Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

Dystopian. Adult. Horror.

Rating: 4.5/5

Pages: 400

Minutes: 10.5 hrs

Started: 7 October 2023

Finished: 13 October 2023

Summary:

    Snowman is the last human alive--after the viral spread of a deadly disease, only he and a small group of human-esque creatures, genetically modified for perfection, have survived. As Snowman ventures back to an abandoned compound in search of more supplies, we slowly learn about his childhood, the horrors of his society before the disease, and just how Oryx and Crake became revered as gods. 

Thoughts: 

    This was an insanely cool book. I was once again amazed by Atwood's ability to weave past and present together, and her ability to build a narrative by releasing small amounts of information at a time. The world-building was utterly horrifying, and, just like with The Handmaid's Tale, it was very clear how easily our society of today could develop into the precise horrors depicted in the novel. And the novel was horrifying--the characters found graphic deaths, graphic porn, graphic violence, to be so normal, and their lack of a sense of horror made mine more extreme. Just like The Handmaid's Tale, I didn't find myself particularly attached to any characters, but it didn't matter. Such horrifying dystopian books are supposed to be witnessed, not experienced, and I think that is perfectly okay. I enjoyed reading this so much, and will definitely read more of Atwood's books in the future.