Oryx and Crake (Maddaddam Trilogy #1)

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Average customer rating 4.9 (30 comments)

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This is an amazing work of 'speculative fiction' that I first read as an undergrad Lit major. I first hated the thought of reading it because it didn't sound 'good' from the cover to me. I finished it in one short afternoon. I threw it when I was finished because of the ending being cut so short. I immediately ordered the second book. This book and ultimately the trilogy are filled with sci-fi, romance, drugs, sex, and a healthy dose of fantastic.

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We all should know how antelopes & birds must exist if we, too, will! Can hardly wait to read this intriguing book! *I sure do hope I win a copy!! 😍

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This is the book that opened up the world of evolutionary biology to me! It's not just a cautionary tale, but also a thought experiment. What would a human-like creature that didn't destroy itself or its environment be like? Her example is very different from a human's ethical thinking (or instincts, really). In one sense she is saying that an "improved" model could't be us, and we are headed for self-extinction.

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I love the era, the setting and the ideology of humans and animals (so to speak) to live,share organs to try to survive, cohabitation and possibly breed after an experiment gone awry. When the world has come to only one human and his best friends creations "Crakes Children" in this ironic twist, after Snowman was used to living in a world of probable somewhat happiness, now there is sorrow, heartache, solicitude and I'm sure anxiety; now he must find a way to double track and find within himself the stamina to make something good of what has happened or just give up. I can't see giving up as an option for the last man on earth, can you? I can't wait to read this book, it sounds AMAZING!!!

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I had the privilege to meet Margaret Atwood and attend a lecture/reading of her novel Oryx and Crake. I would absolutely recommend it. I am thrilled that it will be featured on Science Friday. I hope to win a free copy to share with my book club!

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I am interested in this book because I heard it contains stuff about crossing animals with humans and I also like Margaret Atwood's style of writing.

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Dystopian, relevant, scary, balancing believability with cool imagination and haunting characterization, Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake invites readers into a perfect, perfectly ruined world, revealing a hauntingly possible path that leads to ruination. It’s a cool, deeply involving read, one that leaves the reader hauntingly wanting more, and yet feels powerfully complete – the outsider still outside, still looking in, still seeing more than his heart is willing to admit.

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I've known about Margaret Atwood for a long time and even have The Handmaid's Tale but have never gotten around to reading it. After reading about her recently, I decided to check out some of her work again. I've read a couple of Atwood's recently-published short stories, but basically I started with Oryx and Crake. And - wow... I'm definitely hooked! Yes, it's another dystopian novel, but what makes it different (and a bit unsettling) is that it seems so possible and so true unlike some of the other popular dystopias. Perhaps slightly hyperbolic (but only perhaps) and maybe a bit heavy-handed for some people, it seems to be such a keen-eyed consideration of where our world could end up if we don't acknowledge our problems and try to make changes. On to book two of the trilogy!

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I know that this book has been out for a while, but I just discovered it. I'm a total dystopian fangirl, and Oryx and Crake definitely stood out in my mind as one of the best I have ever read. I love the combination of science, psychology, and imagination that creates the world. Already I'm devouring the second book in the MaddAdams trilogy. I can't seem to get this book out of my head, in all of the best ways. I would say more, but I'm not into spoilers. Definitely the best book I read in 2012.

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One of the (many) things that has always struck me as ridiculous about the concept of creationism - sorry, sorry, "intelligent design" - is the idea that an infinitely kind and intelligent god designed human beings, and yet this is the best he could do. Give me some ultimate power, and I could design a better species. One not so prone to runny noses and cancer, for starters. One where the trachea and esophagus don't share an opening - that might cut down on that pesky "choking" thing. And, you know, maybe weed out those genes for sickle-cell anemia, autism, SIDS, and myopia. That's just off the top of my head, and I'm far from being infinitely kind or intelligent.

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I Love this book. So much that I am reading it again and cannot wait for the 3rd book in the series to be finished and released. Read Dianah's Staff Pick of this book it is a good depiction of the story that lies ahead. Do you like dystopian novels? Do yo want to be entertained and also slightly frightened by the closeness to reality it could be? Get this book now and then get Year of The Flood.

