MaddAddam - Margaret Atwood

MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood

Adult fiction rambles by M

(haha, there’s a short video of Atwood somewhere, cracking a smile about MaddAddam’s dark humour, “parental guidance and all that”!)

 

Thanks to Hatchards Bloomsbury Book Club, my copy of MaddAddam turned up early enough for me to be an advanced reader before any of the mainstream reviews surfaced. So I read it whole, then made some notes, then read some mixed reviews, and then met Margaret Atwood. A couple of other things happened too and now, these are my thoughts-at-this-juncture on MaddAddam. It's a bit uncharacteristically gushy. For a succint overview of the plot, look somewhere else.

Punning satire and parody, MaddAddam is earnestly comical cult fiction. Forget literary salons, guys, the next cosplay is MaddAddam CampGeek at my place via PulpFiction-cum-RockyHorrorPictureShow-cum-BoneyM (and if we can fix the world too, great). And then we can watch Aidan Quinn (sorry Offred) and maybe eat cake (morally disordered, of course). If ever there was an impetus for me doing fan-fiction, MaddAddam is it (wonder what the Toad’s copyright regime is...).

So yes, if you haven’t read any of it, the trilogy’s a Margaret Atwood blast: Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood and then MaddAddam. And then read The Blind Assassin: the parallels between her latest offering and her Booker winner are mad! There’s plenty of overlapping pulp fiction in that winner.

Trilogy- and plot-wise, all three overlap but fill gaps and provide alternative perspectives on the same events: the story behind the MaddAddam ARG and organisation, the apocalyptic time and the fallout. But in MaddAddam, Atwood brings storytelling to the forefront as the novel’s form is structured around Toby’s night-time storytelling. This could be be seen as the development of the chapters in a new Crakers’ gospel, much as the God’s Gardener’s from The Year of the Flood had their psalms/songs. Toby even creates the possibility for the addition of new testaments through Blackbeard. Indeed, each of the three novels are a new testament on the same central story.

Comic. Above anything else, for me, MaddAddam is funny; at times it is farcical. Known for her caustically detailed observations about our lived and culturally-enhanced humanities, Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam is nothing if not a moment of let’s-laugh-and-cry at ourselves. Much of the humour feels like it has developed straight from a creative stream-of-consciousness brainstorming session that delights in wordplay. God’s Gardeners, it’s cutting bloody dark fun.

Of wordplay there is plenty and the novel's central themes, for me, are about words and meaning particularly in the context of storytelling, both written and spoken, and with multiple narrators over periods of time. In some ways, this has threaded all through the whole trilogy and were present in The Blind Assassin.

For other readers, eco-political themes will ring loudest. And of course, as with many of her novels, Atwood also grapples with sexual and romantic relationships. Sexual relationships and particularly monogamous versus polygamous relationships, romance versus biological reproduction and consensual acts versus abuse abound in the MaddAddamite trilogy. MaddAddam shows – clearly – how blurred lines really are. An example of this is an “energetic” pun on foreplay which in some ways is a reprehensible bang.

At the same time, despite her matter of fact and non-sentimental style, MaddAdam, like The Handmaid’s Tale, is also a smouldering love story. For the critics who suggest that MaddAddam sacrifices characterisation, in my mind, they’ve missed the point/s. Nowhere are Zeb and Toby more real than in this novel. Shucks, I even shed a tear (note the singularity). And look at the Crakers whom we first meet and the Crakers that we leave.

Singing: this seems to work as some sort of motif or extended metaphor. Zeb sings little ditties when he’s frightened or stressed. Gospel singers sing. The Crakers sing. Adam, Toby, Crake and eventually, Blackbeard, don’t like singing. But Toby also learns that the Crakers’ singing is something that might save them. I even asked Margaret Atwood about it.

In the latter part of the novel, there are strains of Animal Farm.

At first, I couldn’t get into MaddAddam. I wasn’t fond of the ‘storytelling’ form that it was taking, framed by a very thin plot. However, as it develops into a story about Zeb, it becomes much more interesting although there is no real crescendo – though there are some very high and significant ends of chapters towards the end.

I read both of the previous novels a few years ago, and although there is a very extensive ‘the story so far’ at the beginning, and although Atwood provides lots of catch-up details throughout MaddAddam, I couldn’t help wishing that I’d read the three novels in order quite quickly one after the other.

 

At the end, the MaddAddamite left me sorry to say goodbye to some of my favourite Gardeners. It also left me craving to go and read, and re-read more of Atwood’s fiction. So, I did.

 

Publication details: Bloomsbury, 2013, London, hardback

This copy: mine and signed!

 

Boonie - M's review

Boonie by Richard Masson

 

Reviewed by M

Boonies are outsiders. JD is a Boonie, he just doesn’t know it yet. Set in a dry almost waterless fantasy (and maybe futuristic) world, an eco-message runs like an undercurrent through the novel, which takes a typical children’s quest story: a young teenager loses both parents (one to death) and goes on a journey of search and survival. Along the way, he makes a couple of good friends and the search quickly turns into an adventurous quest to uncover dark secrets of a world JD didn't know existed, save himself and maybe even the world. The cover image featured here is for the paperback edition and it captures the setting for Boonie really well (note: the black O is not a vinyl record!).

Boonie by Richard Masson - paperback edition

Boonie begins as an edgy, gritty read for older teens. However, it quickly becomes something more likely to appeal to a younger readership and I had to reframe my reading expectations.

