"Oryx & Crake" by Margaret Atwood

[aurelio]

Hi All,

I just finished reading "Oryx & Crake" and wondered if anyone else here has read it. I was curious to find out what others thought of it, and of Atwood's writing.

It was my first Atwood novel. I thought it was intriguing but she tends to get a bit wordy for me - the poet in her, I suppose - and although she has such an excellent control of language, she could, in my opinion, streamline her writing. I read Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" a few months back, and she posseses the same verbal command as Atwood but it is more finely focused - and definitely one of the best books I've ever read.

The story itself was very interesting and engaging, although relentlessly depressing, and I was kept involved up to the end. But the end was odd, and for me, unsatisfying. I felt the story simply stopped rather than actually ended.

Any different thoughts, anyone?

Aurelio O'Brien

 

[Brian G Turner]

I've read "Cat's Eye" by Margeret Atwood - but it's the only book I've read.

That one was effectively 2 works uncomfortably merged into one - and I can't believe it ever won critical acclaim other than the fact it was written by a "woman". The first half is a strong almost certainly biographical account of a young girl growing up in Canada. The second half is about a grown woman who exists in a world with no history or politcs, who bumbles around lamenting life choices and getting involved with the wrong sort of men. Stylistically, "Cat's Eye" is competently written, but the lack of continuity between the two halves to myself is a serious artistic flaw.