Oryx and Crake
by Margaret Atwood
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Book Summary Information
Author: Margaret AtwoodEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-05
ISBN: 0385721676
Number of pages: 376
Publisher: Anchor
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780385721677
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Oryx and Crake
Book Review: Excellent potential, much gone to waste.
Summary: 3 Stars
ORYX AND CRAKE is an engaging, compelling piece of work that ultimately is at its best when it is exploring not the problems of humanity, but the potential solutions.
The structure of the novel is fairly interesting, if not entirely revolutionary. It begins in the 'present' - a truly post-apocalyptic world where, as far as the reader can tell, a man calling himself 'Snowman' is truly the last human being on the planet. The book proceeds to describe Snowman's childhood (where his original name of Jimmy is used), with the occasional chapter returning to the future where the main character must contend with this new world. The majority of the book is spent in the past, a retrospective of Jimmy's life and his relationship with a young man named Crake - who is apparently the one responsible for the destruction of humanity. The entirety of the book also references a girl named Oryx, who at first is an enigma, but eventually is revealed as another central character.
ORYX AND CRAKE starts of extremely well, because it focuses on the book's strongest element, its setting. The idea of being the absolute last person on earth is something that few writers dare approach, and for good reason. Yet the reader really becomes engaged in Atwood's frightening new world as Snowman clumsily attempts to survive, scavenging from the wreckage of humanity. His misery is palpable, as he must constantly face the fact that the entirety of his knowledge is now obsolete. In one passage, he entertains the idea of keeping a journal, but then realizes that even he were to do so, no one would be able to read it, ever. This element is pushed even further by the fact that Snowman is surrounded by what he calls 'Crakers'; a new man-made species somewhat resembling humanity that has only existed for several years. They approach Snowman seeking knowledge, but the seperation of the human world and the new one is often too great to overcome (were they to ask what a toaster was, Snowman would have to explain to them bread, which would in turn require explanations of wheat, flour, baking, ovens, fire, heat, etc.) These interactions, in addition to Snowman's entire situation, could result in a great many contradictions for a lesser writer. Yet Atwood handles herself admirably, cleverly avoiding falling into one of the many traps that this kind of setting presents.
Yet despite the obvious energy that went into Snowman's existence, the meat of the book is dedicated to his young life as the boy Jimmy. Jimmy's world is a near-future that is far closer to the present we live in, with a few obvious changes. Major corporations have set up self contained communities refered to as Compounds, where their employees work and live, in exchange for being provided with their physical needs. Jimmy lives in one of these compounds with his mother and father. His life is regimented and comfortable, thanks to extreme security on the part of his father's employer, a biotech firm. Outside of the compounds, cities still exist, only now they are referred to as Pleeblands and suffer from rampant crime, illness, and terrible economy.
Jimmy's story begins as one might expect, establishing his world and the characters in it. Having read reviews for the book, the reader will find this setting comes as little surprise. The people in the compounds are cowed and complacent, often refusing to question authority, or merely accepting the benefits despite the obvious philosophical and social ramifications. Entertainment has become wildly banal, as the young Jimmy spends most of his time watching child pornography and public executions. Neither of his parents seem to really care about him, displaying only half-hearted attempts at parenting that are obviously more about fulfilling some status quo than actual love. Essentially, everyone is desensitised, selfish, and bored.
The plot really starts moving when Jimmy meets the young genius Crake. At first they seem much the same, but their paths quickly diverge as it becomes obvious that Crake is truly remarkable and Jimmy is merely 'normal'. Jimmy likes Crake well enough, but Snowman makes a point to explain that the Crake he knew was never real, but merely a mask that Crake wore for everyone else's benefit. As such, they rarely interact on a very personal level, and whenever a conflict arises between the two, Jimmy is generally crushed by Crake's superior knowledge and debating skills.
Yet at the same time, this is also where the book starts fall apart. The relationship between Jimmy and Crake is integral to the understanding of the characters, but truth be told they never really develop one. Regardless of what Atwood may have been trying to imply between the two, it never really seems like they speak an honest word to each other, as Jimmy is generally occupied with anger and self-loathing, while Crake is scheming behind all his false words. And when the girl Oryx is finally introduced during the mens' twenties, the possibility of using her as a catalyst for some form of character developement slides by, almost completely unrealized.
And all of this wouldn't be so bad if these characters weren't so damn compelling. Oryx's damaged psyche would provide an excellent looking glass with which to view her surroundings, but it's never turned on either of the two main characters. Crake's motives are mysterious, but their lack of explanation leads the reader to question wether or not Atwood knew what they truly were. And Jimmy spends far too much time mired in his overly hedonistic childhood, while his older self, as well as his Snowman counterpart, are left behind.
