Oryx and Crake
Garrison Keillor over at the Writer’s Almanac tells us today that it is the birthday of Margaret Atwood. In Canadian Literature the name Atwood either evokes feelings of admiration and love or fear and loathing. In some readers the journey has been from the latter to the former.
Atwood, Margaret. Oryx and Crake. Seal Books; ISBN: 0770429351.
I picked this one up on impulse. If truth be told, the thought of reading a Margaret Atwood novel was a little daunting. I was forced to read Atwood in high school. Forced to read an author I was not ready to appreciate. It left a bad taste in my mouth, and I was reluctant to read anything by Atwood again. It didn’t help that my English Lit teacher had a finely honned skill of sucking the life and joy out of any collection of printed words no matter how great the author.
Well I’m glad I got over my “atwoodophobia”, because I really liked this book. It is a cautionary tale about what can go wrong if we sit back and let business and scientific elites tell us what’s good for us. It is a tale of the aftermath of the unconscious society’s plumet to extinction. It is a tale told with wit, humour and an understanding of the urges that drive us. Well worth the read.
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