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    Oryx and Crake
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    Oryx and Crake
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    Oryx and Crake
    Audiobook10 hours

    Oryx and Crake

    Written by Margaret Atwood

    Narrated by Scott Campbell

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    A stunning and provocative new novel by the internationally celebrated author of The Blind Assassin, winner of the Booker Prize

    Margaret Atwood's new novel is so utterly compelling, so prescient, so relevant, so terrifyingly-all-too-likely-to-be-true, that readers may find their view of the world forever changed after reading it.

    This is Margaret Atwood at the absolute peak of her powers. For readers of Oryx and Crake, nothing will ever look the same again.

    The narrator of Atwood's riveting novel calls himself Snowman. When the story opens, he is sleeping in a tree, wearing an old bedsheet, mourning the loss of his beloved Oryx and his best friend Crake, and slowly starving to death. He searches for supplies in a wasteland where insects proliferate and pigoons and wolvogs ravage the pleeblands, where ordinary people once lived, and the Compounds that sheltered the extraordinary. As he tries to piece together what has taken place, the narrative shifts to decades earlier. How did everything fall apart so quickly? Why is he left with nothing but his haunting memories? Alone except for the green-eyed Children of Crake, who think of him as a kind of monster, he explores the answers to these questions in the double journey he takes - into his own past, and back to Crake's high-tech bubble-dome, where the Paradice Project unfolded and the world came to grief.

    With breathtaking command of her shocking material, and with her customary sharp wit and dark humour, Atwood projects us into an outlandish yet wholly believable realm populated by characters who will continue to inhabit our dreams long after the last chapter. This is Margaret Atwood at the absolute peak of her powers.


    From the Hardcover edition.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateMay 6, 2003
    ISBN9780739304082
    Unavailable
    Oryx and Crake
    Author

    Margaret Atwood

    Margaret Atwood, whose work has been published in more than forty-five countries, is the author of over fifty books, including fiction, poetry, critical essays, and graphic novels. In addition to The Handmaid’s Tale, now an award-winning television series, her works include Cat’s Eye, short-listed for the 1989 Booker Prize; Alias Grace, which won the Giller Prize in Canada and the Premio Mondello in Italy; The Blind Assassin, winner of the 2000 Booker Prize; The MaddAddam Trilogy; The Heart Goes Last; Hag-Seed; The Testaments, which won the Booker Prize and was long-listed for the Giller Prize; and the poetry collection Dearly. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, the Franz Kafka International Literary Prize, the PEN Center USA Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Los Angeles Times Innovator’s Award. In 2019 she was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in Great Britain for her services to literature. She lives in Toronto.

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    Reviews for Oryx and Crake

