Discussion: Oryx and Crake

[Leigh]

Sooo has anyone read Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood?
What did you guys think?

Some general questions to start off:

What themes have you noticed?

Which part is your favorite?

Any motifs?

Symbolism?

Allusions?

I love reading other people's analyses because it lets me see things that I may have missed.

[Pamela+books]

This is one of my favorite novels of all time for so many reasons. For one thing, I like the speculative fiction genre, much more than things like sci fi; it's fun to see an author use currently-developing trends and exploit them. Atwood is also wickedly fun when it comes to wordplay and has few illusions about humanity.

And despite his being a jerk, one can't help but empathize with Snowman, stuck in a world that has no use for his verbal acrobatics. I love his meditations on words that are beautiful but have outlived any usefulness.

The best speculative fiction rings true, and we can see parts of Oryx and Crake all around us. It's one of the things that makes Atwood always a fascinating read. This is the best of the trilogy, but of course, you'll want to know what happens next.