I also finished Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, which is cool. I am becoming quite fond of her, indeed. Even though I have gotten into the habit of calling people I intensly dislike Margaret Atwood. Why, you ask?
"You know what? I used to think it was funny to call big tough a-holes, 'Sparkles'. You know, when someone is being a thug, like a security guard or just a big jerk. Sparkles. I think it would be even funnier to start calling them, 'Margaret Atwood'. Calm down there, Margaret Atwood. You'll get shaken baby syndrome"--It doesn't tell me which member of A Softer World wrote this, but I love them for it. In any case, I love that webcomic, and I will shamelessly plug it now: http://www.asofterworld.com/. I'd buy the book, the Truth and Beauty Bombs (or; the one with the cat on the front) but PayPal is necessary and that's not cool. But Amazon takes a cut of the jib most likely so I guess it makes sense, but...
(They were the ones that made that Stockholm Syndrome comic I sent you, Emma)
So, the book felt... weird. A dreamy book. Everything was happening in such an underwhelming way. (Maybe I'm just jaded?) Still, nonetheless, it was an interesting picture of a future that, if we can manage to progress to, is extremely probable. Mistakes and all. It was eerily and easily pictureable.
We are introduced to a man named Snowman in a post-apocolyptic world....
One; what were the pigoons a combination of? I got the pig part, and other combined animals are easy to figure out--rakunks (raccoons and skunks), wolvogs (wolves and dogs), but for the life of me I can't figure out...
Oh man, like I guess you've inferred, genetic splicings were common place. (What idiot would really put a human cortex in a pigoon's brain!?) One of the grosser ones were the ChickieNobs--basically bulbs of chicken meat fed, but cannot excrete or move or exist or do anything that's not digesting food. Well, I personally think it's absolutely disgusting. I'm no vegetarian, but I'll be off chicken for a while. What worried me even more is that later in the book animal rights' activists tried to 'liberate' them. Uh. Okay, it's inhumane, but they can't walk. They can't exist. you're just killing them qui... okay, I'm done thinking about them. I'm super-duper grossed out thinking about them. Blegh.
Oh, the reason why I didn't read the book earlier when Robby D actually recommended it to me is because the copy in the library had two naked female torsos on it. Kind of awkward to read around the house, no? It's all because of this one line regarding when Snowman hit puberty: basically, it says he had sexual dreams about naked female torsos without heads. Never touched on again. But I just thought I should mention it. Yay, now you're a better person for knowing that?
Oh, a really cool videogame Snowman and Crake played as children was Blood and Roses--I didn't really understand the rules, but basicaly it has a list of all humanity's greatest acheivments, for example, Crime and Punishment or disasters like the Trail of Tears or the Holocaust, or leaders like Napoleon, and so on. Anything of importance that has affected/been done by mankind. And items are traded and (I think) whoever wins is the person who has more 'rose' items, like the Mona Lisa or something beneficial. Blood items would be the holocaust, probably the French revolution or something, and yeah. I probably wouldn't be smart enough to play a great game, but I could sit there and look cute, so...
"'So I learned about life,' said Oryx. 'Learned what?' said Jimmy... 'That everything has a price.' 'Not everything. That can't be true. You can't buy time. You can't buy...' He wanted to say love, but hesitated. It was too soppy. 'You can't buy it, but it has a price,' said Oryx. 'Everything has a price.'" Ah, Oryx, the cynic. Of course, it's understandable, I mean she was (SPOILER!) sold as a child into child prostitution, not that she really understood what it was till much later. And even then, she looked at the positives of it: she was being whored out, but she was well-dressed, well-fed, and well-taken care of, which was nothing she could have ever hoped for in her village. So... Yeah? But I have a feeling, although she tried to remain detached to it, she was crumbling deep down. Perhaps that's why she was trying to be so flippant? (Did I use that word correctly?) Maybe she was hoping Snowman would try to dig deeper, to hold her, but she was too scared to break down in front of him, so she... wouldn't.... let him...? Maybe she burried herself in sex the way he did--hence, they were perfect counterparts and that's why they were so attracted to each other? Uhm. Maybe?
"For every pair of happy lovers there was a dejected onlooker, the one excluded. Love was its own transparent bubble-dome: you could see the two inside it, but you couldn't get in there yourself." THIRD WHEEL ADDS STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY. That is to say; I make couples look better by comparison. Oh wait, now I'm depressed. D'awwww.
"'Crake!' he whimpers. 'Why am I on this earth? How come I'm alone? Where's my Bride of Frankenstein?'" / "Ghoulie or ghosty or long-legged beastie, I just want my hand held"--Chuck Palahniuk, Survivor
An interesting scene was Crake and Snowman arguing about civilization's destruction: if destroyed, could it ever be rebuilt? Crake argues no, because all the metals have been mined and used up, so there's no chance of repeating the bronze age or iron age. And machines will be gone, instructions to recreate their futuristic society would be impossible to follow, lacking the tools and all. But I think Crake was being too narrow-minded, personally. People might not be as advanced (and by not, I mean there's no way in hell they could be) but civilization is still being rebuilt. It's just not quite up to snuff with what Crake would consider 'civilization'. I mean, people living in pueblos as simply as Native Americans or early tribes would still be civilisation! So... So yeah, Crake. Just burned you like Thanksgiving dinner. Go find yourself a turkey baster, you're going to need it! Dayummm. I am good. Slap me some skin, Mr Darcy!
Crake's motives: He's a jerk. The end.
Oh, and Margaret Atwood burns animal rights' activists, like I mentioned earlier with the ChickieNobs. They released the super-intelligent and violent pigoons and the vicious but cute- and friendly-looking wolvogs in an attempt to 'liberate' them. Thank you PETA for screwing us all over. No, it's cool, I love getting gored by evil pigs. It's actually my favorite pastime. Actually, wasn't this how the virus spread in 28 Days Later? Animal rights' activists let out the diseased ultra-violent chimps, or am I thinking of another movie? Either way, THANKS GUYS. I'm relocating you to Jurassic Park. Oh wait, the velociraptors already 'liberated' themselves. Toodles!
So there's that. In other news, I began to write my ultra-terrible college essay and I started reading Emma by Jane Austen. Yayyy.
Oscar Wilde > James Joyce. In case you were confused, Marky Mark.
Oh, and Emma, I know you'll appreciate it, so I absolutely have to post this: So, you know that joke Jenna and I have about how Robby D wears red all the time so he can blend into the lockers? So he was wearing white today, and he wasn't in his room and Jenna was wondering where he could be. The projector screen was down, so I pointed to it and said, "He's there. But the only way you'll see him is if you turn the projector on." So, Jenna, pretending to be Robby D: "'Oh no! But you haven't caught me yet! Today will be known as the day you almost caught Captain Robby D!' And then he'll jump out the window and swing, on a rope, to his car. And drive away.'" I'm pretty sure I died laughing and I'll never be able to take him seriously again. It would just randomly pop in my head all through painting and I would start cracking up. Everyone probably thought I was crazy, but I bet they did already, hence why no one sits with me. Aww. But yeah, I hope that makes you disrupt the library again! See you in November!
PS. Spellcheck apparently decided to never work for me again. Man.
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