Oryx and Crake

Publisher's Summary

A stunning and provocative new novel by the internationally celebrated author of The Blind Assassin, winner of the Booker Prize

Margaret Atwood’s new novel is so utterly compelling, so prescient, so relevant, so terrifyingly-all-too-likely-to-be-true, that listeners may find their view of the world forever changed after listening to it.

This is Margaret Atwood at the absolute peak of her powers. For listeners of Oryx and Crake, nothing will ever look the same again.

The narrator of Atwood's riveting novel calls himself Snowman. When the story opens, he is sleeping in a tree, wearing an old bedsheet, mourning the loss of his beloved Oryx and his best friend Crake, and slowly starving to death. He searches for supplies in a wasteland where insects proliferate and pigoons and wolvogs ravage the pleeblands, where ordinary people once lived, and the Compounds that sheltered the extraordinary. As he tries to piece together what has taken place, the narrative shifts to decades earlier. How did everything fall apart so quickly? Why is he left with nothing but his haunting memories? Alone except for the green-eyed Children of Crake, who think of him as a kind of monster, he explores the answers to these questions in the double journey he takes - into his own past, and back to Crake's high-tech bubble-dome, where the Paradice Project unfolded and the world came to grief. 

With breathtaking command of her shocking material, and with her customary sharp wit and dark humor, Atwood projects us into an outlandish yet wholly believable realm populated by characters who will continue to inhabit our dreams long after the last chapter. 

This is Margaret Atwood at the absolute peak of her powers.

©2002 O.W. Toad, Ltd. (P)2003 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic Reviews

"Absorbing...expertly rendered...Virtuosic storytelling [is] on display." (The New York Times) "Chesterton once wrote of the 'thousand romances that lie secreted in the Origin of the Species.' Atwood has extracted one of the most hair-raising of them all, and one of the most brilliant." (Publishers Weekly)

Very Scary Stuff

Atwood does her usual great job of not only telling a gripping tale, but of cautioning us about the costs of technology in terms of not only the effect on our planet, but also on our society. I haven't been this concerned about our future since I read Nature's End back in the 80's.

The story takes place in two times, one the "present" day, sometime in the not too distant future, and the other outlining how things got to where they are. The latter is told very close to a linear fashion, but Atwood mixes things up to match up with the present day story.

Campbell Scott (son of George C.) is disarmingly laid back in his reading, but I felt he captured the inner thinkings of Jimmy/Snowman perfectly. He is a very consistent reader, important as the book has several repeating themes.

I liked the book well enough that I stopped listening about 1.5 hours from the end, and started over to hear it with my wife on a recent car trip. It held up incredibly well, and in fact I found my enjoyment increasing as I was able to note foreshadowing I'd missed in the first listen.

Some have said the ending fizzles, but in truth the back story comes to a very satisfactory conclusion, while the current story ends with a moral dilemma. Some don't like books that don't end with a tidy bow, but I'm not among them. I was quite pleased with the ending overall, the only book I've read recently with an equally satisfying ending was Gaiman's American Gods.

The writing is tight and consistent, the reader does a great job, and the story is tense and rich in plot and characters. Highly recommended for anyone who likes a good story or is concerned about the costs of genetic engineering.

86 of 88 people found this review helpful

Exceptional Vision

Every once in a while an author comes along with an exceptional command of the language and a full understanding of what it takes to create the future based on threads of the past. This is one such book. Drawing on the rapidly evolving science of genetics and genetic research, Oryx and Crake revolves around a time in the future when the world has gone suddenly and powerfully wrong.
If you require an author to lay things out chronologically, be prepared to be disappointed. The book jumps its point of view from present to past, and often without a clear description of which is which. But it requires the listener to pay close attention.
The theme of the book is the basis for human and social interaction focusing on the relationship between sex and population, genetically engineered food and starvation. The subthemes running through the book (e.g., radical environmental groups) are almost as disturbing as the subject matter is interesting.
I loved this book, and I am not one to much like science fiction. But this book is as much a portrait of modern day corporate america as it is a projection of the future.
If you read through this book and are not engrossed and overcome at some point by the possibility of a world as described, then you are not paying close attention.
I thoroughly recommend this book.

41 of 43 people found this review helpful

Finally, I liked an Atwood book

Like many Canadians, I was "forced" to read Margaret Atwood books in high school. Sorry to say but I found her work boring, long-winded and depressing. It is also fair to say, Ms. Atwood does not like happy endings either.

I am thrilled to report Oryx and Crake is merely "depressing". The author succeeded in creating a realistic and rich image of the future gone bad. Depressing? Yes - as it should be.

Several reviewers have noted that the "flashbacks" in this book were distracting. I found them facinating. My challenge thoughout was to answer (as early as I could): "how did things get this way?".

Other have complained that the ending was weak. Perhaps it could have been more complete. But maybe the book ended on the first page. The future of the protagonistic "Snowman" may be less important than his legacy that will realized through his adopted "children".