The latter end of the book follows Jimmy's early adulthood, as he is seperated and eventually reunited with Crake. Oryx finally comes into the story in full, but again the relationship between these three characters is fairly minimal, and a comparatively scant amount of time is spent on the adulthood of these three before Crake's plan is set into motion and we are brought to the end of the book, which is somewhat unsatisfying despite its promise.
It's obvious that Atwood had a message in mind, yet too often it overwhelms the characters when the should have had the chance to grow. If it had been applied with a bit more subtlety, the characters could have been explored and their decisions would feel human instead of calculated by the author.
Yet it's understandable that Atwood allowed her messages to run away with her, as most of them could occupy a book entirely by themselves. The obsession with progress regardless of cost, the ever-widening gray area between right and wrong in the field of medicine, the desire for entertainment over personal growth, the increasing social power of corporations, the increasingly specific and limited knowledge belonging to the individual, and the question of what makes humans human are merely SOME of the themes addressed in Atwood's novel. And kudos to her for managing to touch on them often while still propelling a narrative, which seems almost impossible when examining the scope of her novel.
However, when reading a novel, I expect something that holds together in a concise and effective manner, which this book ultimately fails to do. It is a mess of ideas that, no matter how intriguing, detract from what actually happens in the story, and cause the reader to feel as if the book didn't mean much at all. And unfortunately for Atwood, Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 manages to do what she does better, and still be more relevant despite its age. One wishes that Atwood had taken more cues from 451 and chosen to make the book more centrally focused, while showing her message through more character action, rather than character feeling.
Which is not to say this book is not worth reading. On the contrary, (to all of you who've made it this far) despite the three stars I have given it I would recommend Oryx and Crake to almost anyone. It's a watershed of ideas for contemporary science fiction that, as stated earlier, could occupy entire novels themselves. Despite my complaints it's a book that had to be written, as it will hopefully provide inspiration for countless of writers in the future.
And, to finally acknowledge the opening of this review, this book ultimately finds its voice not in the problems it addresses, but the solutions that its characters present. And while they don't make the entire book, they are certainly marvelous. Her mad scientist creates his people as a reaction to the cruel, selfish world he grew up in. The Crakers coexist in complete harmony with everything around them, never succumbing to violence or cruelty, because it just isn't in their genetic makeup. They do not suffer, and thus do not inflict that suffering on others. But in creating humanity's replacement, one wonders if these people are genuinely human, or just another animal.
Summary of Oryx and Crake
Oryx and Crake is at once an unforgettable love story and a compelling vision of the future. Snowman, known as Jimmy before mankind was overwhelmed by a plague, is struggling to survive in a world where he may be the last human, and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake, and the beautiful and elusive Oryx whom they both loved. In search of answers, Snowman embarks on a journey?with the help of the green-eyed Children of Crake?through the lush wilderness that was so recently a great city, until powerful corporations took mankind on an uncontrolled genetic engineering ride. Margaret Atwood projects us into a near future that is both all too familiar and beyond our imagining.In Oryx and Crake, a science fiction novel that is more Swift than Heinlein, more cautionary tale than "fictional science" (no flying cars here), Margaret Atwood depicts a near-future world that turns from the merely horrible to the horrific, from a fool's paradise to a bio-wasteland. Snowman (a man once known as Jimmy) sleeps in a tree and just might be the only human left on our devastated planet. He is not entirely alone, however, as he considers himself the shepherd of a group of experimental, human-like creatures called the Children of Crake. As he scavenges and tends to his insect bites, Snowman recalls in flashbacks how the world fell apart.
While the story begins with a rather ponderous set-up of what has become a clichéd landscape of the human endgame, littered with smashed computers and abandoned buildings, it takes on life when Snowman recalls his boyhood meeting with his best friend Crake: "Crake had a thing about him even then.... He generated awe ... in his dark laconic clothing." A dangerous genius, Crake is the book's most intriguing character. Crake and Jimmy live with all the other smart, rich people in the Compounds--gated company towns owned by biotech corporations. (Ordinary folks are kept outside the gates in the chaotic "pleeblands.") Meanwhile, beautiful Oryx, raised as a child prostitute in Southeast Asia, finds her way to the West and meets Crake and Jimmy, setting up an inevitable love triangle. Eventually Crake's experiments in bioengineering cause humanity's shockingly quick demise (with uncanny echoes of SARS, ebola, and mad cow disease), leaving Snowman to try to pick up the pieces. There are a few speed bumps along the way, including some clunky dialogue and heavy-handed symbols such as Snowman's broken watch, but once the bleak narrative gets moving, as Snowman sets out in search of the laboratory that seeded the world's destruction, it clips along at a good pace, with a healthy dose of wry humor. --Mark Frutkin, Amazon.ca
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