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X-WR-CALNAME:Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood in Columbus at Postal c
	ode 43220\, United States - Eventful
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DTSTART:20090820T190000
DTSTAMP:20090820T162414Z
SUMMARY:Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
DESCRIPTION:  In Oryx and Crake\, a science fiction novel that is more
	 Swift than Heinlein\, more cautionary tale than "fictional science" (
	no flying cars here)\, Margaret Atwood depicts a near-future world tha
	t turns from the merely horrible to the horrific\, from a fool's parad
	ise to a bio-wasteland. Snowman (a man once known as Jimmy) sleeps in 
	a tree and just might be the only human left on our devastated planet.
	 He is not entirely alone\, however\, as he considers himself the shep
	herd of a group of experimental\, human-like creatures called the Chil
	dren of Crake. As he scavenges and tends to his insect bites\, Snowman
	 recalls in flashbacks how the world fell apart. While the story begin
	s with a rather ponderous set-up of what has become a clichéd landsca
	pe of the human endgame\, littered with smashed computers and abandone
	d buildings\, it takes on life when Snowman recalls his boyhood meetin
	g with his best friend Crake: "Crake had a thing about him even then..
	.. He generated awe ... in his dark laconic clothing." A dangerous gen
	ius\, Crake is the book's most intriguing character. Crake and Jimmy l
	ive with all the other smart\, rich people in the Compounds--gated com
	pany towns owned by biotech corporations. (Ordinary folks are kept out
	side the gates in the chaotic "pleeblands.") Meanwhile\, beautiful Ory
	x\, raised as a child prostitute in Southeast Asia\, finds her way to 
	the West and meets Crake and Jimmy\, setting up an inevitable love tri
	angle. Eventually Crake's experiments in bioengineering cause humanity
	's shockingly quick demise (with uncanny echoes of SARS\, ebola\, and 
	mad cow disease)\, leaving Snowman to try to pick up the pieces. There
	 are a few speed bumps along the way\, including some clunky dialogue 
	and heavy-handed symbols such as Snowman's broken watch\, but once the
	 bleak narrative gets moving\, as Snowman sets out in search of the la
	boratory that seeded the world's destruction\, it clips along at a goo
	d pace\, with a healthy dose of wry humor.\n
LOCATION:Postal code 43220\, United States @ Columbus, Ohio 43220 Unit
	ed States
SEQUENCE:1250785454
UID:E0-001-021934670-3
URL:http://eventful.com/E0-001-021934670-3
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