Margaret Atwood has a brain the size of a planet and an even bigger imagination. I first realised this when I read her book The Blind Assassin , that Margaret Atwood has a brain the size of a planet and an even bigger imagination. I first realised this when I read her book The Blind Assassin , that story took me places I didn’t expect to go. Oryx and Crake is the result Atwood’s imagination operating in over-drive, this is one intelligent, wondrous and a troubling story of a post-apocalyptic world.
We aren’t sure how this apocalypse occurred.
First up we are introduced to Snowman (our narrator) who lives in this future world, in a tree, he wears a sheet and oversees a group of humanoids called The Children of Crake. These people are different to humans, they are childlike with a simple innocence about them. Snowman scrapes out an existence and looks back at his past pre-apocalyptic life when he was a child as a boy named Jimmy. This story follows these two timelines – pre and post-apocalypse.
Snowman/Jimmy is our main character, we learn about his childhood and his friendship with a genius boy called “Crake” (real name Glenn). Crake is an unusual boy who seems to march to a different beat, he doesn’t act like a usual lad, but after a while he and Jimmy become close mates. Crake is very, very intelligent and this sets him on a path of studying at the best academic institutions and he is eventually employed in genetics (creating new hybrid species) all this, while Jimmy battles through lesser-known schools and ends up working in advertising.
Jimmy’s father was a genetic scientist and he didn’t show much affection towards Jimmy, in fact he was rather cold and critical towards him. Jimmy’s mother was a bit of a nutter and left the family one day, out of the blue. Jimmy grew up angry and sex obsessed.
Oryx first spotted by the boys when watching a child pornography video, when she was a small girl. Beware: Even though there are some fantastic scientific ideas and concepts going on in this story and even some funny interactions between Jimmy and Crake, the back-story of Oryx is sad, dark and confronting. Anyway, as adults they meet Oryx and there is a rivalry between the two (probably more from Jimmy’s point of view) over Oryx’s affections (sex). Crake seems indifferent.
Snowman (the older Jimmy) is a sad lonely character, he doesn’t find much value in his relationship with the innocent, agreeable Crakers. Eventually, he decides to look for more supplies by visiting the compound he, Crake and Oryx worked at before the apocalypse event. This odyssey of Snowman brings the two timelines together and everything is eventually revealed.
The above description is a hollow attempt at describing an intricate piece of work which includes so many scientific factoids (and facts), a bizarre world of genetic developments, great main characters, a few laughs and lots of ‘oh gosh’ moments. It’s also a very human piece as Atwood takes us on a journey of friendship, friendship gone bad, obsession, rivalry and jealousy, the dark side of humanity, innocence, religious themes and the future.
Future naval-gazing is perhaps the most fascinating aspect here – how far can we, and should we, push scientific (genetic) advances? How much power should be put in the hands of scientists and corporations? After just emerging from a pandemic, we know some of the issues caused by infectious agents - imagine what kind of conversations we would be having now if the virus wasn’t a SARS virus, but a haemorrhagic, highly contagious virus with a mortality rate close to 100%? Even if it had a mortality rate close to that of Ebola (60+ %) our conversations would be very different – many or most of us would not be here.
It truly makes one wonder, with scientific developments forging ahead, the destruction of so many ecosystems and species in this world and with humans being what we are – the type of scenario described in this book – well, maybe it isn’t so fictional.
Atwood, is not only a great writer she is quite simply a genius.
Then, when he was exhausted, she stole his penis – she kept it in a cedar box with some other penises she’d stolen; she wA witch’s tale for grown-ups.
Then, when he was exhausted, she stole his penis – she kept it in a cedar box with some other penises she’d stolen; she was feeding them grains of wheat
That is the usual method for tending to penises. Now, let me get something straight this engaging short story isn’t all about captive members. However, I did find this passage particularly striking, frightening even.
My Evil Mother: A Short Story – by Margaret Atwood is an instantly gratifying story about a fifteen-year-old girl and her relationship with her unusual mother. This poor girl is made fun of at school for having a strange mum, apparently she had an ”invisible but slightly alarming aura”. In fact, other parents would never leave their children under her care for fear of returning to find their infant in a roasting pan. According to the daughter – her mother “would never do such a thing. She was evil but not that evil.”
