shanth's reviews
936 reviews

This book focuses a lot less on the technical aspects that Oryx and Crake did and a lot more on the darker human impact of those same changes described in O & C. In a sense the two go together very well, where the first book does consider the issues that result from a corporate takeover of everything and the resulting inequalities it does so in a much more distanced and rational level. It allows you to ask, "Is it really so bad?"

This book is the answer that yes, it is horrible if you're not in the compounds. It's a lot more personal and there isn't any distance between you the reader and have-nots in this dystopian future. As a result it's a lot darker than O&C, where the focus on the rationalizations of the Corp insiders dilutes the message a bit.

This is the writing we expect from Atwood, which as another commenter pointed out, "[makes you] feel like [you] got hit by a car, got rolled over by a truck and then got dumped from an airplane"

This is the third Ruth Ware book I've read and she does a brilliant job of creating the unsettling atmosphere of uncertainty and confusion of a smart and resourceful protagonist dropped into a situation out of their depth. Less of a traditional mystery really, and more in common with horror although there aren't any supernatural elements in this one.

Also, what's with characters names Rowan in all of these :)

I have no clue why a book with one dimensional characters, no plot, and a total lack of any literary flair got the Booker? It fails as a work of fiction, and even as a work of creative nonfiction, it paints an oversimplified, stereotyped picture.