A Sharp Divide

I was both curious and dubious about this book after reading the reviews. I do like Margaret Atwood, and had read and loved Oryx and Crake. But the negative reviews meant I didn't buy it immediately.

Part of what changed my mind was the striking division in customer reviews: female readers loved it, male readers hated it. So I thought I'd find out for myself...

The production decision to arrange and perform the hymns was COMPLETELY wrong - bad idea, bad arrangements, bad performances! Fortunately, my audio-book reader meant I could listen to them at x2 speed, with the added bonus of making them sound like they were underwater!

Aside from that, I loved the book and the reading. Atwood has always been great at problematising the relationships between religion, science and society, and this could be the real triumph of the book.

As for the characters, I found them believable, engaging and sympathetic. Perhaps (this is just a suggestion!) some male readers can't relate to the experience of most of the earth's women as sexual commodities.

I wondered whether it made a difference as to whether one had read Oryx and Crake, as this book is something akin to a sequel. It also works to balance out the masculine perspective of the earlier work. I'd be interested to read a "positive" review from someone who hasn't read Oryx and Crake - if there's any out there?!

Be forewarned about the awful hymns! They would be readable as straightforward text, but are unbearable as "sincere" performed works. Fortunately, they only come at the ends of chapters, so you can just skip forward to the next chapter if your tech has that capability. Otherwise, grit your teeth and set your ears to "satire" - there actually aren't as many of them as there seems!

35 people found this helpful

Warning - Random loud awful singing throughout

Oh my god - the singing, what's with all the loud singing. It's so bad and goes on for minutes at a time. It's also much louder than the story, so you can be all cozy, listening to the book then suddenly the most annoying loud singing starts and you have no choice but to get up and skip it. Such a shame.
Also I'm struggling to get into the book. 4hrs in 9hrs to go and I think I'm going ask Audible to return it.
A shame because I fancied the idea of this book. Especially after loving Atwood's Handmaid's tale. I even slogged my way through Orxy and Crake first as I heard the trilogy was great. The reviews certainly disagree with me too, but I think I'm done. Sorry Margaret :(

10 people found this helpful

Floated my boat

Yup, it's up there with Oryx and Crake. I followed Toby and Ren with bated breath, those truly dreadful hymns notwithstanding. Nice how the God's Gardeners religion is cringeworthy yet ultimately effective. Loved Toby's arc. Could have done with more nuanced baddies, but hey, this is still top-quality stuff.

8 people found this helpful

Glad I listened after reading negative reviews.

I've read Lots of moaning about the cheesy hymms but I'm guessing that kind of lack of tolerance is why Atwood finds so much subject matter within our species. I'm an atheist so hymms cheesy or not about imaginary gods are never going to be My thing but sometimes you just have to let yourself be imersed in what the author is trying to achieve, or dare I say even have some faith in her obvious genius in painting such an amazing pictures with her words.
This is a great follow up to Oryx & Crake but like most great books takes some mental effort to get into. Quite often find it takes a while to get used to the different voices used in the narration . Read this series years ago & now can't wait to listen to part 3....

7 people found this helpful

Much maligned, but wronged

What made the experience of listening to The Year of the Flood the most enjoyable?

This is a great matching of text and narrator. The characters are fully developed and complex, evolving and deepening through the novel. This is character driven, so those expecting standard SF fare will be disappointed.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Tobi's strength of purpose is compelling, but the subtle characterisation of Ren is also a pleasure.

Have you listened to any of Lorelei King’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Lorelei King is one of my favourite readers, her voice slips over the text, so that you are barely aware that you are being read to

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

There has been lots of discussion about the hymns. I think this is part of the subtle humour of the text. Having been raised on "Hymns Ancient and Modern" I can truly say that this captures the banality of religious music beautifully.

6 people found this helpful

Atwood Junkie

Been reading Margaret Atwood novels over the last 20 years, starting with the Edible Woman. This is the first time I've tried her on audiobook, which is a very different experience. Completely agree about the dreadful hymns. Maybe that's the joke and they're meant to be excoriatingly painful. I listen in the car on my way to work and I had to turn down the volume at traffic lights just in case anyone thought I was a fan of dubious religious folk music. That apart, the book is good and Atwood still has the ability to shock and engage.

6 people found this helpful

Better than I expected

Would you try another book written by Margaret Atwood or narrated by Lorelei King?

Yes, the narration was excellent and the characterisation was very well done

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Perhaps make it more engaging, I didn't feel any affinity for the characters and therefore didn't care that much about them

Could you see The Year of the Flood being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

Yes although without the bloody singing

Any additional comments?

The singing was annoying and I delayed getting the book because of other reviewers opinions of it. I agree with them, I felt it unnecessary for the book.

4 people found this helpful

Thought provoking.

Totally agree about the terrible hymns, however, if they're taken as sending up banal modern religious music you can at least see the point of them. I started off thinking they were very clever but lost my tolerance towards the end. I also found my mind wandering off during the latter sermons but they didn't last too long. I had read Oryx and Crake and hadn't loved it. I downloaded The Year of the Flood because I heard a good review and then couldn't bring myself to listen to it as I was on holiday and didn't want anything too heavy. I was pleasantly surprised though. The female characters are engaging and I was completely hooked on the story. If you have read Oryx and Crake you will notice the clever overlapping of plotlines but it's not a prerequisite to enjoyment. I found the ending left me with more questions than answers - perhaps I need to listen to it again.

4 people found this helpful

Mediocre pop music

I buy audio books because my eyesight is poor. What I want is someone to calmly read me a book. What I don't want are: special effects, incidental music, readers putting on silly voices.

But this production is the worst of the lot: no sooner have you settled down for a relaxed "read", than it bursts into song. Not any song, but an embarrassingly bad, kind of modern hymn. OK, skip forward and settle down again. There's another - and another!

It would have been nice if there was a warning in the description, then I wouldn't have bought it. The worst of it is, I can't even return it, as (like an idiot) I bought books 2 and 3 of the trilogy at the same time.

8 people found this helpful

2/3 of this book is horrible filler

I'm not talking about the singing, which was annoying, but the story was boring as anything. This story seriously could have started at chapter 42 and been decent. sorry, Margaret A. struck out with this book.

3 people found this helpful