Scan barcode
A review by rromanereads
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
5.0
another dystopian novel set in a near future ? Yes. I do see a pattern here.
this is the first volume of the MaddAddam trilogy. it’s been such a long time since I started a series! I chose well, the first volume is epic.
Snowman (formerly Jimmy) is the last man alive after a plague struck and eradicated the world’s population. One thing I really appreciate about Atwood is her ability to push a subject to the extreme and create a whole parallel universe around it. Here, she focus in genetic engineering. Morality has long been left aside and the economic stakes have pushed the engineers to first create genetically modified animals, before the projects drifted and attacked the creation of "new humans", the children of Crake (who became the thinking head behind this project, and who is also Jimmy's childhood bestfriend). These humans are devoid of anything that could trigger violent behavior, frustration, envy of others, etc. There is a real reflection brought with the character of Oryx (who has been abused and a sex slave for several years) on what triggers rape and how to annihilate these deviant behaviors by programming a cyclic, multi-partner sexuality, dedicated to the appeasement of all, which would ultimately prevent sexual violences. This being one among a million topic addressed. This is a puzzle to explain but please bear with me. Overall, the reflection is around the fact that an elitist and hierarchical society is doomed - the society before the plague. Whereas a society where the concepts of jealousy, dominance, masculinity and hierarchy do not exist is the key to sustainability.
Regarding the writing and the book itself: I really love backward type of novels like this one. Meaning the opening scene is actually the present and the novel unfolds by going back in time to explain everything that happened before this scene.
this is the first volume of the MaddAddam trilogy. it’s been such a long time since I started a series! I chose well, the first volume is epic.
Snowman (formerly Jimmy) is the last man alive after a plague struck and eradicated the world’s population. One thing I really appreciate about Atwood is her ability to push a subject to the extreme and create a whole parallel universe around it. Here, she focus in genetic engineering. Morality has long been left aside and the economic stakes have pushed the engineers to first create genetically modified animals, before the projects drifted and attacked the creation of "new humans", the children of Crake (who became the thinking head behind this project, and who is also Jimmy's childhood bestfriend). These humans are devoid of anything that could trigger violent behavior, frustration, envy of others, etc. There is a real reflection brought with the character of Oryx (who has been abused and a sex slave for several years) on what triggers rape and how to annihilate these deviant behaviors by programming a cyclic, multi-partner sexuality, dedicated to the appeasement of all, which would ultimately prevent sexual violences. This being one among a million topic addressed. This is a puzzle to explain but please bear with me. Overall, the reflection is around the fact that an elitist and hierarchical society is doomed - the society before the plague. Whereas a society where the concepts of jealousy, dominance, masculinity and hierarchy do not exist is the key to sustainability.
Regarding the writing and the book itself: I really love backward type of novels like this one. Meaning the opening scene is actually the present and the novel unfolds by going back in time to explain everything that happened before this scene.