The Free-Range Bookclub
Bookclubbers without boundaries in Nelson, New Zealand
Oryx & Crake – Margaret Atwood
READ FOR BOOKCLUB
Chosen by Jo
An unforgettable story of love, friendship and biologically modified humans in an alternative reality where pharmaceutical companies rule.
➽ “Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake is another one of her chilling dystopian novels which kept me gripped right to the end. The exaggerated play on current technologies and lack of regard for our world and the environment give an unnerving sense that this future is entirely possible and therein lies Atwood’s creative brilliance. She is darkly clever with the names, brands and themes throughout and there’s so much complexity in this book that I’ll need to re read it to fully appreciate the content. I couldn’t leave Jimmy and his weird world alone and rushed out to the library and read the next book in the series – if you know me then you’ll know this means this book is an absolute hit. My mind is still whirling!” – Jo
➽ “After struggling a bit to get into recent reads, Oryx & Crake was a wonderful, interesting and exciting read. I found myself looking forward to the evening read before bed. I was in awe of Atwood’s brilliance in painting her depressing yet fascinating picture of future earth. Like watching a disturbing movie scene, I was both repelled and hooked at the same. I loved the way she blew out all of the controversial trends of our time, like our obsession with sex, youth, immortality, genetic modification, climate change and drug culture, into their future extremes, although in this respect I found the book rather depressing. Definitely keen to read more from this trilogy and I can’t wait for the movie to be made.” – Sonya
➽ “This was my fourth re-read of Oryx & Crake and though nothing will ever replace the first read, I still find reasons to re-read it. What appeals to me is Atwood’s innate ability to combine real life characters with speculation on the state of the world if current experimental biological modification trends are pushed to the nth degree. There are no inventions in Atwood’s fiction, rather an intelligent mind bending about things that actually existed at the time she penned the book. As time passes, it is interesting to see how many of her prophesies are coming true! Jimmy, Oryx and Crake are the perfect personalities to carry and ‘normalise’ the crazy story, covering the roles of crazed creator, passive caregiver and questioning observer between them. Jimmy in particular voices the reader’s concerns and therefore is the connection between our reality and Atwood’s. I can’t recommend this book highly enough, as well as the two sequels.” – Rachel
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Published 2003
Anchor Books
400 pages
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