Oryx and Crake / Margaret Atwood

Oryx and Crake

category: science fiction, author:

Margaret Atwood

published by Bloomsbury, original copyright 2003, read in April 2010

Agamedes' rating: 6 out of 10

Agamedes' opinion:

A... puzzling... book. As I started reading I thought, this is stupid. Boring, gloomy, no chance of a happy resolution. Then it improved.

The bulk of the book describes a dystopia: genetic modification gone mad, rich living in enclaves, poor locked out in the "pleeblands". Though in the few glimpses given of the pleeblands, life seems to be rather vibrant, though rough, tough and not as tightly controlled as in the rich-industrialists' enclaves.

Anyway, it's a dystopia. The main source of misery is, that industry creates chemicals with superficially good effects and unknown side-effects. Advertisers push these dubious items, until the customer runs out of money. So the basic theme is the evil of capitalism and consumerism -- with the evils of uncontrolled genetic manipulation thrown in, for good measure. As such, it's quite a good book.

Then there's the misery of the narrator's upbringing, the misery of his adult life, the anger of the man who brings about the end of the world... Plus a hit against selling children into sex-slavery... Hmmm... all over misery -- but the book was not that miserable as I read it!

Until the end of the world is reached -- again -- via the extended flashback. Characters are killed off and we are left to wonder why. The friendly "new humans" are under possible threat and we are left to wonder, what should the protagonist do? In fact, the two big questions of the book are left unanswered!

I guess that we are meant to think. Or, perhaps, the author herself did not know the answer... No, I suspect that Atwood has an opinion. She just thought it was cleverer to leave the questions unanswered. If I wanted to debate against myself -- why would I read a book?!

The author's view of the future -- as presented in Oryx and Crake -- is so gloomy that it is hard to believe. Another near-future novel that is so near-future that it lays its central ideas open to doubt. Readable, interesting in detail, lacking in overall impact.

..o0o..

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