FREE Oryx and Crake PDF Book by Margaret Atwood (MaddAddam #1) Download or Read Online Free

This is one of those books that there are a lot of possible interpretations about and that people take quite seriously. But for me, it was a highly entertaining and emotional ride that, yes, has the social warnings, critiques, and observations that Oryx and Crake fans attach to it. I'm not someone who reads a book and takes what the author is intending as social warnings, critiques, and observations without a huge grain of salt - like anyone else, authors aren't infallible and the very thing they're trying to show their readers can be inaccurate, biased, or just flat out wrong. So I won't be using this review to say what my own interpretation of the book's message might be and if I agree with it or not. I'm only going to review the writing itself. I'm coming to this trilogy after reading The Handmaid's Tale and its follow-up novel, so I was expecting the same level of character development, storytelling, and emotional drive. While I was incredibly disappointed by the character of Oryx (I'll explain why in a minute), I enjoyed reading about Crake and Jimmy/Snowman. While they were all very flawed people, as people tend to be, Crake's storyline was gripping and his character design intriguing. I found myself wondering what he was going to do next and was genuinely shocked at how things ended up for him. As for Jimmy, I thought he was a fleshed-out character who I despised and resented at some points, and sympathized for and cheered for in others. Atwood had a very understanding take on him for better or for worse. I found it interesting that I, for the most part, enjoyed Jimmy for the same reasons I enjoyed Offred of The Handmaid's Tale - neither of them are painted as heroes or villains, but just people trying desperately to survive and keep their heads on straight while doing it. That being said, Jimmy had far more flaws than Offred and I'm in no way comparing them as far as their morality, trauma, etc. As much as I did enjoy this read, always wondering what Jimmy's memories were going to reveal next and how things would end, I was disappointed with Oryx. She's built up as a woman of mystery, but mysteries are only interesting when they're able to be solved. Though readers get to see Oryx's story from when she was a girl all the way into adulthood, there's so little seen about her personality and inner thoughts that (and what we do see of this is more of the same), in my opinion, she's every bit as mysterious and unknowable as when she's first introduced. She's also built up like this near-mythical creature, a woman who's supposed to be so rapturous that two men are pretty much obsessed with her. Given her tragic backstory and apparent intellect (as claimed by Crake at one point), you'd think we'd get to see her *do* more. After all, Atwood made a point of getting readers attached to her by delving in-depth into her childhood and teen years. Once you're attached to a character, you want to see them do things, be active in the story. Unfortunately, Oryx serves as little more than a sex/love interest for Jimmy and Crake, and a vague goddess to the Crakers, the latter of which, though seemingly quite interesting, is left somewhat unexplored. There might be a more complicated point to her that I'm missing, but as it stands, I see her as a character with huge potential and simply not enough "screen time" to explore it. I see Oryx more so as a side character and Jimmy and Crake as the main characters despite the fact that her name is in the book's title and she's made out to be the main focus for many of Jimmy's memories. But I did, overall, enjoy this book. It's a survival story meets dystopian mystery. I love Margaret Atwood for her poetic and gripping descriptions, her flow in storytelling, her plunges into exploring her characters' every nook and cranny, and her stunning knack for original concepts. It's not too action-packed that it's just a joyride of violence and sex, but it also never allows its monologues and drama to slow it to a crawling pace. It's a balanced story, one that made me feel an entire spectrum of emotions and made me think about how I perceive men, tech, and theology (but again, I won't go into my interpretations in this review). I will say this: Oryx and Crake isn't a book for everyone. The gratuitous sexual content, which includes child pornography in disturbing detail, is enough to make certain Atwood fans abandon the book entirely. Personally, I found most of the sexual parts completely disconcerting and had to force myself through the sexual abuse scenes. The only redeeming factor is that they were never portrayed in a romanticized or fetishized way, but as abuse in which the victims had very realistic responses. I'll also say there's no happy ending and the entire story, start to finish, is a spiral of misery, brutality, sadism, greed, and just bad choices with very few upswings. While it's a skillfully crafted novel, it's not light, happy, or optimistic by any standard. At the end of the day, this book ranks 4/5 for me. I would recommend it to anyone who likes a good dystopian survival story that takes the time to explore its characters and the downfall of humanity which led to the very dystopian in question. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone easily offended. The aforementioned gratuitous sexual content, which would normally put me off such stories tbh, might be triggering for some or just too disturbing for others. And the seeming critique of religion might turn off certain people as well, though even I, as a Christian, didn't find it to be too much of a deterrent to enjoying the reading. I might have a controversial opinion of the book given I don't like Oryx and I neither like nor dislike Jimmy that much (I certainly admire his ability to survive, though), but I still think this is a great addition by Atwood and I'm excited to read the rest of the trilogy!