Helpful Score: 7
This book is set in the same universe as "Oryx and Crake" and I suggest you read that book before reading this one. The setting occurs in almost the same timeline as "Oryx and Crake" and you will meet some familiar characters in the new book.
Great story. Margaret Atwood is very good at story telling.
Great story. Margaret Atwood is very good at story telling.
Helpful Score: 6
Margaret Atwood and I have an uneasy relationship. I would be hard-pressed to name another living author that writes better dystopian fiction today -- in fact, The Handmaid's Tale is on my Top 10 Best Books of All Time list. But then again, Oryx and Crake -- another of her heralded books of the same vein -- left me totally cold and scratching my head. That aside, I was really looking forward to The Year of the Flood. My understanding was that it was a companion novel to Oryx and Crake, but not dependant upon that book like a sequel.
I'd say that is an apt description of After the Flood. You don't have to read Oryx and Crake to enjoy or understand The Year of the Flood. Unfortunately, if you didn't like Oryx and Crake -- like me -- you probably won't be crazy about After the Flood much, either.
The book focuses on the great Waterless Flood played out in Oryx and Crake through the eyes of two female survivors. Toby, a member of a religious cult called God's Gardeners, has weathered the environmental apocalypse in a women's health spa. Former God's Gardener, and current trapeze artist and high-end escort Ren is locked in the brothel Scales and Tails. The events leading up to the disaster are shown through their eyes, allowing a better view of the story from outside the CorpSeCorps walls. (And incidentally, is there a better name out there for an evil, corporate giant? I don't think so.)
Atwood is a gifted storyteller. She never fails to scare me with her plotlines, which are still speculative fiction, but not outside of the scope of plausibility. The social, environmental and political future she draws is a grim one, and her characters match their environment. Neither Toby nor Ren is especially likeable. But, each is a strong and interesting heroine -- there are no Mary Janes in Margaret Atwood's novels. Her women are flawed and multifaceted and always manage to be real, even in surrreal storylines.
The Year of the Flood made me think, but it was a slow read. At times, I actually felt a little resentful of the book and the amount of time it took to finish. At the end of the day, it was worth the effort - but The Year of the Flood is probably not going to make my "To Re-read List" anytime in the near future.
I'd say that is an apt description of After the Flood. You don't have to read Oryx and Crake to enjoy or understand The Year of the Flood. Unfortunately, if you didn't like Oryx and Crake -- like me -- you probably won't be crazy about After the Flood much, either.
The book focuses on the great Waterless Flood played out in Oryx and Crake through the eyes of two female survivors. Toby, a member of a religious cult called God's Gardeners, has weathered the environmental apocalypse in a women's health spa. Former God's Gardener, and current trapeze artist and high-end escort Ren is locked in the brothel Scales and Tails. The events leading up to the disaster are shown through their eyes, allowing a better view of the story from outside the CorpSeCorps walls. (And incidentally, is there a better name out there for an evil, corporate giant? I don't think so.)
Atwood is a gifted storyteller. She never fails to scare me with her plotlines, which are still speculative fiction, but not outside of the scope of plausibility. The social, environmental and political future she draws is a grim one, and her characters match their environment. Neither Toby nor Ren is especially likeable. But, each is a strong and interesting heroine -- there are no Mary Janes in Margaret Atwood's novels. Her women are flawed and multifaceted and always manage to be real, even in surrreal storylines.
The Year of the Flood made me think, but it was a slow read. At times, I actually felt a little resentful of the book and the amount of time it took to finish. At the end of the day, it was worth the effort - but The Year of the Flood is probably not going to make my "To Re-read List" anytime in the near future.
Helpful Score: 3
I found I did not enjoy this. I had heard so much about it, but I found the writing sloppy. Atwood has not created the fully fantastic world that the plot demands. After reading Oryx & Crake, I hoped she would expand on it in this, but she really added very little. I am about done trying to enjoy her work. I think you either love or hate it, and I am sure not loving it.
