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31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Atwood Sequel, 24 Aug 2009
First of all, it should be said that this book is a follow up to Atwood's previous novel 'Oryx and Crake'. Howvever, this book could be enjoyed without reading 'Oryx and Crake' as it's focus is on other characters. Jimmy, Crake (here as Glenn)and a few other characters do feature in this book in lesser roles, but are not the focus. The revlelations at the end of 'Oryx and Crake' would be spoiled if you read this book first. Therefore I would suggest first reading 'Oryx and Crake'.
This is a very solid book that takes our focus to the pleeblands of Atwood's dystopian future world. The 'God's Gardener's' are a cult working against the pollution and over-use of the world's resources while awaiting the great 'waterless flood' that will engulf the world's human population.
Instead of following a single character, Atwood chooses to flip between two members of the cult, Toby and Ren. The story is always pushed forward, however, events are told from one character's perspective or the other. It's a strategy that works quite well and considering how 'Oryx and Crake' was written from a male character's perspective, it's quite welcome to have female perspectives. Atwood, as always, is able to deliver solid female characters that are believable and easy to relate to despite the bizare world she has created around them.
The story is written in parallel to the events of 'Oryx and Crake' and ends not too long after where that book left off. Since the characters are linked in quite strange and unexpected ways to the characters of 'Oryx and Crake', expect to see quite a few of your favourites from that book popping up here as well.
One aspect that I enjoyed less were the frequent sermons given by the 'God's Gardeners' leader, Adam One. These were given at the beginning of each new section of the book and explained the cult's festivals and many many saints giving Atwood the chance to throw in a few 'tongue-in-cheek' references and inject some humour. However, I found them a bit dull and found myself racing through them in order to get back to the story.
If you wanted to know just what happened to Jimmy in the closing paragraph of 'Oryx and Crake' you will be pleasantly surprised by this book. And since Jimmy pops in and out of this story as well, we get to see him from another perspective, that of Ren, the scorned ex-grilfriend!
The book gives the impression that this is not the end of Atwood's dystopia. Atwood has extended the number of characters at her disposal and another book would be quite welcome. I would certainly love to read some more!
While this book is not as far reaching as 'Oryx and Crake' had been, it is still a very good story and a very enjoyable novel. I certainly wasn't able to book the book down. If you didn't enjoy 'Oryx and Crake', perhaps you should give this one a miss, however, if you had an interest in it and want to read on this is a very welcome sequel (of sorts).
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Margaret Atwood - The Year of the Flood, 9 Sep 2009
I think it would be wrong to say that The Year of the Flood is a sequel to the wonderful oryx and Crake; more, it is a sister novel (in more ways than one: as the first novel set two men trekking into a post-genetolyptic world, this one sets two women into it), which ends at roughly the same point. The two novels travel at right angels to one another and meet at a point.
A question I found myself asking all through this book was: what's the point of her visiting this again? I'm still not sure there is one. Apart from exploring the mindset and morals of "veggie-cults" in the instance of genetic dystopia (in this case the God's Gardeners cult who refuse to eat meet, preach an immenent cleansing "waterless flood", and sing hosannah's to all animal-life and its spirits), there's not much new ground covered here. If literature should be an exercise in illumination, there's not much new light shed here on anything the previous novel didn't cover. However: The Year of the Flood is still a wonderful book. I raced through it in just over a day. If you enjoyed Orxy and Crake, have no hesitation in buying this. If you didn't, then leave it on the shelf. If you've read neither, then you may as well begin with this one.
Atwood's writing is always a joy. The fun she has with words in new human landscapes is thrilling. And there is no doubt that this novel, while not thematically much different from the other, is an imaginative castle. It is clear that Atwood vastly enjoyed coming up with the God's Gardeners cult, imaginaing their rituals, morals, ways of communiating and believing. In fact, so much does that come through that I get the impression that that's the primary reason this book exists. That, and the fact that she feel so strongly about the issues within that she decided to tell us a second time.
I loved this book. As an clever entertainment, full of imagination, humanity and humour, it is probably much as good as you can get. Then, she normally is. We follow the two main characters' entry into the cult, their life within it, their eventual explusion as a result of outside forces, and then their eventual reunion in the decimated world. Their stories individually are fascinating, and the way they knit together is a wonderful example of pace and plotting.
You could argue that The Year of the Flood is superfulous, and you might be right, but that doens't stop it being great fun to read. I recommend this novel very highly. It is a very enjoyable read, and one that does not force you to consider the issues it stems from, but invites you to if you wish. Long live Margaret Atwood.
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13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing, 6 Sep 2009
I think Oryx And Crake is a wonderful book, but this book (not really a sequel as the events take place at around the same time as those in Oryx and Crake) just didn't grab me. The sermons at the beginning of each chapter are irritating, the hymns painful to read, and Atwood giving her readers permission to use the hymns for 'amateur devotional or environmental purposes' feels patronising.
In the end I just didn't care about most of the characters: Adam One, a guru without any depth or charisma; Blanco, a lightly sketched comic villain; Jimmy, reduced to one dimensional serial womanizer, and so on. I also didn't enjoy the globs of sexual violence dropped throughout the story here and there, like a child swearing for attention.
Atwood is a remarkable author, but this isn't a remarkable book.
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