Showing posts with label Oryx and Crake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oryx and Crake. Show all posts

14 June 2012

The Year of the Flood

 "So, if you were making the world, you'd make it better?" I said. Better than God, was 
what I meant.  All of a sudden I was feeling pious, like Bernice.  Like a Gardener.  
"Yes," he said. "As a matter of fact, I would."

The Year of the Flood is slated as a sequel to Oryx and Crakeit's really more of a companion novel in my mind. It follows the forward-backward/past&present structure, as well as time frame, of Oryx and Crake with different characters. The Year of the Flood wraps up the cliffhanger of Oryx and Crake, which was very good. It's interesting, however, that when I read Oryx and Crake I wanted it to end one way, but with The Year of the Flood I wanted a different ending, luckily the one Margaret gave me!  

The characters of The Year of the Flood belong to a religious group, almost a cult, called "God's Gardeners." The story is told from multiple points of view of women from the gardeners. I found these characters much more relateable than Jimmy and Crake. Possibly because of their gender. Possibly because of the way it was written. Possibly because they are more relateable. However, the storyline was not as exciting as Oryx and Crake, (because I already knew what was coming?)  but I really like and recommend this novel!

Read on!

13 June 2012

Oryx and Crake



In The Handmaid's Tale, society chose to embrace religion. In Oryx and Crake, science, technology, and evolution are the focus of society. Oryx and Crake begins with Snowman as the narrator and continues to unfold with Snowman in the present and flashbacks to Jimmy and Crake as they grow from young boys into men while science continues to take leaps and bounds developmentally. New animals are created. Society promotes extreme commercialization & sex and pornography are an easily accessible commodity. (reader beware!) 


Crake is perfect for this society. He's practically a scientific prodigy. Jimmy, on the other hand, is not. He is much better at art, and there's a little bit of the Science v Art conflict present in the novel. Crake is a manipulative, cunning, and calculating man with pure intentions. Jimmy is his loving, innocent minion.  


I really enjoyed reading Oryx and Crake. It's a definite page turner, waiting to see how the two stories meet. It's great! Read on!