Audible is great, Margaret Atwood is great, and Oryx and Crake? Brilliant.

Title: Oryx and Crake

Author: Margaret Atwood

Publication date: May 2003

Genre: Speculative fiction, Dystopia, Science Fiction, Novel

Format: Audio book read by John Chancer

Pigs might not fly but they are strangely altered. So, for that matter, are wolves and racoons. A man, once named Jimmy, lives in a tree, wrapped in old bedsheets, now calls himself Snowman. The voice of Oryx, the woman he loved, teasingly haunts him. And the green-eyed Children of Crake are, for some reason, his responsibility. 

You can hardly call yourself a reader if you’ve never heard of Margaret Atwood. (Don’t get me wrong, we may not all have read a book by the clever Canadian novelist, but we should have some idea of her general existence on planet earth.) Before reading Oryx and Crake I’d only read one other book of hers: The Handmaid’s Tale. Having read the latter at school, I liked Atwood but hadn’t felt the need to read much else. Finally, inspired by 10 months living in Canada (Atwood’s home country), and as the result of a sale on Audible I started listening to Oryx and Crake.

Atwood doesn’t rush ahead to answer any of the questions she puts forth in the opening chapters, and her post-waterless-flood world takes shape in a meandering, organic sort of way. It makes the narrative completely addictive and I was peacefully and unknowingly sucked along with it.

“Snowman wakes before dawn” – Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake

The story begins with the voice of a man called Snowman as he begins his day by urinating on the grasshoppers. As his opening inner dialogue progresses it becomes apparent that he is living in a post-human (or very close to being post-human) world. His observations of the world around him are rough edged and his cynicism shines though with a sprinkle of relatable humour. Some of this humour comes from the naivety of the non human characters he lives alongside but I won’t say too much about them here.

As Snowman makes plans to gather more resources (soap, bottles etc.) he tells the story of how he came to be where he is and of his relationship with the mysterious Oryx and Crake. His story is unpacked with no details spared and was thoroughly engaging. Of course, the writing was phenomenal and the narration by reader John Chancer gave such life to the voice and the other characters therein.  Her use of satire helps keep pace and maintain interest, I snorted laughter more than a handful of times whilst listening. As well as this there was a graphic richness to Atwood’s language throughout – it was impossible not to feel the visceral pains and gentle affections of her characters. It definitely has a few NSFW passages but nothing seemed irrelevant to the points she was making and the story she was telling.

Snowman himself is so undeniably representative of the human condition and he draws light on so many very silly, and very human behaviours. His sentimentality, desires, sarcasm, pride, jealousy and wit are all so uniquely human; put against the backdrop of characters without these traits and flaws only serves to highlight the best and worst of human nature. It also seems to serve as another one of these ‘god complex’ narratives, almost like a modern Frankenstein. The nature/science juxtaposition is clear cut and obvious but it also gives the story a solid morality/immorality tension. Plus (to my uneducated ears anyway) the science and technological advancements weren’t *too* lavish, I found them quite believable. Flying pigs? No. But organ pigs? Definite possibility…

This is a significant and compelling piece of literature and I couldn’t resist instantly downloading the sequel and the finale immediately after the last word. I’ll almost certainly be re-reading a paperback copy.

Did you think the same or do you think I’m completely nuts? Let me know in the comments! 

✩✩✩✩1/2

4.5 out of 5