Reflecting on Oryx and Crake

Intro:

Alright ladies and gentlemen, we did it. We all managed to read through our respected books on our own and blog about it. Some blogs have been fairly interesting, some less interesting. I hope that if you are reading this, than you have found my blog to be one of the more interesting ones. Some people liked their books, some people did not. However we found our books or blogs, we still made it to this point.

Anyway I wanted to use this last post to reflect a bit on my experience with Oryx and Crake. As you may have seen if you skimmed the sub-headings, I wanted to talk about my thoughts about the book, including what I liked and disliked, as well as if I would read it again or suggest it to another. So without making this intro any longer than need be, let me begin with my reflection.

Some overall thoughts: 

Overall, Oryx and Crake was a very interesting book. I certainly did not expect much of what I received from it, however that does not make it bad. With that being said, I really could not have forseen the casual child porn that would become foundational for one of the characters. When Kevin and I picked this book, we picked it under the original idea that it would be a satire. I am not sure if I would say it is or is not a satire, but it definitely makes some legitimate comments and observations about genetic engineering and religion.

Things I liked:

I would say that I really liked Atwood’s style of writing for the book. I think that making the book confusing for the reader makes them pay more attention to what is happening. If I idly read the book not being aware of what was going on, I would have missed some major details. This idea of small details in confusing order also adds to the value of reading the book a second time. I bet that if I read it a second time, I would probably understand considerably more than I understand now. I think this is one of the things that I probably liked the most about it. I understand and accept that I missed information while reading, and I would be interested to read it again to get a better understanding.

Things I disliked:

In my opinion, I would say that the beginning the book was slow. In a way, it was interesting because of the introduction to the characters, however this is countered by what felt like an incredible length. I felt that the introduction to the characters and the setting was foundational to understanding the rest of the plot, however I felt bored during some of the passages. For example, I felt like the book was dragging on when explaining the seemingly random games that Jimmy and Crake were playing. In reality only one of the games ever ended up mattering, however each of them were explained in what seemed like extreme detail. Also as much as I did like the confusion after having finished the book, while reading the book it felt like there was no way I was ever going to understand anything. What I mean by this is that I think I would personally like reading the book more the second time around because I actually know the plot of the book now and can focus on the minor details.

Would I suggest it/Read it again?

I think that I would suggest it to others, as long as they enjoyed the writing style of The Handmaid’s Tale. I found it an enjoyable book to read, however if I did not like the writing style I would have probably not liked it as much. It was kind of difficult for me in the beginning with the combination of introducing characters and style. I think that if I were suggesting it to someone similar to myself I would say that the book is worth reading, however the beginning will be a little slow and difficult. I think that I would also read it again. As mentioned earlier, there is so much content to the book that cannot be picked up on in one read that it is worth reading twice. I think that I will certainly take a break from it for a bit before picking it up again, but I do plan on reading it again. Overall I would suggest it to others, as I did enjoy it, however it was a bit difficult to get through at some parts and the writing style may be a deterrence for some.