Oryx and Crake follows the story of Snowman, or Jimmy before mankind fell victim to their own plague, who might be the last Human on Earth. His world is filled with the vestiges of life before--genetically engineered animals and humans. Through his own memories, we slowly learn about his life with Oryx, the love of his life, and Crake, his best friend who created the "perfect Human,"and their part of the demise of Humans.
Though the concept was interesting, with these types of books I am much more interested in the human condition and what a person goes through in order to overcome their situation and come out having triumphed (or failed). Though I felt the details of the fall of Mankind were flushed out, I felt the characters fell incredibly flat and I wished I could have seen Snowman grow or change. The responses to his environment and the events of his story (in the present day) were frustratingly apathetic.
WILDERNESS: In search of supplies, Snowman embarks on a journey across the ruins of his old life and world. Outside of the interactions with the Children of Crake (the genetically engineered "perfect humans") and his memories, Snowman is alone with his thoughts and relying on himself. Because there was so much focus on his memories of what had happened, I felt that the act of survival as (supposedly) the only Human left played a significantly less important role than it should have. I realize this may have been intentional, but it just did not work for me.
Goodreads rating: 3
Recommendation: I concede I am the minority in this, but I do not recommend this book, and I do not think I will be reading the rest of them. I really should have given it a 2, but I can't get over how everyone else loves this book, so I must have been missing something.
