runlikejoy

Displaced Stay At Home Californian in rural N. Carolina

The Many Faces of Joy

The Many Faces of Joy

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Book

On Monday the UPS driver dropped off book 3 of the MaddAdam Trilogy by Margaret Atwood.  This trilogy begins with Oryx and Crake and the second book is The Year of the Flood and finally MaddAdam which I have been waiting for what feels like years.  I am trying to read as slowly as I can but it is hard because the book is so good.  I am trying to savor it because as soon as I'm done, I will have to go back and read the trilogy straight through.

It is hard to explain what these books are about.  They are classified as Science Fiction although I will be the first to admit that I don't like that genre of writing, at all.  These books are about what happens when the world is wiped out by a series of terrible plagues and and there are only a handful of people left on this planet and they have to try to get by and stay alive by their wits, their brains and their hands. 

Margaret Atwood is a fabulous writer.  She has written to me at all stages of my life.  I remember reading The Robber Bride when I was in my 20's and I was licking the wounds of a particularly horrible break up with a man who thought I was fine with him having more than one girlfriend.   It spoke to me.  I went back and tried to re-read it recently and I couldn't do it - I was not longer there.  She has written for every stage of my life and I haven't found another writer out there that has done that.  Those of you that read and read and read will know what I mean.

I know why I love her trilogy so much, I was raised in a religious community and there was a Salvation story that ended with the good in Christ being given a reward.  These books suggest that the only reward you get is hard work and having to start over.  There are no gold covered streets.  There are no mansions.  There are no white robes.  There is struggle, survival and chaos.  And some might consider this a nightmare.  But others might consider it heaven.  Perspective. 

Now I have to admit that I went online before I got the book and read the reviews and they were not all good.  As a matter of fact they were mostly bad.  But it hasn't changed the book for me at all - if anything it has made the book better because it has all those reviews to live up to.  I'm half way through the book and I have no idea where it is going.  But I can't wait to find out.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks for posting this Joy! Just yesterday I was going through Amazon's bestselling list to get an idea about what to read next but nothing really spoke to me. I might give it a try!

Unknown said...
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Germaine said...

Aaaahhh it's finally out!!! It does feel like we've been waiting forever...can't wait to get my hands on it!!

Germaine said...
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