Articles by Denise
Review: Oryx and Crake
Title: Oryx and Crake
Author: Margaret Atwood
Year of Publication: 2003
Genre: Science Fiction/Fiction
Length: The paperback version has 443 pages.
Rating: 4/5 – Worth paying full price.
Review:
Oryx and Crake is one of two novels that I have read by Margaret Atwood that are about a utopian future turned to dystopia, the other being The Handmaid’s Tale (1998). The story takes place in the future, and switches between two points in time; one that takes place during the younger years of the main character, who calls himself Snowman, and one that takes place when he is older, after the catastrophe. Atwood opens the story in the second future as Snowman is waking up in a tree, wishing that he was still asleep.
The first future is mostly dim, sometimes bright. The world is not much changed, and seems to be a possible next step from where we are now. There are gated communities for the rich and the smart, where Snowman (then called Jimmy) and Crake grew up. The less-fortunate live in the pleeblands, a somewhat more chaotic place.
Review: Wicked
Title: Wicked – The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
Author: Gregory Maguire
Year of Publication: 1995
Genre: Fantasy/Fiction
Length: 406 pages; small font, large book, not a quick read.
Rating: 4/5 – Worth paying full price.
Review:
The Wizard of Oz is a classic story, whether you saw the film on TV, read the book(s), or both. There are very few people in North America who have never heard of Oz, and most everyone can name at least a half-dozen characters: Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion, and The Wicked Witch of the West, to name a few. Even if some of these characters only have titles instead of names, and don’t have much of a character to them, they’re well-known and loved. Or, perhaps, hated, if you were that sort of kid.
In Wicked, Maguire, who is in the business of recreating old childhood stories into books better suited for adults, takes one of the most notable villains from Oz and turns her into something more. She’s given the name Elphaba, which is based on L. Frank Baum’s initials (El ef bee, el fa ba). Elphaba is born looking like a demon child, with green skin and teeth like razors. Her parents are poor people who try to live a simple life, but nothing is simple in Oz. There are great political problems, religious problems, and a scared populace that is quick to attack first and ask questions later.