Although it isn’t a fully happy-ever-after novel and there are some harrowing scenes, the overall tone is warm and the characters of JD, speechless Godrum and feisty Aqua are very likeable. There is a lot of moving plot and action. Boonie manages to pack in a lot of thought-provoking elements too. The plot moves quickly from one adventurous and dangerous scene to another (sometimes I wanted it to linger a little longer to find out more about what was going on in each one).

Themes and issues raised in this novel include the earth’s resources (especially water), slavery, power and rebellion. The overall themes and ideas reminded me of SD Crockett’s After the Snow, though the two novels are quite different and Boonie may appeal more to a younger, middle grade readership than After the Snow. The warm tone reminded me in some ways of Lois Lowry’s The Giver (again, these novels are quite different and The Giver isn’t really a quest story and is more hard-hitting). 

Younger readers who like adventure and would like to explore fantasy/science fiction may enjoy Boonie. The publishers’ Hot Key Ring indicates that Boonie's content includes Danger, Dark Future, Rebellion and Friendship. I would agree and maybe add a little of Eco/Environment.

Other eco/environmental novels for teens include After the Snow by SD Crockett (weather) and Breathe by Sarah Crossan (oxygen). There are also Carbon Diaries 2015 by Saci Lloyd and Julie Bertagna’s Exodus and Zenith (which I haven’t read yet).

 

Boonie's Hot Key Ring (by Hot Key Books)

 

Publication details: Hot Key Books, London, 2013, hardback (paperback out in August 2013)

This copy: uncorrected proof received for review from the publisher

Breathe - M's Review

Breathe by Sarah Crossan

Breathe is the company who sells expensive oxygen to those who live inside the Pod. Outside the Pod, there is no longer any oxygen or life. Growing plants inside the Pod is not allowed. Residents in the Pod are either tattoo-lobed Premiums with enough money to afford lots of oxygen so that they can exercise and so on. On the otherhand, Auxiliaries have little money and aren’t allowed to exercise because they’ll consume too much oxygen. So while there’s life inside the Pod, it’s stratified and therefore a limited life for many. But there’s a Resistance movement in the Pod. Outside, well who really knows? In Breathe, the main characters are about to find out. 

Breathe by Sarah Crossan

The dystopian-eco concept for Breathe's plot intrigued me. The promising storyline also has similarities with Malorie Blackman’s Noughts and Crosses, Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games and Lois Lowry’s The Giver.

In Breathe, the story is told from three characters' points of view: Bea the clever Auxiliary; Quinn the Premium who is her best friend (but she'd love him to be more); and green-eyed Resistance beauty, Alina. I’m a sucker for multiple narratives so this pleased me. Bea and Quinn were very likeable characters but ,for me, there was something missing with Alina.  Overall, I was disappointed because I felt the romance side of things overshadowed real depth in the plot. A lot of the plot just fits together too easily and there’s quite a bit that isn’t believable enough for me.

This is a novel that might appeal to readers who are romance fans  as there is a lot of unrequited teen love in this story.  Although there is violence in the novel, it is not graphic and there is less of it than in many other teen dystopian novels. The eco, consumerism and equalities messages in the novel might also appeal to some readers.  Just imagine having to pay for your oxygen.

This is also a quick read and there’s enough in the plot to keep many readers interested enough to keep turning the pages right through to the end. It might appeal to confident tween readers too.

Breathe is the first novel in a planned trilogy.

Publication details:

Bloomsbury, October 2012, London, paperback

This copy: uncorrected proof received for review from the publishers

Review - After the Snow

After the Snow by S D Crockett

After the Snow - SD Crockett

Suddenly, Willo’s family are gone.  He doesn't know why but he realises that he is all alone on the snowy rural mountains of Snowdonia to fend for himself. He’s alone – except for dog, the companion he keeps in his head. Willo heads off on a treacherous journey and quickly discovers that there are dangers all around him: the snowy harsh mountain terrain, the wolves, good dog, mad dog, stealers, stragglers, Mary, and a whole lot of children. And that is just a start!  Not to mention a whole lot of secrets too.

Willo is a wonderful teen narrator.  So, so brutally honest, imperfect and ordinary in his own way.  I think he surprises himself more than the reader by how much he discovers throughout the novel!

The novel is an exciting but also dark and very cold adventure. Set in the future after the temperatures had warmed to melt the snowcaps, the world has returned to a cold and barren ice age. It’s a time where everyone is battling to survive. Set in the Rhinog mountains and nearby surroundings in Wales, the novel was inspired by S D Crockett’s experiences in Russia right after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

While the different visions that people and governments have in dealing with the fallout from climate change is a central thread of the story, the main plot is Willo’s adventure. And really, it is Willo (and perhaps Mary) who makes this story come very much alive.  While the state of the world is important, what I really cared about most in this book was Willo.

After the Snow starts off slowly – if this is an issue for you, please bear with it – you will be rewarded. Also, Willo’s unusual use of tense was difficult to read for a good few pages but then I became accustomed to it.  There are some harsh and graphic scenes of violence and cruelty that might not be suitable for younger or sensitive readers.  I certainly skipped over the details in more than a couple of paragraphs.  But, this violence fits within the harsh reality and story that this book tells.

I was hoping to enjoy After the Snow but was surprised by how good I thought it was. It is a very haunting but beautiful read. And to top it off, I loved the ending.  A well-deserved and proper ending.

Publication details:

Macmillan, 2012, London, hardback

This copy: received for review from Macmillan Children’s Books