Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

One thing about leaving reviews until later is the growing fogginess. Yes, if you told me that I had read this book at the beginning of the year, I might actually believe you. It wasn't just two and a bit weeks ago, surely?

So with my fogginess in mind, here is my rather limited review:

The world as we know it has come to an end. But how? Join Snowman as he reveals the events that led up to this. Who is Snowman, you might ask? He is the last remaining human on earth... maybe. The more interesting question though, is who or what are Oryx and Crake?

I went into this book expecting something completely different. I don't know what I was expecting, mind you, it just was not what I got. That was brilliant! I loved the complete surprise!

I enjoyed how the past was revealed while following Snowman in the present. While the story in the present was not interesting in comparison, initially, by the end of the book, I was devouring both with equal enjoyment. I found the science in this book fascinating and disturbing - because it was similar to some events I had written in my NaNoWriMo novel last year. Silly me for thinking I had hit on something original! But it is brilliant seeing what Atwood did with it. She used the similar idea and turned it into a masterpiece. Yeah... let me mention here that two of the themes is definitely the folly of 'man' and playing god. In fact, if I was less concerned about dropping spoilers, I would be very tempted to go into a detailed account of my thoughts on a certain experiment and the justification for it, because, there are some very valid points behind it. (Apparently writing this is jogging my memory!)

In fact, if we are talking about a quote that I could write an essay about, try the one below! Brilliant!

“Nature is to zoos as God is to churches.”

― Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake

Snowman is an interesting character choice, because, of all the characters in the book, he is probably the least impressive. But he is a word guy, so maybe he works well for that reason. His perspective is that of an outsider, so to speak, so it allows the reader to form a lot of opinions - and boy are there a lot of opinions that can be formed here! Imagine a world where there is no art! I don't know about you, but I can't!

I really did enjoy reading this. I now have the 2nd and 3rd books so that I can complete the series.

While I completely enjoyed this one, I can say that it might not be for everyone. With my quest to read more books by female authors, I have found myself deep in the literary fiction world, and although Oryx and Crake is definitely a distopian novel, it is also literary fiction. Although I don't think you need a lit degree to understand it, it isn't fast paced. The language and themes are more impressive than plot - because if you are after a clear plot, then this one is not the book for you.

I gave this one 5 stars on Goodreads. It is also the 58th book I have read for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.