    4/5

    5,272 ratings261 reviews

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    • 4/5
      The premise: from Amazon.com: In Oryx and Crake, a science fiction novel that is more Swift than Heinlein, more cautionary tale than "fictional science" (no flying cars here), Margaret Atwood depicts a near-future world that turns from the merely horrible to the horrific, from a fool's paradise to a bio-wasteland. Snowman (a man once known as Jimmy) sleeps in a tree and just might be the only human left on our devastated planet. He is not entirely alone, however, as he considers himself the shepherd of a group of experimental, human-like creatures called the Children of Crake. As he scavenges and tends to his insect bites, Snowman recalls in flashbacks how the world fell apart.My RatingGive It Away: this is an odd rating, because in LibraryThing, I gave it four stars (which I'll probably change, actually). I'm glad I've read the book, and I'll likely pick up the companion/sequel The Year of the Flood, but I'm so ambivalent about Oryx and Crake that I don't see myself picking it up again. In fact, it's the kind of book I'll probably forget I've read, because it never impacted me the way it probably would a reader who isn't as familiar with science fiction. I think fans of Atwood will enjoy this, and readers who aren't SF-literate in terms of tropes and conventions may find this book to be a diamond in the rough. Certainly, Atwood has a different take on the apocalypse than Cormac McCarthy's The Road, and it's interesting, though it lacks the direction and resolution that McCarthy's novel had. But hey, I'm glad I read it. I just wish I'd read it sooner than I did, before I was as familiar with SF tropes as I am now. If you're an SF fan, I'd only recommend this book to you if you don't mind reading the lit-fic takes on the genre, if you don't mind the fact you're not going to find something wholly original. I read this because I'm a sucker for lit-fic SF, and after The Handmaid's Tale, I wanted to see what else Atwood would do with the genre. The Handmaid's Tale is a much stronger book, but this one was interesting at least, even though it was a little unsatisfying.Review style: spoilers ahead. Considering the pace and style of the book, the spoilers aren't exactly Earth-shattering, but here's the warning anyway. SPOILERS. :) If such things bother you, there's no need to click the link below, which takes you to my LJ. However, if you're interested, the more discussion the merrier! As always, comments and discussion are most welcome. :)REVIEW: Margaret Atwood's ORYX AND CRAKEHappy Reading!
    • 4/5
      Really fascinating. I like Atwood's dystopias; I think she's really good at imaging future/different earths and making them seem normal and horrific (kind of like ours?). I'm also a sucker for apocalyptia, and I liked her version of how The End comes about (and how those who survived survive).
    • 3/5
      This is another of Ms. Atwood's cautionary stories about the bleak future awaiting us given her view of current trends. The purpose of "Oryx and Crake" is to hold up genetic engineering, bigotry, greed and elitism, and a certain form of gullible piety. It may be a personality weakness, but I prefer narratives that are a bit less didactic. I prefer things that are a little more ambiguous. This is not the author for that, I know.
    • 4/5
      A post-apocalyptic story told from the viewpoint of Jimmy, the friend of the man who orchestrated it. I knew little of the plot of this book before reading it, and I'm not sure what I would say about it now. The science ruled word of the future is in ruins and our guide, Jimmy, goes about his own business while telling us how the world ended up in such a state. It's Margaret Atwood, which I've found to mean that some people will love it, and others will hate it. I would give this book an agenda, but it provokes a certain amount of thought.If you're interested in future science and speculation (and the way things may or may not go haywire) I would definitely recommend the book.
    • 2/5
      The flashback scenes were much more engaging than those in the present. Very odd story that is sometimes uncomfortable.
    • 4/5
      My book club read this. Atwood is so clever - she really packs a lot of themes and ideas in. We got in lots of debates over the characters because we couldn't decide who was likeable or forgivable. I could sympathize with Snowman. I didn't like the very end of the story.
    • 4/5
      Still trying to decide what I think about the book overall. I found the biological disaster entirely plausible, perhaps even likely at some point. The world-building was wonderfully well-done. Is there a way to put the genie back in the bottle? I wonder.Jimmy / Snowman is really well done. Crake somewhat less well done, but still a great character. Oryx is a cipher to me. Doesn't feel fully enfranchised as a character, just kind of a foil to keep Jimmy's emotional state connected to something/someone. The pacing of the book I found slow - I kept losing momentum for some reason. But a scary exploration of what's entirely possible...
    • 5/5
      Great dystopian novel. Started out slow, and by the time I got to the end I couldn't believe it was already over.
    • 3/5
      I can't decide if I like this book or not and if I want to continue on with the trilogy. I am sticking with it because I want to read the last one since it was a winner this year. This book is about the Snowman who is also Jimmy. Things have gone wrong with genetic testing and mixing things like raccoons and skunks. At least I think that was what was put together. Rats and snakes. People are pretty much gone and what is left are synthetic type people as I call them. Not really humans. Snowman seems to be the only human left but then he finds out there could be others. It's just a very strange book.
    • 5/5
      Oryx and Crake is Atwoodian dystopia at its very best. The world Atwood creates is so frighteningly believable that it causes us to examine our own ideas about science, religion, humanity, and exactly how much control humans can or should have over nature, and it offers us no choice but to consider the consequences of those ideas and decisions. Atwood never reveals exactly how far in the future Oryx and Crake is set, and that increases the story’s power because it feels like this world—this disaster—might not be that far away.Read my full review at The Book Lady's Blog.
    • 4/5
      Took me a while to get into this book. It starts with Snowman out in the wild with people who seem kind of strange. He is living in a post apocalyptic world with animal hybrids and climate changed environment. Snowman explains what the world was like before, how the strange people, Crakers, came to be and how his friendship and relationship with Crake and Oryx led to this new world. It starts off confusing but as I read on things started making sense. Little things in the beginning of the book make sense later on. It's a really unique book and I loooved the way it unfolds.
    • 4/5
      Enjoyed this one a lot more than Alias Grace but not as much as The Handmaid’s Tale. Hope the rest of the trilogy is good.
    • 4/5
      This is my first tryst with a Margaret Atwood book and I was quite taken by her creative genius. The story began in a way that is intentionally confusing, and then unfolded in the most interesting way, slowly uncovering the most fascinating facts that led the world to be in the state that the reader finds things in the opening chapter.Not only is the world building nicely done, but I was completely invested in the outcome for the sake of the characters. The main character is not very likable, but by books end I was more of a fan of his. Little nods to real world history, conspiracy theories, and government interference make this all that much more interesting.Oryx and Crake takes place in a dystopia world that seems largely unrealistic at first glance, but Atwood has a way of making all of the oddities all seem quite imaginable. There is a huge, and I mean the hugest of cliffhangers in the end, which I am never ver fond of, but I can forgive it for the most part because I feel like I did get the answers to the questions that the book was intended to deliver, thus getting a complete story. The cliffhanger was one of those deals that just insures that the reader will come back for more, and I will.
    • 4/5
      Interesting
    • 4/5
      A very interesting story. Sometimes Atwood is hard to read but this one flowed really well. I liked the back and forth timeline.
    • 2/5
      Just never been a fan of this author... nuthin' personal, just doesn't grab me.
    • 4/5
      Snowman may be the last human alive - except for the Crakers, an engineered humanoid species. They live in a park by the seashore, and Snowman survives by scavenging from the old cities. The Crakers were created specifically to live in an arboreal environment, and believe life is as is should be and always was. In flashbacks, we learn how this all came to be.
    • 5/5
      Dystopian fantasies are all around us -- everything from The Matrix to Mad Max, from Fahrenheit 451 to Brave New World. Some are escapist entertainment, seemingly far removed from any future we can relate to. Others, like Orwell's 1984, are truly frightening, because we can place them along a trajectory that includes our own real lives. Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake is similarly evocative.

