For October’s book club meeting we will be reading Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. 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.

Oryx and Crake was first published by McClelland and Stewart in 2003 and was also shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction that same year. Helen Brown, for the Daily Telegraph, wrote “The bioengineered apocalypse she imagines is impeccably researched and sickeningly possible: a direct consequence of short-term science outstripping long-term responsibility. And just like the post-nuclear totalitarian vision of The Handmaid’s Tale, this story is set in a society readers will recognize as only a few steps ahead of our own.”

What we discussed at the last bookclub meeting:

We read The Forever War by Joe Haldeman, which explores of the inhumanity of war and of bureaucracy, and of the psychological effects resulting from the time dilation of space travel (a soldier returns home after centuries away).

For the most part we enjoyed the science of space travel and all the effects it has on the author and humanity. We were not fans that Haldman minimally, if at all, described any of the characters and was incredibly paltry with any details about any of the characters, including the narrator. The book was about the dangers of fascism and the fruitlessness of war and some of the concepts were very thought provoking.

When: Monday, October 8, 2012 – 6:30pm-8:00pm

Where: Filter, 1373-75 N Milwaukee Ave Chicago, IL

Cost: Free