The following is a letter/review I did for Margaret Atwood's novel, Oryx and Crake. It is up for the SJSU campus wide reading program. With a student body of 33,000+, the author whose work is chosen will be blessed with a high volume of book sales and the opportunity to speak at a university that is making a name for itself.
I find myself thinking often about the speculative nature of Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake since I was approached with the task of reviewing it from a students’ perspective. Simply put, the book is haunting. It’s a glimpse into a future that I fear (as we all should) but one that can become a reality. Atwood’s writing is fluid and beautifully descriptive while maintaining a core of truth.
There are moments when I have woken up with my morning cup of coffee reading the news, where I’d have, an “oh shit” moment – you know the almost frightening déjà vu that takes over and you can almost hear someone saying, “I told you so.” This is the feeling I’ve had ever since reading Atwood’s book and for very good reasons. Atwood’s story of the future is one that has roots in the present. Her novel dives into the effects of a world that we are now shaping – everything from cloning, biotechnology, genetics, child pornography and social division. As a student and inhabitant of a world that is evolving rapidly, the topics Atwood addresses are conducive to discussions that those at the university level should be prepared to share. For those students (and faculty) who have little exposure to the topics that Atwood explores, Oryx and Crake is a great introduction.
Naturally, the committee making the final decision on which book to choose for 33,000 students needs to take into account the functionality for such a broad student body. Atwood’s novel presents contemporary ideas that are universal to most, if not all SJSU students. Not to say that every person who reads Oryx and Crake will have such a disturbing revelation as I have had over a cup of coffee, but I do feel that everyone who reads Atwood’s novel will walk away with something much more than, “Geez, that was a good book.”