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I've always enjoyed end-of-the-world tales and this one doesn't disappoint. The story involves Jimmy (aka Snowman) and his brilliant friend Crake, who goes to work for a company in the near future that works on genetic and science applications. The other main character is Oryx, who both Jimmy and Crake have fallen in love with. The story is told from Snowman's perspective in the aftermath of a catastophic plague that kills (nearly) every human on earth. This book is the first in a trilogy written by Atwood. The second book, Year of the Flood, won awards and I'm looking forward to reading it.

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A stunning act of creative imagination by Margaret Atwood. A literary page turner which kept me on the edge of my seat. Part of a trilogy. The second book The Year of the Flood is also an excellent read. Can't wait for the third part.

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This was a tightly written "science fiction" look at a future world that is not out of the realm of possibility. It does not moralize as such, but makes comparisons about our technological and materialistic society that are an an indictment of our curent way of life. As well, I found it a really good read, and it held me thoughout the entire book.

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The story opens with Snowman describing his current situation and environment. There has been some kind of event that has eliminated humans and a new species has emerged. Through flashbacks and memories of Snowman the story of how this has occurred is explained. I was captivated by this story. The way the story was told through the intermingling of Snowman’s current state and through his memories created confusion and made the discoveries more impactful. I didn’t feel a particular connection to any of the characters, but it made the detachment that Snowman felt more real. If you like dystopian literature this is a great book to turn to.

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When Oryx and Crake first opens, the reader meets the narrator (Snowman) and is immediately aware that there has been a disaster of gigantic proportions. The information about Snowman's past and this event trickle slowly, through his reflections and memories, at first more tantalizing and mysterious than informational and explanatory. By the time Oryx and Crake is finished, everything has become crystal clear for the reader, through a delightful process of hints, deductions and knowledge told outright, and then Atwood laughs at the self-satisfied reader with yet another conundrum as it ends. If you have read The Handmaid's Tale then you are familiar with this particular delicious style of Atwood's. Oryx and Crake delivers a fully satisfying, if often unsettling, reading experience. I can't say that I "enjoyed" all of the novel, as the pre-apocalyptic world of Oryx and Crake is one not so much an alternate reality but a possible future was unnerving to me. Kiddie porn sites and snuff films are common viewing material for even young teens. The division between classes has become such that the elite live in guarded compounds which are like small cities. Personal freedoms have been lost, or more accurately, cheerfully given up; scientific discovery, often frightening and unnatural, has become the most important advancement for society. Probably the scariest part of the book is the close resemblance to our current society, and the question that poses of just how easy would it be to find ourselves in that situation, led their by the banner of "progress". Oryx and Crake is a thrilling, terrifying and often uncomfortable read. It is not for the faint of heart or apathetic of mind, but makes excellent material for much thought and discussion.

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I'm a sucker for the post-apocalyptic, and I love the way this book imagines a future in which the most normal of men becomes something of God to the innocent offspring of the end of the world, all the while he's just trying to survive. The way Atwood describes the pre-apocalyptic world in flashback seems far too close to the truth.

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I've read this book a few times now and each time I love it more. What a fascinating story and one you don't want to end. Margaret Atwood is just an amazing writer.

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A cautionary tale of near future dystopia. This narrative satisfies. It left me wanting... nothing. Like a gourmet meal it delights your mental palate with every course. A linguistic sommelier Ms. Atwood pairs, precisely, the flavors of science with fantasy and fiction. If you are a literary gourmand... this is Haute Cuisine!

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This book reminded me why I love to read; its not just about being entertained or distracted from our stressful or mundane lives, its about hearing a story. From the first this tale is unusual and unexpected and as Atwood weaves her way through the story of Snowman/Jimmy and the story of a horrible, apocalyptic future, she never falters from her vision. She leaves us feeling both satisfied and unfulfilled as we ponder lingering questions, but knowing any other ending would have been a let down.

