Oryx and Crake

I recently read Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood and enjoyed it tremendously. So much so, that I ran out and bought a copy of The Handmaid’s Tale. Which is supposedly one of her best works. I don’t know my way around reviewing jargon but I’ll do my best and explain how I think this would make a great movie and is a wonderful example of the trans media narrative that I mention all the time in my blog posts.

It’s about a man and another man and a woman and the end of the world.

Margret Atwood does a great job at mixing an abysmal end of the world setting with snarky humor. I often found myself cracking a smile and then a minute later feeling sorry for her oracle-hobo-protagonist, Snowman.

It’s a very cinematic novel.

What I mean by that is that while I read the novel I felt like I was watching a movie. She does a fantastic job at putting the reader inside Snowman’s head. I think if done well, this could translate into a blockbuster. Much in the same way that The Road received a brilliant movie adaption. (Some critics may argue with me, but I found the film adaption moving and engaging.)

Oryx and Crake also has some sprinklings of Urban Fantasy. With Urban Fantasy the traditional “forests” are replaced with the concrete jungle. The setting very much needs to be a character of its own. I think this is also true with end of the world stories. You need to feel the decay, understand that there is a “once was.” And this book does just that. As Snowman journeys through the world Margret put him in, you can’t help but feel that the decrepit houses and dead cities are alive with character.  

I think that a sign of great speculative fiction is the sign that it can become a movie. But doesn’t always have to. I think this is doubly true for SciFi/Fantasy. It needs to have a great story, or, in Twilights case, sell well.

Apparently Oryx and Crake is the first book in the Maddadam Trilogy but like any good book, can be read as a standalone novel.

If you’re up for an Orwellian tale. This book reads like a classic. I think that’s exactly what it will become.