      Oryx and Crake takes us back and forth between a post-apocalyptic world and the earlier events which led to the disaster. In these pages, we're introduced to Snowman, the narrator, whose altered persona reflects the drastic changes around him -- and we get to observe the elusive, fascinating Oryx and Crake, who are just mysterious enough to keep us wondering and wanting to know more.

      The crisis in this book is built upon ever escalating genetic meddling and environmental destruction -- neither of which is far removed from our lives today. Vivid characterizations and a well-constructed narrative kept me turning the pages. Atwood knows how to dangle that proverbial carrot, drawing the reader in deeper as the flashbacks draw closer and closer to the narrator's present time.

      Read this book if you're looking for an exciting page-turner. Read it because it's a great yarn. You'll get something extra in the process -- something to ponder as we ponder the mapping of the human genome.
    • 4/5
      Margaret Atwood serves up an impressively bleak apocalypse, concocting it from a number of contemporary social and scientific trends. Corporate consolidation, biogenetic engineering, a world globalized by the Internet but increasingly fragmented by individual isolation, ecological disaster--all these and more provide the ingredients of this tale of humanity's end and a new, more ideal species' origin. Atwood has inventive skill in creating depth and texture for her future vision, and some dark humor emerges from such details, but Oryx and Crake never lets you forget that its world and inhabitants are doomed. The end seems always to have been inevitable. It's the surprising precipitating events that impart meaning to its strange story.
    • 5/5
      First M. Atwood for me. Amazing mind at work here. Great start to the trilogy. Lots of smart little ideas populate this dystopian future. Style is direct and without ostentation. I'm a little weirded out by some of the subject matter. Running out the door for the next one.
    • 5/5
      Thus book is /still/ amazing. I re-read it for the release of 'MaddAddam'.

      The story of Snowman is woven through flashbacks to life before the apocalypse and now how Snowman survives day to day in his 'solitary' existence. Beautifully crafted, this book touches on the dangers of man's intellectual hubris and the beauty and importance of art.

      Snowman is the keeper of archaic words, the first time I was lazy and didn't look up the meanings of those I didn't know, but take my advice and look them up. Their selection is quite intentional and makes for even more powerful story-telling.