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Long ago in my Philosophy of the Arts class, we read and argued a great deal about the Intentionalist Fallacy. This is the assertion that the artist's intentions don't matter, that what matters is the meaning conveyed by the art product. I find authors' intentions interesting, but try first to understand the meanings that are present in the text. I usually enjoy this more, because the creators' intentions are often feverishly asserted but not realized in the art. Atwood claims that science fiction is about "talking squids in outer space," and that that's not what she writes. Margaret, you write about GMO humanoids in a post-apocalyptic dystopia. I see how that's not science fiction at all. :rolleyes: I suppose I could also say ":snap: What-EVAH!" For pretty much the rest of us, Oryx and Crake is science fiction, a thematic category in which Atwood does some lovely work. So don't bother finding the insulting authorial exegesis, but instead proceed directly to the book. Oryx and Crake is poignant, poetic, and emotional, which is no small task with a not-very-sympathetic and schlubby protagonist, grandly catastrophic actions, and a wide-ranging narrative that includes an errant mother, rakunks (raccoon plus skunk), the sexual trafficking of children, biochemical attacks, gated compounds, and the aforementioned genetically modified humanoids. The story follows Snowman, who grew up as a comparatively average guy surrounded by geniuses. While not passive-aggressive, Snowman is passive, or hesitant, or uncertain, or unable to take a stand for his convictions, at many times from his childhood to adulthood. His reminiscence, often painful and self-loathing, supplies the story of how he comes to find himself wrapped in a sheet, in the tropical fringe of a beach with a not-so-human tribe, making up answers to their many irritating questions. Atwood is a wordsmith, and like Ursula Le Guin, writes a deeply satisfying, smart narrative. Atwood is a master of world-building. Sure, some of what she proposes is far out, but this is, like The Handmaid's Tale, a cautionary fantasy. I remember hostile critiques when The Handmaid's Tale was first published, arguments that Atwood's near-future dystopia was unrealistic and wacked out. The intervening shifts in politics and culture make the idea of a fundamentalist religious government in the U.S. seem not so much an absurd speculation as a matter of degree. (Robert Heinlein, of course, gave us his own version of a military theocracy in his 1940 story "If This Goes On--.") As I check my food labels for GMO notices, read articles about the development of gene-spliced fluorescent cats, and discover that the Internet knows where I live even when I use someone else's computer, I find myself wondering if the Atwood is all that far off.

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M. Atwood rocks!

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Margaret takes her science fiction imagination (although she evidently hates to be slotted in that genre) far beyond her first foray in "The Handmaid's Tale." This novel is definitely worthy of a "Best of the Decade" nod. This is Margaret at her finest. Crake's future seems but a few years away from our present, and the text (while eerily plausible) is never preachy. Oh, and the ending is one of the best I've encountered in fiction over the past ten years.

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Thinking back over which books have really made an impression, I think no book scared me so completely or reflected so well the fears, horrors, hopes and fascinations of living at the beginning of the 21st century.

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My fav for the decade because of how the story was prescient to the global issues such as internet pornography, bio-genetics, and two-tiered society of professionals and laborers. Oryx and Crake tells a plausible apocalyptic story for the twenty-first century.

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This compelling novel illustrates the dangers of genetic engineering. Margaret Atwood's latest release, The Year of the Flood, takes place in a parallel time to Oryx and Crake. Atwood's strong storytelling is a great way to begin the new year.

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The only post-apocalyptic dysutopia story I've ever actually liked.

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Catch up on this novel before Margaret Atwood's newest, "The Year of the Flood," comes out next month -- the two books are set in the same world. It's a world much like ours, but taken to a certain extreme. This is speculative fiction of the most intelligent and searching type. Atwood is one of our most devastating writers, and she's in top form in this ultimately touching novel about a possible future in which biotechnology is running amok -- literally.

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Like "Handmaid's Tale," Margaret Atwood takes her readers on another dystopic and futuristic tale, one which could come true, give or take a few thousand years. Read and find out what happens when science and ethics clash, when love and jealousy combust and how humanity ends up becoming caught up in what Atwood considers the ultimate and horrific world apocalpse. The novel depicts a chilling story while hinting how mankind could go downhill with science and technology, while in a different time and parallel story, the main character desperately searches for glimmer of hope in dark times - a way out of the apocalpyse and towards a better world and future. Definitely deserves a place on the shelf for sci-fi readers and Atwood fans or a college syllabus.

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I was fascinated and horrified by this tale of scientists "playing God" through genetic engineering. Creative, thorough, and well researched, this is science fiction not to be missed.