Oryx and Crake (MaddAddam #1)
by Margaret Atwood
Introduction
One of my book clubs picked Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood for our April read, so I managed to track down a library copy. It was not something I would have picked for myself.
Genre /Intended audience
A dystopian science fiction novel aimed at adults inclined to read ‘literary’ works.
Narration
First person mix of present and past tense as told by Jimmy/Snowman.
Characters
Jimmy AKA Snowman - a man who grew up in a wealthy Compound
Glenn AKA Crake - Jimmy’s childhood friend, a genius bioengineer
Oryx - a former sex worker (female) hired by Crake
Setting
A future dystopian version of our world both before and after a plague has devastated civilization.
Theme
Margaret Atwood hammers home a strong anti-capitalist message along with a significant dose of warning against unbridled use of technology.
Plot
Here’s the book description from Goodreads:
“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.”
But none of that is true. Love story? Nope. Mourning the loss of his best friend? Big nope. In search of answers? Not even close. Beyond our imagining? Only if Atwood is the only sciFi writer you’ve ever read. It’s all been done before, ever since the 1930s.
The story follows the life of Jimmy AKA Snowman and his interactions with his childhood friend Glenn AKA Crake. They are both involved with a woman they call Oryx, but it is hardly a love story. Told in non-linear fashion, Snowman recounts how his already dystopian world was destroyed by a plague.
About the Author
Margaret Atwood is a well known Canadian author of numerous novels - many with a near future dystopian theme. She rejects the label “science fiction” for her novels. Find out about her on Goodreads or her website.
My Opinion
The author takes a rather simple tale and weaves the pieces together in a non-linear manner for effect - I’m not sure to what end. The story is interesting enough without it, though it would have been short indeed without pages and pages of gratuitous literary showmanship, much of it irrelevant to the story, the characters, or even the world-building.
There are three interleaved threads to the story: (1) Snowman tells of his existence in first person present tense, (2) he gives a linear account of his life from childhood to the point when he becomes Snowman, and (3) randomly interwoven in the two other narratives are conversations and interactions Jimmy has with Oryx. All these occur toward the end of Jimmy’s tale, but are presented out of order throughout the book.
Overall, Oryx and Crake is difficult to like. None of the characters are relatable, and Jimmy in particular is an unlikable and passive character, at times amazingly dense and clueless. Crake as a villain is interesting, but he’s always seen from Jimmy’s POV and not often enough to rescue the book. Given how bleak this world already is when Jimmy and Crake are children, I can understand Crake’s reaction to it. Oryx might have been interesting, but she is seen entirely through the lens of Jimmy’s fantasy and obsession - to the point that she modifies the stories of her own past to please him.
Our book club discussed Oryx and Crake for two hours, and the discussion was contentious at times. One thing was readily apparent - readers had vastly differing opinions about what actually did or didn’t happen, who Oryx really was, and what were her motives. Nor was it clear how things had gotten so bad already, before the characters were born. All these questions were left deliberately ambiguous by the author. Some readers like that sort of thing, but I’m not a fan of it.
Atwood’s literary style of writing seems unsuited to an anti-consumerism message that’s as subtle as a hammer to the head. She paints a bleak picture of the consequences, but offers no alternative path that might have been taken to avoid them. That inevitability makes her apocalypse more depressing than cautionary.
I didn’t enjoy it, yet it wasn’t terribly written — so I’m giving it (begrudgingly) three out of five stars. Obviously many fans of Atwood and this sort of literature will enjoy it, but I can’t think who I’d recommend it to.