Oryx and Crake

Today’s read was … not my (as they say) cup of tea...  though I have liked the author’s other works.  Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood is a futuristic novel set in a post-apocalyptic time.  The protagonist named Snowman, in the present setting of the novel, and known as Jimmy in the flashback scenes, lives among various types of “people” and animals – some appear to be “man made via chemicals/scientific advances” and others developed with cross-breading.  We learn of Jimmy’s upbringing, a father and mother who worked in some multi-national type companies, seemingly trying to identify food sources and vaccinations of animals and humans.  The demise of his family – both mom’s death after the divorce from his father and the strange love attraction of Jimmy’s father and his assistant - is intermingled throughout the book in flashbacks trying to capture Jimmy’s feelings and connections to the Crakers, as they are so affectionately known.  They use Jimmy for his knowledge (unbeknownst to him) through his old high school friend and computer pal, Glen, now known as Crake. On line “traveling” through games brings them to child pornography experience among other adventures, where Jimmy finds a young child who is hurt through the pornography world whom he calls Oryx.  Throughout the story Crake is trying to help his people by creating a “safe zone” of peace though Crake has some chemicals that will kill off those who want to hurt the society, except Jimmy, whom he has immunized.  In the end of the story, Crake starts a pandemic, kills Jimmy’s  love Oryx, and then in turn Jimmy kills Crake.  Jimmy is left to contemplate his next steps as all around him is solitude.  He is faced with a few new Crakes and has to determine what he should do?  Kill them? Work with them?  Like all good books that end in the unknown what happens next?  Probably a next book right???  I hope not, but am told yes.  Well, I probably will never know as I just did NOT get into this future sci-fi of sorts.  Between the flashbacks and never really knowing if I was with Snowman or Jimmy and Crake or Glen and why did Jimmy’s parents work on the bio “farm.”  Give me The Handmaid’s Tale ANYDAY.  I take a complete pass on this one.  Maybe a movie in the making?  Reminds me of those sci-fi matrix type of books.  I’m sure there are others whom loved this one, not me….