 |
The Year of the Floodby Margaret Atwood |
Arlene Almas: Margaret Atwood has
the most incredible imagination! Here is a new "speculative fiction"
(sounds more literary than science fiction) novel of hers that
takes place after corporations have taken over pretty much
everything and have their own security corps, and gene
splicing is an everyday occurrence. Corporation employees live
in guarded compounds, the poor subsist outside the compounds,
and various groups opposed to the corporations live wherever
they can and follow their own beliefs about how to live a better
life for themselves and the world. We follow one of these
groups, the Gardeners, and its members; we come to know
their philosophy and the day-to-day details of how they
endure in their grimly challenging world. The Gardeners
are convinced that a great catastrophe is imminent due
to the genetic manipulation being carried on by
the corporations, and they are determined to prepare
themselves in order to survive it. The characters are
idiosyncratic and fascinating, frightened and brave,
oppressed and struggling for the freedom to live
the way they wish. You will not be able to close
this book without knowing the fate of Toby, Ren,
Zeb, Amanda, and the numerous others whose stories
Atwood tells so spellbindingly.
Rating: *****
