I have nothing new to say about Margaret Atwood - her praises have been sung far and wide, and for good reason. Her writing is phenomenal and every book I read of hers brings yet more of her skills into the spotlight. For this book, it was her world building and boundless imagination.
The Year of the Flood takes place in a not too distant future where the conclusion of our greedy world plays out with devastating consequences.
“The times and species have been changing at a rapid rate, and the social compact is wearing as thin as environmental stability. Adam One, the kindly leader of the God's Gardeners--a religion devoted to the melding of science and religion, as well as the preservation of all plant and animal life--has long predicted a natural disaster that will alter Earth as we know it. Now it has occurred, obliterating most human life. Two women have survived: Ren, a young trapeze dancer locked inside the high-end sex club Scales and Tails, and Toby, a God's Gardener barricaded inside a luxurious spa where many of the treatments are edible. Have others survived? Ren's bioartist friend Amanda? Zeb, her eco-fighter stepfather? Her onetime lover, Jimmy? Or the murderous Painballers, survivors of the mutual-elimination Painball prison? Not to mention the shadowy, corrupt policing force of the ruling powers... Meanwhile, gene-spliced life forms are proliferating: the lion/lamb blends, the Mo'hair sheep with human hair, the pigs with human brain tissue. As Adam One and his intrepid hemp-clad band make their way through this strange new world, Ren and Toby will have to decide on their next move. They can't stay locked away... By turns dark, tender, violent, thoughtful, and uneasily hilarious, "The Year of the Flood" is Atwood at her most brilliant and inventive.”
It sounds absolutely insane.
There is commentary on climate change, pollution, capitalism and class, the treatment of animals, for-profit policing and prisons, and just about any selfish problem we humans have created for ourselves.
Commenting on these things is not hard. Weaving this commentary into a story that also contains interesting characters, an immersive setting, and just enough foreboding that compels you to turn the page quickly is hard.
Ren and Toby, are alive after the aptly-named “Waterless Flood” has taken most humans out. The Waterless Flood is a pandemic, about which we get little information, but it isn’t particularly important. It spread through humans and everyone dies. Topical, right?
I have to say I am much more partial to Toby - the no-nonsense survivalist, alive and well through a combination of her wits and her rational train of thought. Ren is alive because she’s lucky.
This is the second book of the MaddAddam trilogy, which began with Oryx and Crake in 2003, continued with Year of the Flood in 2009, and ended with MaddAddam in 2013. I did not know this when I started it - but the books can stand alone. Though I’m not much of a post-apocalyptic/sci-fi/speculative fiction reader, if someone were to provide me with the other two books, I wouldn’t be mad... The world Ms. Atwood built is incredible, and I grew fond of some of the characters and I hope to see them again in the third book.
The one massive difference that stuck out when reading this book was its… readability. Yes, you read that right. The Atwood novels I have read so far have been slightly elevated. I’ve been using just a little more brain power than usual when I read them. Not so with this one. I’m not sure if it was the simple language, big font, short chapters, or that this is more of a plot driven novel than a character study, but it was easy to jump in and out of when I had to do some work. I could sit down and read leisurely for a chapter or two, get up and do some dishes, go back, and hardly break the flow. I also caught myself thinking about the world and the characters while not reading the book. I even caught myself thinking about it while I was reading another book! Thoughts that reach beyond the first and last page are a great measure of impact and originality.
I loved it. It was weird and wonderful. While the synopsis might make it sound intimidating, with all the new words and inventions, all is explained (whether explicitly or by context) within the pages.
4 stars. Margaret Atwood is a Canadian treasure.
I dub November 18 to be the Day of Saint Margaret, where the children will make predictions of the future on their tablets before wiping them clean.
That was a reference to the book. Read it.
Happy reading,
Holly
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