      ____________________________________________________________________
      23 Sep. 2008

      This book is amazing. I can't believe that it took me so long to find it. A brilliant apocalyptic novel, in the running with '1984' and 'Brave New World'. Quite possibly replaces 'Handmaid's Tale' as my favorite Atwood novel.
    • 4/5
      In which Atwood gives us satirical apocalypse in her usual beautifully-written style. Slow to start, but compelling once it gathers pace. A nightmarishly credible corporate future.
    • 4/5
      Addictive and winding, this is one of those books which will suck you in within pages, leaving you unable to stop and still wondering why. Atwood's winding structure is a labyrinth of grief, discovery, and the dangers of technology and so-called progress, and while her characters may be difficult to fully engage with or relate to, they are as believable as they are realistic to the world she creates. All together, this novel is a stunning journey into a future which seems all too possible, humorous and heartbreaking as it may be.One warning: as the first book in a trilogy, this novel doesn't hold as much closure as many readers (including myself) would hope for. The writing and the story are enough to pull me in for the second work in the series, but I'm not thrilled that the story here didn't end on a clearer note or hold a more insular narrative. It may be worth noting that, were the second book not already in stores, I'm not sure how long the story would stick with me and pull me back in after a wait for publication.
    • 4/5
      An Armageddon novel of the best kind, this book focuses on the perceptions and experiences of Jimmy, later to be known as Snowman. From his childhood through the end, Jimmy is granted a unique perspective on the winding down of civilization. Creative, compelling and original, this book is highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      Oryx and Crake tells the tale of an apocalyptic future in which a man named Snowman (previously known as Jimmy) narrates his life spent living in the wilds with some bioengineered people known as "the Crakers." As the story unfolds slowly, Snowman recounts memories of his childhood with his parents, his friend Glen (later known as Crake), and his various lovers, including a woman known as Oryx. Eventually, Snowman recalls the events leading up to his being presumably one of the last "real" people on earth.Oryx and Crake was my least favorite of Atwood's novels so far, but since she sets the bar pretty high that means this book was still pretty decent. Like with her novel The Handmaid's Tale, it takes a long time for you to get to the point of finding out how things got as bad as they did (in this book, it's pretty much the last few chapters). I found this partially annoying as I wanted to find out already what happened to lead to this dystopian future, but I also found it to be a more literary way of presenting a science fiction novel. I'm sure that other readers will have their own opinions about this way of storytelling. I did find a lot of Jimmy's memories very interesting though, especially hearing about life on the compounds (basically where scientists lived with their families and worked on curing diseases, splicing genes, creating bioengineered beings, etc.). Another thing that was prominent in this dark vision was a continuation of the sad subculture we see now of sexual slavery and the promotion of child pornography via the Internet. This added a dimension to this world that made it both despairing but believable. None of the characters in this book were particularly likeable, yet I still found myself compelled to read on to find out more about Jimmy, Crake, and Oryx as well the people extending out from them (parents, pimps, and even the Crakers themselves). However, Jimmy was a far more fleshed out character than either Crake or Oryx. While the latter both had rich back stories, their personalities were rather one-dimensional - Crake all scientific coldness and Oryx nothing but trusting and forgiving. Jimmy's floundering and confusion, going with the flow one moment and taking charge the next, was far more realistic. While I think this book could probably stand on its own pretty well with an ending that would leave you thinking, I'm glad that there's follow-up and am looking forward to reading the next one in the series.
    • 4/5
      Contrary to literary giants, I rate Atwood's epic dystopic tale as brilliant craft but lacking the soul of a captivating read. IMy bias against dystopia writing clouds my assessment no doubt and my disturbed response could be her intent all along but... t took many chapters to get me warmed up to the 'brave new world' thesis . Clearly her work is a driving tour de force as the first title of the Maddadam trilogy.
    • 5/5
      I absolutely enjoyed this book. It forces one to think of what we as a society are doing to ourselves. If you want a book that will stay with you, this is the one. I read it back in 2011 and to this day I continue to think about the issues that are touched on.
    • 4/5
      Reasons I really loved this book:

      I like really depressing stories.
      I, like the narrator, am a words person.
      This is exactly the kind of book I've been trying to write for forever.
      At this point in time, in my mind, for better or for worse, Margaret Atwood can do no wrong.
      I really like depressing books.
      I believe that designer babies are one of the worst ideas ever.
    • 3/5
      When I first read this book, I remember liking it, but I don't remember why I liked it. I also remember being very confused about what the heck was going on. This second reading---now that I've also read The Year of the Flood and MaddAddam---made a lot more sense, but I liked it less. Maybe it was just a let-down after how awesome The Year of the Flood was, but Jimmy just wasn't that interesting as a narrator. It's like if I wrote down my life story. There's some interesting stuff in there, but mostly it's full of hang-ups and regrets and it's all just tangential to the lives of those who are really doing stuff.

      As Atwood writes about Jimmy, "He'd grown up in walled spaces, and then had become one. He had shut things out."

      Jimmy kind of reminded me of Ed Norton's character in Fight Club before Tyler Durden came into his life, with Jimmy's organized bathroom shelves and his general contentedness with just being mediocre. I suppose Crake could have been Jimmy's Tyler Durden, except that rather than bringing a new level of awesome out of Jimmy, Crake just manipulated his innate non-awesomeness for Crake's own purposes.

      I didn't realize it on my first reading of this book, but Jimmy/Snowman is kind of a Joseph. Here's this huge, world-altering plan going on around him. His nearest and dearest are in on it, but it's all a secret to him. He doesn't bring the plan into existence, but he's the one who's left to take care of things.

      After this reading, I feel a small urge to re-read the other two books again, but I think it would be more to look for the bits of the story that Atwood doesn't tell than it would be to enjoy the books themselves again.
    • 1/5
      I just couldn't get into this book. I thought it sounded like a great idea but it was just...boring. And depressing. And the narrator does nothing but complain about his unfortunate childhood. I want a book that is entertaining or enlightening, this was neither. I only got through about half the book.