Re: "The End Is Near"

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This is a very short abridgment to a review by Richard A. Posner on Oryx and Crake. If this is not yet efficient enough then you may check back to see if I have updated it or any other of my blogs for that matter. I like to come back and re-work my opinions since they change quite frequently.

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   Richard begins to make many comparisons of doom-laden futuristic novels. He states that these novels are a community through explorations of a being unchecked. Darwinism and polarization of social classes. An idealism that states simply "ending is better than mending".

"poetry can only be made out of other poems; novels out of other novels."

Richard continues to compare with great detail George Orwell's 1984 (A friend of mine introduced this book) and H.G. Wells's The Island of Dr. Moreau (A Book I have not read). Animal Farm introduces the idea that pigs are of sinister intelligence. Atwood has adopted many other works into her own.

"And Atwood's protagonist, Jimmy, who after the culminating catastrophe renames himself 'Snowman' (as in 'Abominable'), is a knockoff of Robinson Crusoe: the title of her last chapter, "Footprint," is a clue."

I am gathering an impression of Richard that is not particularly fond of Atwood's writing.
Perhaps he doesn't like cilantro?

 Maybe not since Richard attempts to reiterate:

"I do not note these borrowings to scold Atwood (remember Frye's dictum). And I do not subscribe to such criticisms of her book as that Jimmy lacks sufficient intellectual and psychological depth to have moral insight, or that Crake's speciescide is insufficiently motivated. Moral understanding should not be confused with intellect, and the psychological springs of world-class villains are unknown. (That is the lesson of Hitler studies.) Crake is a perfectly credible twenty-first-century intellectual psychopath, with his faintly autistic, ascetic hyper-rationalism and his techie-bureaucratic talk, as in, "Let me walk you through a hypothetical scenario," or, "It was an elegant concept, though it still needed some tweaking." One knows men like Crake."

I am like these two characters combined! Thanks for changing how I looked at this...

It is unfortunate that I hadn't the privilege to develop this character myself.

Richard then goes on finally attempting to spoil the entire novel for me revealing plot summary rather then a review of Atwood's writing in the novel. In order to maintain some real reactions and realize these revelations on my own accord I will do myself a large favor and skip through all of this plot summary.

He believe that Atwood's Oryx and Crake will be placed on a shelf with many other scientific and prophetic, doomsayer novels. Their survival may depend on their literary merit aside from the social insights. These observations are uncomfortable and it is increasingly difficult to cognate a feasible solution to these issues: scientific-technological advancements. - Dramatized in Oryx and Crake.

"We must not forget that it is in the nature of prophecies of doom that all but the last are falsified."

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Words used to describe Margaret Atwood:

Not many words if any are describing Atwood directly.

Oryx and Crake:

Splendid, ghastly and scientific.
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Comparisons:

H.G. Wells's The Time Machine, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, Animal Farm, Paul Ehrlich, Our Final Hour and some others I unfortunately missed. Though I will likely come back to this eventually.
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Re: "Cilantro Prose".

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June 2003 - The editor of January Magazine and the author of several books writes a review on Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake.

October 2010 - Ms. Romyn's 4U English student writes an abridgment to Linda L. Richard's critical analysis on Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake.

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   Linda L. Richards explains that there are those who love Atwood's writing and those who despise it. Linda often finds herself pausing mid-paragraph in awe and wonder. She picks the work apart. Her reviews would often get one of two responses. Either: "Oh, wonderful! I love her work!" Or: "Oh, Atwood! I couldn't even get through Handmaid's Tale or Surfacing or The Blind Assassin or insert the title of any one of her books here.". Linda says that Oryx and Crake may not persuade you to love cilantro since it is Atwood at her most speculative, unapologetic nature. Atwood invites comparisons to 1985's The Handmaid's Tale, an earlier dystopic novel set in the uncertain future. However Oryx and Crake is a different novel altogether. In Oryx and Crake we are dealing with such impieties as genetic manipulation and a technology that has gone so wrong that it looks very much like the end of the world. Margaret Atwood has created a piece of art that is almost threatening. We meet Snowman whom was previously known as Jimmy. Snowman has had a difficult life scrambling for food and away from potential predators. Ever so often he is confronted by flashes of serenity.

A caterpillar is letting itself down on a thread, twirling slowly like a rope artist, spiralling towards his chest. It's a luscious, unreal green, like a gumdrop, and covered with tiny bright hairs. Watching it, he feels a sudden, inexplicable surge of tenderness and joy. Unique, he thinks. There will never be another such moment of time, another such conjunction. 

These things sneak up on him for no reason, these flashes of irrational happiness. It's probably a vitamin deficiency.

Nothing may ever be what it seems after it is brought forth by Atwood. This may be what readers of Atwood's novel find so deterring. There are often layers upon layers of a deeper meaning the require much unraveling. It is beautiful and uncomfortable. What if... The plot hinges on possibility and speculation.

"the worst you can imagine doesn't even touch it." *Maybe*

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Words used to describe Margaret Atwood:

Wonderful, unabashed, unstinting, unapologetic, vivid, irritating and imaginative.

Oryx and Crake:

Breathtaking, different, skillfully distant, brilliantly dark, startlingly cold, fully realized, convincing, threatening, beautiful, scratchy and uncomfortable.

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Comparisons:

"the worst you can imagine", Handmaid's Tale, Surfacing, The Blind Assassin, any of her other books, cyberpunk and cilantro.
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The Great Awakening; Chapter One.

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*Note* this is incomplete. I will finish this as soon as possible!

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Mango

New Characters:
Snowman ~ Additions.

- Snowman is a character of misfortune. He may have an obsession with time and is alarmed at the realization of it's official absence. Snowman may be a procrastinator unaware of time passing. During this apparent absence of time his memory has been fading. I believe Snowman may have read a lot of books since his word choice is articulate; also he thinks of quotations he may have heard or read before. Snowman attempts to be practical and resourceful though his surroundings often get the better of him. This character believes in having good morals and sentimentality.

*   "Snowman wakes before the dawn."

~How is waking before the Sun rises significant?

/Dawn - The first appearance of daylight in the morning .

   - The beginning or rise of anything; advent.

/Snowman - A figure of a person made of packed snow.

//Snow is water in it's lightest solidified form.

*      "He lies unmoving, listening to the tide... the rhythm of heartbeat."

~This personifies the Earth. How else is the Earth like a person?

/Tide - the periodic rise and fall of the waters of the ocean and its inlets, produced by the attraction of the moon and sun, and occurring about every 12 hours

//Synonym//Tied - To fasten, join, or connect in any way.

*   "On the eastern horizon there's a greyish haze, lit now with a rosy, deadly glow."

~This gives an image of coals that are smoldering. Why is this image important?

/Horizon - The apparent intersection of the earth and sky as seen by an observer.
*      "The offshore towers stand out in a dark silhouette against it, rising improbably out of the pink and pale blue of the lagoon."

~This gives me the feeling that there are giant monsters that are unknown, undecipherable and shrouded with darkness emerging from the pale blue waters though they should not.

~~The waters are pale-faced as if they are frightened.

/Silhouette - The outline of a solid figure as cast by its shadow.

   - A drawing of the outline of something, especially a human profile, filled in with a solid color.

*         "Distant ocean grinding against the ersatz reefs of rusted car parts and jumbled bricks assorted rubble sound almost like holiday traffic."
~The old civilization in deteriorating.
~~What does holiday traffic actually sound like? (Put a sound file here)

*   "Out of habit he looks at his watch..."
"He wears it now only as a talisman."
~What is the significance of a broken watch
/Talisman - An object marked with magic signs and believed to confer on its bearer supernatural powers or protection.
*      "A blank face is what it shows him: zero hour."
~Blank face as an expression. A silhouette is also a "blank face"
/Zero hour - The scheduled time for the start of an operation or action, especially a combat operation of great size.
*        "This causes a jolt of terror to run through him, this absence of time."
~Is Snowman a procrastinator? Or: Is Snowman terrified at the fact he is unaware of time passing?
*            "'Calm down,' he tells himself. He takes a few deep breaths. (Talk about yoga)
~~This may be referring back to the tide.
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Open to Many Opinions...

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Opinions are horrible since everyone has them and they are often purely subjective.

   I have selected three critical reviews that I will prècis on Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake. The first article I will type an abridgment to is an interesting, "fairly weird" opinion on Atwoods writing in the novel. The first article was written by Linda L. Richards in June, 2003. The second review I will revise is a lengthy read written by a judge on the United States Court of Appeals, Richard A. Posner. The third, final review I will summarize was written by W. R. Greer whom has written many reviews.

*note*Each of these reviews were selected at random and if you would like me to write a prècis on another critical analysis then please post the name of the author; otherwise you may post a link.
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The One That Writes...

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Biographical information will be posted here as I pick it up!


Margaret Atwood? yes, Margaret Atwood.
this kind of stuff takes a little bit of time.
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Which One to Choose?

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"Wow, just look at how many times this book has been published!
 How could I not read it?"

To be clear, every time that a novel is picked up by a different publishing house they must design a new cover. To reiterate, when a novel is re-published they illustrate a new cover page; the content remains constant.

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*This is the version I picked up*

   This image is a very imaginative illustration of the dystopia Margaret Atwood creates in Oryx and Crake. Very creative creatures inhabit this "cruel" world. It appears to be what remains of the old world cluttering the scenery; the plant life utilizes these shaded areas and prosper. In the words of Atwood, "On the eastern horizon there's a greyish haze, lit now with a rosey, deadly glow. Strange how that colour still seems tender." (Atwood 5).

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   Here is the portrait of a beautiful girl with sharp, piercing and almost blueish green eyes. There are some opaque hamma fig tree leaves around the border surrounding the portrait. A flower in bloom is erupting from the center of the portrait; the flower looks as though it may be in her mouth.

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   Here is another portrait of a girl with green eyes. There is a filter over this image that blurs out the details of her beautiful face. This illustration may be blurred because the character is only a memory.

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   This cover page is very simple and indeed aesthetically pleasing. A very simple colour scheme and with great use of negative space allows the cute little piggy in the bottom right corner catch your eye without creating a  distinguishable central theme.
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The shadow of a man seeming to be shielding his eyes from the sun; staring off into the horizon.
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*Note* this is incomplete. I will finish this as soon as possible!

At first glance...

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Firstly,
before I introduce my book,
if you would like to listen to a song by the artist Sage Francis titled Majority Rule...

   This song deals with speculative fiction; the book I have chosen to read deals with speculative fiction. Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing the more highly imaginative fiction genres, specifically including science fiction, fantasy, horror, alternate history, supernatural fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction. The book I have chosen to read seems to have incorporated all of these characteristics which I find particularly interesting!
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Wow, just look at how many times this book has been published! How could I not read it?

   This novel was first introduced to me by Ms. Romyn. After talking briefly about George Orwell's Animal Farm, I asked if I would be allowed the pleasure to re-read it for my ENG 4U ISU. I was denied. I was then informed that Margaret Atwood could also do George Orwell; and in Oryx and Crake would do him one better (speculatively speaking of coarse). I am very interested in speculative fiction since it deals with quite probable instances. I am intrigued to see what Atwood thinks will become of this precious planet if we do not recede and realize the ramifications of our actions.

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