The father, who left the mother when the girl was a young child – now has another family. The mother used to tell her daughter she turned him into a garden gnome and sent the kid out the back to seek solace from this gnome when she was upset.
I believe Atwood was playing with the notion of fifteen-year-old girls thinking their mum is evil because of the way they may be a bit controlling, overly protective, constantly lecturing, always right. This girl does argue with her mother a lot. But the author does leave the door slightly ajar for us to wonder if in fact, the mother is a broom-riding witch. It’s made clear at the end; it is worth the short wait.
I did find one description particularly delicious – this one of the girl’s gym teacher who was a “Stringy woman with a chicken neck who was given to hectoring.” I have an inkling; this is one reflexive description you would not see on an on-line dating site. Hahahaha – loved it!
A fun and very clever short story. What else would one expect from Margaret Atwood?
This is the second book I have DNF'd in as many minutes. Both, are about women living, and putting up with life in the 1960s.
The crappy way women werThis is the second book I have DNF'd in as many minutes. Both, are about women living, and putting up with life in the 1960s.
The crappy way women were treated - again (same as Lessons in Chemistry is a big theme with this one.
There's no question the subject matter here is important. However, for me, this was a little predictable. There was also a gaggle of hyper-caricatures hanging around, some I found a incredibly annoying.
(Personal question: At what age does one become a grumpy old man - is 62, too young?).
Big shame, as I usually love Atwood's work, but there you go....more
Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood is a magnificent 5-star, multi-dimensional, many-layered classic.
This story is based in Canada, in the fictional rurBlind Assassin by Margaret Atwood is a magnificent 5-star, multi-dimensional, many-layered classic.
This story is based in Canada, in the fictional rural town of Port Ticonderoga and the city of Toronto and involves the lives of two sisters, Iris and Laura, who were raised in the 1930s. Their Grandfather created a very successful button making business, creating great wealth. We follow the lives of the sisters until the 1940s. There are two main timelines, firstly, ‘the past' during the early part of the 1900s - and secondly we hear the perspective of Iris, as an older woman, who reflects on her life.
There are some rich characters in this book, most notably Laura – capricious, vivacious, wild and precocious – then there’s Richard Griffen, a highly driven businessman and husband of Iris. My third pick is Alex Thomas, a young, rebellious, lefty who touches the lives of both sisters. But there are so many more. We also learn about the period, and politics of this incredibly interesting period of history – namely, the Great Depression, the Great War and WW2.
Okay this sounds like a straightforward, family saga, during an interesting period of history with the author running a couple of different timelines.
For most, this would be enough, but this author decides to throw in a bizarre and (initially) difficult to fathom narrative regarding a fictional alien city called Sakiel-Norn on the planet Zycron. This place was populated by Snilfards, Ygnirods and slaves and there was a lot of turmoil, fighting, sacrificing and dreadful atrocities carried out such as blinding children used as slave labour to make carpets.
Well, who would’ve thought?
As if this isn’t enough – Atwood describes yet another story involving a place called Xenor, which is a planet located in another dimension of space, populated by super-intelligent, super cruel LIZARD MEN!!! That’s not all – these Lizard Men have red underpants made of a metallic substance unknown on Earth to protect their vital parts which were scaly, enormous (let’s not deny it) but also vulnerable.
So, it is safe to say there is PLENTY happening in this book. But this author is so, so skilful and she pulls it all off, it all comes together, it makes sense in the end and it is just a wonderful book. When I finished the last page, I let the book fall onto my chest (as I was lying on my back) and just said “WOW”.
Some may think these other narratives would have been a distraction to the main game, but no – they keep the reader guessing, ensures we stay on our toes. At the end of the day, we still really care about Iris and Laura, so they are never forgotten, and their story is fascinating. It is so well written.
Absolutely loved this. What a wonderful start to 2021.