I give the book 4/5 because of all the Atwood books I was forced to read 20 years ago. One mark off for past pain and suffering :-)

37 of 39 people found this review helpful

Brilliant Science Fiction

A brilliant work of science fiction by Margaret Atwood. This story is a future vision based on the evolution of genetic sciences. It revolves around two childhood friends, Jimmy and Glenn, later "Snowman" and "Crake," and their mutual obsession with a beautiful Asian girl, named "Oryx." The character development is superb, particularly that of Jimmy/Snowman, and Oryx. Every word in this story is important; there are no wasted moments. This novel elevates the form of science fiction to a new level. I highly recommend this audiobook.

108 of 116 people found this review helpful

The Subject Stays With You

I love Margaret Atwood as an author and was looking forward to reading another one of her books, even though the book title seemed a little odd. Also, the subject matter seemed a bit of a departure, but then I remembered The Handmaids Tale -- a fictional account of the future – and it is one of my very favorite books by Margaret Atwood

When I finished with Oryx and Crake, I was going to give it 4 stars, even though I loved it. However, it's been about 4 weeks since I finished and I STILL think of it's contents and portrayal of the future – news stories I hear and read, speeches from officials, CEO’s, etc., all make me think about this book! I think about How This Could Really Happen and, in fact, it seems we are on our way already -- and that it's not a far fetched concept at all. I think it’s an important book to read and it’s enjoyable to boot. Anytime one thinks about a book or movie long after it’s over, it deserves the higher mark!

16 of 17 people found this review helpful

Pretty good but...

Overall this was a good story, and it really made me think about possible futures for our society, which I suspect was the author's intent. The narrator was also good. What I didn't like about it was how much of the story relied on flashbacks. There was very little action that was occuring in the present. The ending was also a little disappointing, because it was a complete cliffhanger, so i'm not sure if she was leaving it open for a sequel or what. Overall, a pretty good book I suggest you listen to.

12 of 13 people found this review helpful

Mesmerizing

This is truly Atwood at her finest. I typically prefer to read such gems curled up on the couch, but I'm very glad I picked this one in audio format. Campbell Scott's reading is perfect, bewitching the reader right into the story.

10 of 11 people found this review helpful

A mediocre tale with a disappointing conclusion...

This book takes a raw look at the future, and it's not pretty. The story is a long narrative as told from the viewpoint of Snowman, a man trapped in a bleak fight for survival. I found the beginning of the book to be quite slow. The second half picked up nicely and put the pieces together well enough, though. The story and the author's view of future life on planet earth are disturbing because as with any good fictional work they are woven with so many threads of truth. Despite this, I did not find this to be a particularly good book. Now, I do not have to have my stories wrapped up and tied with a pretty bow, however the ending to this book takes that premise way too far. I found the book's conclusion very unsatisfying. Campbell Scott does a very good job of narrating and setting the tone for the story, but he can't raise this novel up from the mediocre.

15 of 17 people found this review helpful

Science Run Amok

Richard Hammond: "Welcome to Jurassic Park!" ...

Dr. Ian Malcolm: "God help us we're in the hands of engineers." ..."Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could they didn't stop to think if they should."

Oryx & Crake is like looking at our world through a horribly warped window -- corporate communities, bioengineering, tissue regeneration, and wild hybrids like *pigoons*, *rackunks*, *wolvogs*, and the delicious *chickienobs* (if you've eaten chicken nuggets...you never will again). Atwood again makes a powerful eloquent statement that won't sit well with all readers. Reminiscent of reading Brave New World, Robinson Crusoe, The Last Man, and Matheson surely must have read this book to write his I Am Legend. The ending, so problematic to readers, reminded me of the last scene in Planet of the Apes -- adapted from the French novel by Pierre Boulle -- an impactful scene that left more questions than answers.

I'm convinced that what Atwood has in her office, next to her typewriter and pads of paper, that no other author has is a crystal ball. Written in 2003 (and short-listed for the Booker award) this novel still is frighteningly accurate and prophetic, and if you don't think so just research GMO's, *Frankenfoods*, global warming, or even dig into the Monsanto company (which seems to be represented here with *OrganInc Farms*). I found that the advantage to reading this book 10 yrs. after it was published is being able to read so many good reviews, ranging from 5* to 1*, and putting them in perspective. This is a novel that will impact people very differently, and while it wasn't my favorite Atwood book, it was intriguing and left me looking at the world differently, and I do recommend to readers that like a bleak, but intelligent apocalyptic experience. Thought-provoking look at science run totally amok, with a healthy dose of Freud's Eros and Thanatos thrown in just to mess with your head.

Dr. Ian Malcolm: ..."The complete lack of humility for nature that's being displayed here is staggering."

35 of 41 people found this review helpful

A unique surprise

I really liked this one! It was my first Margaret Atwood selection and it definitely won't be the last. The story jumps around a bit but not to the point where it was confusing - it kept me guessing and trying to determine how the heck the character got into the predicament he was in. I found myself wondering what I would've done in his situation - if society collapsed and I was tasked with explaining life on earth to "newcomers"........ well, the possibilities boggle the mind. The commentary on modern technology and the implications of messing with our genetic makeup in a quest to achieve human perfection is handled beautifully in this story - everyone has that line they won't cross but everyone's line is in a different place so where do we stop? Slavery and abuse of those who cannot defend themselves is disgusting - but it is plausible that the victims actually believe the abusers are protecting them. Lots of thought-provoking, entertaining writing and a great narrator - an easy recommendation for Oryx and Crake.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful