It Runs in the Family: Love in the Time of Dystopian Gene Splicing

Through no fault of his own, Macky didn't have a post up in May. But I'm happy to have him back on the blog for June, reviewing the MaddAddam trilogy by Margaret Atwood. Please note that this series contains mature/triggering content; more on this is expressed in his trigger warning below.

*TRIGGER WARNING: Series contains small elements of abuse, rape and forced prostitution. Though the scenes are not graphic, they are alluded to without any hint of being implicit. Please exercise caution if these themes are harmful to your emotional and mental health.* 

Oryx and Crake / The Year of the Flood / MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood

Series: MaddAddam #1-3

Publisher: Nan A. Talese

Publication Date: March 30, 2004 / September 22, 2009 / September 3, 2013

Source/Format: Borrowed from the library || Kindle e-book

There’s YA post-apocalyptic science fiction, and then there’s good old adult post-apocalyptic science fiction. I grew up having science fiction defined as the exploration of the human condition should the said humans be brought into scientifically impossible situations. On the days I stayed awake in lit class, I vaguely remember my teachers saying something about how it’s not just about aliens and laser guns and space ships and how it was more about answering the question, "What would people do if <insert fictional scientific reality here> were possible?”

In the case of the MaddAddam trilogy by Margaret Atwood, we’re talking extreme genetics. Kind of like a Gattaca meets Love Actually meets The Walking Dead. It starts right a bit after the world succumbs to some horrible yet-to-be-detailed catastrophe and centers around what few survivors we are given a chance to spy on. There is no YA whimsy or spark here. But something about how this story appeals to my love for “unraveling the end of days” and “weaving the aftermath of Armageddon” just kept me going.

It starts with Snowman, and his relationship with Crake and Oryx. From there, readers will see how the horrible Fibonacci spiral doom that sent the world into full chaos unfolds from the three of them. Mostly you just want to know who the hell Snowman, Oryx and Crake are, and more importantly, how they fit into the end of the world.

I love the way the writing is very Japanese anime/manga style in how it jumps back and forth between present time and well-timed character-driven flashbacks. It’s like this lovely jigsaw puzzle forming as you read, complete with cliffhangers! (And here, a shout out to the New York Public Library’s digital section is appropriate. Awesome work for keeping these books on file!)

Also, speaking of Fibonacci spirals… I personally like how the next book (The Year of the Flood) in the series opens the world up more and allows you a multi-cam, multi-scenario view of the events that lead to everything that happened in Oryx and Crake and magnificently moves the narrative forward.

More characters, more backstory, more of a panoramic view of a pre-apocalyptic world just ripe for Armageddon. By the time you hit MaddAddam, the style and the patterns just hit full throttle and you find yourself caring about more than just good old Snowman.

I don’t usually read these kinds of books. But I’m sorta getting a taste for Margaret Atwood’s writing style. I’d read a case study in tax law if she wrote it. And she writes such powerful narratives driven by such… gritty characters. People can argue about what kind of characters she writes, but as far as I can tell, you can seriously feel that her characters jump out at you somehow. Whether you like them or not, or feel they lack or have too much of anything is beside the point; you’d be too busy wanting to know what happens to them. That was my experience; I was seriously going "THEN WHAT?!"

In my humble opinion, liking the story and characters is a hit or miss. But the writing style and narrative weaving? That’s gotta get some props any day.I’m half geeky and nerdy enough to want to create timelines for the entire trilogy, charting the main events that lead to world’s end and the intertwining of the characters paths. It’s a work of art really, the synchronicity of all these events; a tapestry of lives woven in words and no less from the great Margaret Atwood. *steals away to reread The Blind Assassin*