Oryx and Crake

448 pages

English language

Published Sept. 12, 2013 by Little, Brown Book Group Limited.

ISBN:
978-0-349-00406-8
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4 stars (16 reviews)

Oryx and Crake is a 2003 novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. She has described the novel as speculative fiction and adventure romance, rather than pure science fiction, because it does not deal with things "we can't yet do or begin to do", yet goes beyond the amount of realism she associates with the novel form. It focuses on a lone character called Snowman, who finds himself in a bleak situation with only creatures called Crakers to keep him company. The reader learns of his past, as a boy called Jimmy, and of genetic experimentation and pharmaceutical engineering that occurred under the purview of Jimmy's peer, Glenn "Crake". The book was first published by McClelland and Stewart. It was shortlisted for the 2003 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, as well as for the 2004 Orange Prize for Fiction. Oryx and Crake is the first of the MaddAddam trilogy, followed by …

8 editions

reviewed Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (The Maddaddam trilogy Series, #1)

Review of 'Oryx and Crake' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

The things I liked: Atwood's writing (natch), the chilling plausibility of corporate evil bringing about our demise, Alex the parrot

The things I didn't like: the somewhat dated tech references (as if it were difficult at the time this was written the obsolescence of the CD-ROM), the corporate names (the compound words and capitalizations didn't really make sense), the shallowness of all the characters, and most importantly the underdevelopment of the relationship between Oryx and Jimmy.

As an Atwood fan, I was really disappointed by this book; as a sci-fi fan I was as well. I liked a lot of the concepts presented, but I felt like she could have done a better treatment of this whole book all around. Only her beautiful writing and humor, along with the relevance of the biotech (and its potentially ugly outcomes), save this from a 2-star review.

reviewed Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (The Maddaddam trilogy Series, #1)

Review of 'Oryx and Crake' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Like A Handmaid's Tale and mumble's Mumble Mumble Mumble, Oryx and Crake is a dystopian novel exploring the post-apocalyptic future of sex and the human race by following a small number of characters very closely.

In this case, the main character appears to be the only member of homo sapiens left alive, and the sole caretaker of a new human-like species, the Children of Crake, genetically re-engineered to be peaceful, happy, naturally insect-repellant vegans perfectly suited to their environment. The book focuses on the main character's life, from childhood, through his friendship with the aforementioned Crake and later with Oryx, eventually building up to the catastrophe that left him the last man on earth, victim and friend of a genius and a madman.

The first 2/3 of the book or so goes very quickly -- she starts you off at 90% of the way through the story, and the …