ORYX AND CRAKE

by Margaret Atwood
 
This novel has been on my “to read” list for quite a while. (Pub date of 2003.)  It’s been recommended to me many times.  And in the past, I have loved Margaret Atwood’s novels:  not just Handmaids Tale, but Alias Grace(one of my all-time favorites), Hag-Seed (reviewed in  April 2017 L&L Review), and The Blind Assassin.  Did Oryx and Crake disappoint me because I had such high hopes?  Or, perhaps I’ve read too many post-apocalyptic and dystopian novels of late.  Whatever the reason, this wasn’t even remotely a book that I’d recommend.  To pinpoint what I didn’t like about Oryx and Crake:  not only does it deal with a very grim subject matter (all mankind as we know it has been destroyed except our protagonist), but Atwood only reveals the how and why of that destruction in a laborious and strained manner.  I found myself struggling to get to the end of this book only to find I didn’t care what happened once I got there. For that reason, Oryx and Crake is not my cup of tea. (Liz)