The Year of the Flood

By: Margaret Atwood

Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne, Katie MacNichol, Mark Bramhall

Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

The long-awaited new novel from Margaret Atwood. The Year of the Flood is a dystopic masterpiece and a testament to her visionary power. The times and species have been changing at a rapid rate, and the social compact is wearing as thin as environmental stability. Adam One, the kindly leader of the God's Gardeners - a religion devoted to the melding of science and religion, as well as the preservation of all plant and animal life - has long predicted a natural disaster that will alter Earth as we know it. Now it has occurred, obliterating most human life. Two women have survived: Ren, a young trapeze dancer locked inside the high-end sex club Scales and Tails, and Toby, a God's Gardener barricaded inside a luxurious spa where many of the treatments are edible.

Have others survived? Ren's bioartist friend Amanda? Zeb, her eco-fighter stepfather? Her onetime lover, Jimmy? Or the murderous Painballers, survivors of the mutual-elimination Painball prison? Not to mention the shadowy, corrupt policing force of the ruling powers...

Meanwhile, gene-spliced life forms are proliferating: The lion/lamb blends, the Mo'hair sheep with human hair, the pigs with human brain tissue. As Adam One and his intrepid hemp-clad band make their way through this strange new world, Ren and Toby will have to decide on their next move. They can't stay locked away...

By turns dark, tender, violent, thoughtful, and uneasily hilarious, The Year of the Flood is Atwood at her most brilliant and inventive.

©2009 Margaret Atwood (P)2009 Random House

Outstanding!

As always her stories are imaginative and dark. Wish the ending was more complete but a wonderful journey.

Love!

Not crazy about the music, but the story, performance, and the lyrics are fantastic! One of my favorite books!

What happened before and what happens next

Would you try another book from Margaret Atwood and/or the narrators?

This book provides insights into the story behind the story of Oryx and Crake and will leave the reader wanting more answers to what happens next. All I can say is I wish this book had come sooner.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Year of the Flood?

Our desire to look and feel younger, eat whatever we want as much as we want, do what we want, but all at a cost to whom; ourselves ultimately. Margaret Atwood paints an image of our current society and what may be in store if we refuse to see the bigger picture. I found the behaviour of the pigoons was very disquieting.

Which scene was your favorite?

Once Toby is reunited with Ren, knowing she is no longer alone she gains the strength needed to continue. Toby and Ren can set out together and find the others.

Was The Year of the Flood worth the listening time?

This was a fantastic listen and well worth it. Learning the characters stories and what brought them to where they are was gripping.

Any additional comments?

My only disappointment is that Oryx and Crake is not available on Audible so that I could enjoy it as well. I read it some years ago and would not like to listen to it. This book is better understood together with Oryx and Crake and not as a stand alone but just as enjoyable.

Weird

I got this title recommended to me from a friend... Needless to say I will not take her recommendations anymore. It is nothing less than weird. The story and plot go in so many directions. From a weird sex clan to people being made into burgers. Just no.

Slow and sometimes confusing

Interesting concept for the story. The book moved painfully slow at times. Narration was good, but I could have done without the songs.

Interesting...

The "sermons" were OK, as they helped to understand the "Gardeners," but I could've done without the hymns that were sung.

Audio skipped and weird singing parts

Could have done without the songs after Adam 1 spoke. They were a bit out of place. Also the audio was a bit skippy in parts.

Dystopian future expanded

In this worthy second volume of a trilogy Atwood greatly expands and changes the narrative that she began in Oryx and Crake. In this volume we get a range of characters (Wren, Toby, and members of the Gardeners) each of whom has a new perspective. This serves to flesh out a story that in the first volume was told exclusively through the eyes of Snowman/Jimmy. To make this even more explicit, this audiobook has three narrators. I just have to say that one of the kooky delights of this book is the singing of Adam One's songs--they sound like the really schmaltzy Christian rock of my youth but the lyrics are the words of an eco cultist leader.

Unlike the first volume though there is more satire. As each narrator tells their story, Atwood seems to be taking pokes at our organic obsessed modern culture. Other bits that get their share of jibes, are the strippers and their wealthy clients, and the general culture of sex commercialism. I think Atwood has a very realistic and healthy perspective on the kinds of people who inhabit those worlds (strippers, prostitutes, voyeurs, and the like). None of the writing seems in the least mean-spirited or shallow.

The characters become very real--Amanda in the first volume just the one time girlfriend is actually realized in this book as an actual, three dimensional character with a backstory and nuance. Toby is the strong survivor character and Wren (I presume this is the spelling but I don't have a copy of the print book) is likable but kind of weak. And yes, Jimmy and Glen show up too. So the pandemic that is seen through the eyes of the lone survivor in the first book turns out to have more survivors but true victims as well.

This is a strong book and even though the story is an expansion and continuation of the first book, it can be read (or listened to) as a stand alone as well. But it is more richly enjoyed I think when paired with the first book and I now look forward to Monday when I will get the third book, Madadam.

The songs have got to go!

Overall good performance but the added songs were just painful. I ended up fast forwarding through most of the sermons and all of the songs.

did not lile the music!

Great book but I could not stand the music at the end of almost every chapter..it drove me nuts!