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood is an absolute belter of a book. I was absorbed from the very first page, it’s a chunksterThis review contains spoilers
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood is an absolute belter of a book. I was absorbed from the very first page, it’s a chunkster, but as we say – it’s not too long if it’s good enough.
We follow the life of Grace Marks who is accused and found guilty of murdering Thomas Kinnear and his housekeeper Nancy Montgomery. Grace was accused of committing this crime with the distasteful James McDermott. Halfway through this read, I discovered this story is based on a real case in Kingston, Canada back in 1843. This added gravitas to this story for me, Atwood says she ”has not changed any known facts”, this made the story even more meaningful.
Grace is found guilty along with McDermott, the latter hangs but Grace evades the noose and is sent to the penitentiary, ultimately spending close to thirty years incarcerated. She spends some of that time in an asylum and a great deal of her time working as some sort of housekeeper in the prison Governor’s house – as a trusted inmate. Grace is fortunate to have a band of supporters, ‘well-to-do’ acolytes, advocating for her release. Another main character is Dr Simon Jordan (fictional) who spends hours interviewing Grace to try and recover memories of the crime, this to try and assist in the determination of guilt or innocence. Jordan is used by Atwood as a tool to uncover Grace’s life to the reader.
Well, well, well. The author really toyed with me on this one – I spent most of my time totally sympathetic to Grace Marks, she had such a rough life, coming out from Ireland in squalid conditions, subject to ordinary and sometimes terrible treatment - probably a very typical life of a poor woman of the time. I felt sorry for her, to me she was obviously influenced by the vile McDermott as he was a very nasty piece of work. He was violent, moody, manipulative – not the type you’d sit down and have scones and jam with. So, Grace had my sympathy, but more importantly, I started to fall for this woman – I thought the way she slowly revealed her story to Dr Jordan was so gentle, timid, reserved and calm. Grace didn’t have a bad bone in her body, she was angelic. In addition, my crush on her included my imagination creating this physically beautiful creature (after all I am a bloke), but in a way where she didn’t flaunt it as she probably wasn’t even aware of how beautiful she was. Yep, I was in her corner, a vial of smelling salts, water bottle, liniment oil, a couple of dry towels at the ready and screaming words of encouragement - You Go-Girl!!.
Having said that, Atwood introduced bloody uncertainty didn’t she? Grace’s recall of events surrounding the murders was vague. Why didn’t she warn Mr Kinnear (or someone) of McDermott’s premeditated intention to murder? (well, she was obviously under McDermott’s spell – wasn’t she?) But she could have been involved, she may have given McDermott sexual favours – God forbid!! She may have been intimate with Mr Kinnear (slightly more palatable). Grace certainly had an antagonistic relationship with Nancy, who was capricious and nasty. There were some dynamics – or let’s say hypothetical dynamics in that household, where one could dream up of her having good cause to be involved.
Oh dear, what to think!!! Some people at the time thought she was evil, manipulative and psychologically inclined to commit such an atrocious act. Grace may have even had multiple-personality-disorder. We may have witnessed a bit of this during a particularly confronting hypnosis session. But was she acting when she was ‘under’ hypnosis? Aaaarrgghh.
It’s this type of uncertainty, this kind of dilemma that caused me to think about this book ALL THE TIME. I couldn’t wait to get back to it – I wanted to find evidence of her innocence. But even evidence of guilt would have helped me – at least then I could let go, move on from Grace and get my life back in order and start eating, have a shave, maybe even a shower. But no – this is all unresolved (as far as this reader is concerned). Yes, she was eventually pardoned and lived a quiet life of domestic bliss with a man who had a crush on her back in the day. A nice fella – so that part of the story was resolved. Her happiness.
But was she guilty?
There is a series on Netflix about this story – of course, I’d love to watch it. But I am hesitant as it may destroy the vivid minds-eye images I have of beautiful Grace, of all the other characters (good and bad) and the times of the 1840s – whether it be the life of the rich, those living in squalor or in captivity. I might have to give it a while. It should be in black and white, with Grace the only character in colour – but that type of editorial influence might be a bit obvious.
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