Margaret Atwood's classic novel, THE HANDMAID'S TALE, is about the future. Now, in ORYX AND CRAKE, the future has changed. It's much worse. And we're well on the road to it now. The narrator of Margaret Atwood's riveting new novel is Snowman, self-named though not self-created. As the story begins, he's sleeping in a tree, wearing a dirty old bedsheet, mourning the loss of his beautiful and beloved Oryx and his best friend Crake, and slowly starving to death. Earlier, Snowman's life was one of comparative privilege. How did ...
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Margaret Atwood's classic novel, THE HANDMAID'S TALE, is about the future. Now, in ORYX AND CRAKE, the future has changed. It's much worse. And we're well on the road to it now. The narrator of Margaret Atwood's riveting new novel is Snowman, self-named though not self-created. As the story begins, he's sleeping in a tree, wearing a dirty old bedsheet, mourning the loss of his beautiful and beloved Oryx and his best friend Crake, and slowly starving to death. Earlier, Snowman's life was one of comparative privilege. How did everything fall apart so quickly? Was he himself in any way responsible? Why is he now left alone with his bizarre memories - except for the more-than-perfect, 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 a less-than-brave new world, an outlandish yet wholly believable space populated by a cast of characters who will continue to inhabit your dreams long after the last chapter. This is Margaret Atwood at the absolute peak of her powers.
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Seller's Description:
Good. All pages and cover are intact. Possible slightly loose binding, minor highlighting and marginalia, cocked spine or torn dust jacket. Maybe an ex-library copy and not include the accompanying CDs, access codes or other supplemental materials.
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Seller's Description:
Good. Hardcover This item shows wear from consistent use but remains in good readable condition. It may have marks on or in it, and may show other signs of previous use or shelf wear. May have minor creases or signs of wear on dust jacket. Packed with care, shipped promptly.
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Seller's Description:
Good in good dust jacket. 400 p. Audience: General/trade; College/higher education. Complete number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Nice British edition with cloth book mark. Some shelf wear to DJ and pages yellowing. Spine tight.
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Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972. Used books may not include companion materials, some shelf wear, may contain highlighting/notes, and may not include cd-rom or access codes. Customer service is our top priority!
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Seller's Description:
Fine. 400 p. Intended for college/higher education audience. Snowman's sleeping in a tree, wearing a dirty old bedsheet, mourning the loss of his beautiful and beloved Oryx and his best friend Crake, and slowly starving to death. Earlier, his life was one of comparative privilege. How did everything fall apart so quickly? Was he himself in any way responsible? Why is he left alone with his bizarre memories?
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Seller's Description:
Good. 400 p. Intended for college/higher education audience. Snowman's sleeping in a tree, wearing a dirty old bedsheet, mourning the loss of his beautiful and beloved Oryx and his best friend Crake, and slowly starving to death. Earlier, his life was one of comparative privilege. How did everything fall apart so quickly? Was he himself in any way responsible? Why is he left alone with his bizarre memories?
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Seller's Description:
Very Good. 400 p. Intended for college/higher education audience. Snowman's sleeping in a tree, wearing a dirty old bedsheet, mourning the loss of his beautiful and beloved Oryx and his best friend Crake, and slowly starving to death. Earlier, his life was one of comparative privilege. How did everything fall apart so quickly? Was he himself in any way responsible? Why is he left alone with his bizarre memories?
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Seller's Description:
First Edition with stated first published in Great Britain 2003, first printing with full number line in near fine / very good condition. The pages are clean and crisp with a tiny bit of tanning at the edges, but no bent corners. Green silk page ribbon is in very good condition. Pictorial boards are solid, and the spine is square and tight. Issued with alternate/ original cover art, and the dust jacket has minor shelf wear. Attractive book with minimal signs of use an unclipped dust jacket, and no remainder mark. All items guaranteed, and a portion of each sale supports social programs in Los Angeles. Ships from CA.
shipped quickly and was in fantastic shape!!! Love this seller!
ninthchord
Oct 8, 2010
Thoroughly inundated with intertextuality: the Bible, Huxley, Orwell, etc. Similar to Huxley with the theme of a dystopian future and genetic engineering gone awry, or at least taken to its most extreme. I was surprised with many of Atwood's ideas and found them quite creative. I appreciate that she uses certain words in order to preserve them or save them from obscurity (brainfart, for example), but it would have been better to use them in context instead of listing them in Snowman's thoughts.
Also, the theme of genetic engineering taken to the extreme has been done before: Huxley's "Brave New World" and Brunner's "Stand on Zanzibar," for examples. The problem is that, even though Atwood attempts to update this trope by including technology since those books appeared (the Internet, chat rooms, etc.), she offers nothing new to the story and Brunner and Orwell told the story better.
lovelywilde
Aug 5, 2009
beautiful
Oryx and Crake is at once beautiful and unsettling, thoughtful and terrifying, imaginative and down-to-earth.
wordnerd
Nov 6, 2008
It is excellent IF you enjoy reading about possible future scenarios here on eart. A future that does not have aliens, but just of science gone out-of-control. One that makes you think about the way we are headed.
conso
Sep 28, 2008
A book worth reading!
This is the first book I read from Margaret Atwood. I found it very interesting and scarily realistic. We are living days of profound changes all around the world, both socially and environmentally oriented, and the author gives us a glimpse of a situation that could possibly become true in the future. The story is easy to read and follow, and it captures the reader's attention from the very first chapter. I will definitely purchase another book by this author.
