Oryx and Crake

By: Margaret Atwood

Narrated by: Campbell Scott

Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins

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 humour, 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

"Ingenious and disturbing.… A landmark work of speculative fiction, comparable to A Clockwork Orange, Brave New World.… Atwood has surpassed herself.”
–Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Oryx and Crake can hold its own against any of the 20th century’s most potent dystopias – Brave New World, 1984, The Space Merchants – with regard to both dramatic impact and fertility of invention.…Oryx and Crake showcases a nightmare version of the present era of globalization on a globe coming apart at its ecological seams.… It is a scathing (because bang-on) portrait of the way we live now.…Majestic.…” –Washington Post

“Atwood’s new masterpiece.…Extraordinary.… [Atwood pulls] back the curtain on her terrible vision with such tantalizing precision, its fearsome implications don’t fully reveal themselves until the final pages.… A darkly comic work of speculative fiction.” –W Magazine (U.S.)

Don't hesitate on selecting this one

Overall: I wish there were more stars to rate this.
Performance:
Campbell Scott's Excellent performance makes this one of my favorite audiobooks. I will be searching for his other audiobooks now that I am a fan of his.
Story:
The story is built around Jimmy AKA snowman- it all starts to make sense as you experience his post apocalyptic world through his real time survival and flashbacks ... there is an interesting element of his psychological make up which builds his character and his choices.

Great, but length felt short

If you could sum up Oryx and Crake in three words, what would they be?

No Winners Dystopia

Who was your favorite character and why?

Jimmy. Main character who didn't grow through the story as much as he revealed who he was and how he to where he is.

Which character – as performed by Campbell Scott – was your favorite?

Oryx - He didn't over do it.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

In the future, nature prevails.

Any additional comments?

I really enjoy Margaret Atwood as an author. Great, engaging writing. Campbell Scott is an excellent narrator.

Excellent

Another Atwood gee at, well narrated by Campbell Scott! I am looking forward to the rest of the series.

Propaganda Hyperbole Fallacy

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I did not finish this book. At the beginning it was intersting and I enjoyed it. But it slowly (very slowly) turned into a sermon about the evils of genetic engineering. I think the author's time would have been better spent writing letters to congressmen and newspapers to publicize her political views.

What was most disappointing about Margaret Atwood’s story?

I normally enjoy sci fi books that are cautionary tales or take us to alternate timelines but this allegory became a little too pointed. I felt the story's judgements and conclusions were being not only spoon fed to me, but that I was also being beaten over the head with the spoon.

Could you see Oryx and Crake being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

I imagine it could be. It would star a popular television evangelist and enron's upper management.

Any additional comments?

I am only so bitter because at the start I thought I really found a good book!

A nice journey but...

ends without any real satisfaction. The protagonist isn't especially likeable.

Oh, Snowman. I wish you had come to your senses, but instead you were a dull, pessimistic partner.

A Cautionary tale

Altwoods character development is superb. She wastes no time on super technology, its not needed. The character of snowman, our narrator, unfolds Altwoods apocalyptic vision with frightning overtones of "what is right around our corner." There is a quality of redemption involving Crake's children that gives us hope of a better tomorrow. Unfortunatly, that tomorrow may not include us!

A little slow in the middle

What did you love best about Oryx and Crake?

The story was fantastic, a little slow during the middle. The narrator was amazing as well. I went into this book without knowing anything other than the dystopian setting. I really loved it though.

What did you like best about this story?

Snowman's loneliness

Have you listened to any of Campbell Scott’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Jimmy, you're so funny.

Very interesting premise, macho narration

Unfortunately the main character is a bit of a loser, and disappointed me on occasion. He had, for example, the opportunity to create an entire creation myth/religion for a new race of humans, and takes this task on flippantly, lazily, not seriously, which I found rather pathetic. Ultimately I thought this was a good book, but it did not put me in a good mood, and the narrators voice seem inauthentically deep and hyper masculine to me.

Margaret Atwood has me hooked!

This story is relevant and upsetting- in the same captivating way that The Handmaid's Tale was. Lots of themes of sex slavery, so if that is something that troubles you to hear, pick another book. Overall captivating and engaging throughout!

sensational performance

Loved it, this is my first audio book, I wish to read the next book soon