Oryx and Crake
by Margaret Atwood · first published 2002
51% recommend43% neutral6% critical
Why HN recommends it
Vivid, darkly funny near-future dystopia about biotech gone wrong, with emotionally deep characters. Suits readers who want speculative fiction on genetic engineering, or a literary entry point into sci-fi.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Oryx and Crake is at once an unforgettable love story and a compelling vision of the future. Snowman, known as Jimmy before mankind was overwhelmed by a plague, is struggling to survive in a world where he may be the last human, and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake, and the beautiful and elusive Oryx whom they both loved. In search of answers, Snowman embarks on a journey–with the help of the green-eyed Children of Crake–through the lush wilderness that was so recently a great city, until powerful corporations took mankind on an uncontrolled genetic engineering ride. Margaret Atwood
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…are those that come up with a world different from ours and then take that difference and explore its effects on society. I'd like to offer some examples: - "Hello Summer, Goodbye" by Michael Coney - "Oryx and Crake" by Margaret Atwood (the first book in the Maddaddam trilogy) - "The Fifth Season" by N. K. Jemisin (the first book in the Broken Earth trilogy) - "The Mechanical" by Ian Tregillis (the first book in…
on “How Isaac Asimov shaped robotics and space exploration and predicted the Internet” ↗…and digressions about liberals and universities... But yeah, Stephenson isn't the author to start non-sci fans on (though Vonnegut fans might love Cryptonomicon and spot an influence or two). Atwood's Oryx and Crake is probably my answer to that, since it's classic near future sci fi disguised as literature. The first book is all about near future society and the implications of plausible tech, she just writes about…
on “We are all nerds: The literary works of Neal Stephenson” ↗vaguely related - i recently read margaret atwood's oryx and crake, which is another dystopian biotech future, and i rather enjoyed it. she's pretty cynical (and quite amusing at times) and while you can pick holes in many of her arguments the overall jaundiced view…
on “Are We Too Close to Making Gattaca a Reality?” ↗…scientifically validated point of view: http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2012/04/28/why-fiction-good... Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury L'Etranger - Albert Camus Frankenstein - Mary Shelley Metamorphosis - Ovid Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood The Picadilly Papers - Charles Dickens Permutation City - Greg Egan Fiction allows us to experience the most intimate thoughts of people we've never met in a way we cannot emulate in…
on “How You Know” ↗…Gregory Benford. Rameez Naam's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nexus_Trilogy All of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Suarez_(author) Much of Bruce Sterling, William Gibson, Neal Stephenson. Oryx and Crake and following from Margaret Atwood. Anything from Iain Banks. 'The Color of Distance' from Amy Thompson. Peter F. Hamiltons 'Greg Mandel Trilogy' and 'The Night's Dawn Trilogy', his later stuff didn't…
on “Ask HN: What is your favorite fiction book?” ↗How is Atwood not SF? Have you read Oryx and Crake?
on “The Best Science Fiction Books (According to Reddit)” ↗You should read "Oryx and Crake" by Atwood
on “Dual use of artificial-intelligence-powered drug discovery” ↗…are completely different from the former to, and from each other. I love dystopian fiction, so I've read tons of it. My current favorite writer in the genre is Margaret Atwood ("Handmaid's Tale" and "Oryx and Crake"). So I guess if you don't really enjoy reading speculative fiction with a gloomy outlook on the future, maybe you only need to read one of them (probably 1984, since it's the one everybody knows), but…
on “Ayn Rand's Literature of Capitalism” ↗The Feynman Lectures on Physics The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad A Latin/English dictionary for new company names
on “Ask YC: What would you put on a hacker's bookshelf?” ↗…in another thread my love of dystopias, and one of the best ever is The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. She's one of the best sci-fi writers alive (she doesn't exclusively write sci-fi, however). Oryx and Crake is also fascinating. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. I enjoy all of Vonnegut's work, but Cat's Cradle is a magical perfect novel. I don't know if everyone would agree that it's sci-fi, but Mark Twain's…
on “Ask YC: What's the most inspiring sci-fi book you've read?” ↗Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood Any of Ursula K Le Guin's books, but particularly The Left Hand of Tomorrow. Ancillary Justice. Anything by Peter Watts or Iain M Banks.
on “What are your favorite sci-fi and fantasy books?” ↗…to biology and genetics as the scientific driver: Julie Czerneda's Species Imperative Trilogy: Survival, Migration, and Regeneration. Maragaret Atwood, anything, but recently the MaddAddam trilogy: Oryx and Crake, Year of the Flood, and Maddaddam. Nancy Kress' Sleepless series: Beggars in Spain, Beggars and Choosers, and Beggars Ride.
on “What are your favourite sci-fi books?” ↗For a book which explores this, and similar ideas, try "Oryx and Crake" by Margaret Atwood.
on “Saturn moon 'able to support life'” ↗Have you read some dystopian fiction? For example, Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake? I'm excited to see what we can do with CRISPR, but we should do it fully aware of the ways things could go wrong (so that we can prevent those things from happening).
on “First Human Embryos Edited in U.S” ↗Read Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. It has a few high-impact suggestions that you or someone you know might be able to put into action.
on “Alaska’s Permafrost Is Thawing” ↗