulation, even the 'gated communities' -- she's got it all there. That's probably what scared the **it out of me when I first read it. We're getting very, very close to the Oryx and Crake world. I just wonder who the real-world Crake might be.

ell

Those of us in the Pleeblands would likely never know who Crake was. I completely agree with you about how close we are to the world Atwood created. Never once did common sense tell me a scenario was too farfetched.

 

[lies]

Here's an old Margaret Atwood thread with a few suggestions. The membership has changed since then so if you resurrect it you may get some new input.

Oh thanks. Will bump it in a moment.

 

[MonkeyCatcher]

I have just finished this book and I really loved it.

This novel was one of the best novels that I have read this year. Make that ever. Definately a novel that lives up to its hype and deserves its place as one of the best sci-fi/fantasy novel of all time.

I really liked the build-up of anticipation regarding what happened to turn the earth into such a desolate place. She manages to keep the secret until right at the end without losing the reader's interest, as the rest of the novel is compelling and extremely interesting, even though some things don't make sense until further information is revealed throughout the book.

The thing that made this book a winner for me, however, were all the GE experiments/inventions. The novel is filled with highly imaginitive creatures, plants and technology, which always kept me entertained with their original and extremely entertaining features and behaviours. I found the in-depth description of these creations to be very interesting, especially the detail about the Crakers.

I think that you are on to something about Snowman being Crake's pawn from the start. I notice that Crake was quite interested in the idea of extinction from the very start - playing the game non-stop and all that - and I'm sure that a super-brain like Crake would have picked up Jimmy's interest in oryx right from the get-go. While I was reading I also got the feeling that Oryx just wasn't /normal/, like she was some kind of robot. Her placidness just reminded me so much of an emotionless droid, and some of her comments just seemed odd and definately not human. I also noticed that she displayed many of the traits that Crake wanted for his Crakers - placidness, beauty, no sense of attachment, the strive for world peace, and sexual freedom - which possibly point towards the fact that Crake did indeed create her.

 

[ions]

I never considered Crake being Oryx's creation. Not sure I buy that. I considered Oryx's demeanour to be a result of experience as a young child. While she showed little emotion to what happened to her she never let the conversation focus or dwell on these things.

 

[ions]

I never considered Crake being Oryx's creation. Not sure I buy that. I considered Oryx's demeanour to be a result of experience as a young child. While she showed little emotion to what happened to her she never let the conversation focus or dwell on these things.

Uhhh. Just rearrange that so it makes sense.

 

[Billy]

I was supposed to read this book, so I could discuss it with some friends, but I was never able to finish it. I really didn't like it much at all, story-wise. I like the way she wrote it and thought that she captured the male persona perfectly.

The friends I was supposed to discuss it with loved it. It was only myself and one other who didn't like it.

I was told by a friend I work with that her other books are great, so I do intend to read them at some point.

 

[Ronny]

I just now finished and will probably think over this book for awhile, but I really liked it and it left me with a lot of things to ponder

Yup, i agree with you Ell, i think that Crake used Oryx to manipulate Jimmy, and that it was probably his plan for many years.

Not sure about what happened at the end though, how i hate incomplete endings I figure that his overwhelming drive is to protect the Crakers, so he probably gunned them down to prevent any future threat, but i wouldnt be surprised if he topped himself afterwards ... i got the impression he was dying from the infection anyway.

Phil

This is what I thought happened in the end, too. He had already decided the crakers didn't need him anymore and he was very sick. He wouldn't leave them to take their chances with the strangers that had shown up. I also thought that Crake had planned out Jimmy's encounters with Oryx (I'm undecided on if he made or altered her in any way) I think that maybe Crake realized that Jimmy would be more inclined to care for the crakers if Oryx asked him. I think that Crake had planned everything out just as it happened, including Jimmy killing him.

Atwood did a remarkable job showing a world that, given the path our society is on, seems quite plausible. Mega-corporations, genetic manipulation, even the 'gated communities' -- she's got it all there. That's probably what scared the **it out of me when I first read it. We're getting very, very close to the Oryx and Crake world. I just wonder who the real-world Crake might be.

I think that's what I really liked in a spooky way about the book is it never really told you when this all was taking place and you could see so much of it starting to happen now that it was really creepy.

 

[-Carlos-]

I have mixed feeling about Atwood’s Oryx and Crake. Maybe my objections might stem from the fact that, excluding the King’s masterpiece, The Dark Tower series, I am not (really) a Sci-Fi nut. The writing and creativity in this novel is grand; and the characters are interesting, but the story itself is just fine, fair. There is nothing-special here folks, in my view. I do have other Atwood novels (The Blind Assassin, Alias Grace, The Robber Bride, and The Handmaid's Tale) on the agenda so I am not giving up on Atwood just yet. I'm just unimpressed by Oryx and Crake. I was eager to read Atwood for the first time, but the novel fell flat (for me). I give it three stars:




_

 

[angerball]

It's been a few years since I read Oryx and Crake, and I don't recall being all that blown away by it. I do remember being surprised by the ending, though. Then again, I wasn't a huge fan of The Handmaid's Tale, which is sort of seen as in the same vein.

AquaBlue, can I recommend Alias Grace as your next Atwood book? That one is my favourite of hers, and the first Atwood I read.

 

[-Carlos-]

It's been a few years since I read Oryx and Crake, and I don't recall being all that blown away by it. I do remember being surprised by the ending, though. Then again, I wasn't a huge fan of The Handmaid's Tale, which is sort of seen as in the same vein.

AquaBlue, can I recommend Alias Grace as your next Atwood book? That one is my favourite of hers, and the first Atwood I read.

I have a list of novels I will read in order. Note the link below. I will read Atwood in this order: The Handmaid’s Tale, The Blind Assassin, Alias Grace, and The Robber Bride.