The Year of the Flood discussion

I recently acquired the sequel to Oryx & Crake, one of my all-time favourite books, this sequel being The Year of the Flood.

My question is this:

Will it be necessary to reread Oryx & Crake before cracking the spine of The Year of the Flood, or could I do without?

Not that rereading Oryx & Crake is such an ordeal, but I'd much rather just plunge right into the new narrative. However, if not having (recently) read O&C will prove detrimental to my enjoyment of TYotF I'd much rather reread the former once more.

Any input?

Cheers

The Year of the Flood would work as a stand alone novel. If you hadn't previously read Oryx & Crake then I'd suggest reading it first as it is a brilliant book but as you have read it then you can plunge right into the new narrative.

Cheers, Stephen. I will certainly take it into account, though, I've come to the conclusion that rereading Oryx & Crake is not the most unappealing prospect.

You don't have to reread O&C; it will come back to you. But as you say, it's not the most unappealing prospect.

I am confident you could read The Year of the Flood without ever reading O&C and still in enjoy it. Any word on when the third book will be out?

I read Y.O.F. by itself and only the end was confusing, but the ending was awful anyways.

I read it and loved it. I read oryx and crake after. Great book! Better than o & c.

I read Year of the Flood BEFORE I read Oryx & Crake, LOL, so yes, it works just fine as a stand alone!

The events of both narratives run concurrently, so they definitely work well on their own. There are connections between the two, but apparently book 3 will move both narratives forward together.

You could read either one without having read (or even remembered much) of the other. But I do think Oryx and Crake is far more interesting if you haven't read The Year of the Flood first.

Martin wrote: "I recently acquired the sequel to Oryx & Crake, one of my all-time favourite books, this sequel being The Year of the Flood.

My question is this:

Will it be necessary to reread Oryx & Crake b..."

I had read Oryx and Crake a few years earlier than ..Flood. Flood is more of a prequel and I wish it had been written first. I'd suggest reading Flood first and then go back and read Oryx.

I read Flood before Oryx & Crake and actually found it more enjoyable this way. Either book can I feel, stand on its own however so you should be fine.

Michael wrote: "I read Y.O.F. by itself and only the end was confusing, but the ending was awful anyways."

I agree the ending might be a little confusing. I didn't think the ending was awful. What did you not like?

I agree that Flood is more of a prequel. But it fills in some interesting gaps that are in Oryx, especially since Oryx is completely from Jimmy/Snowman's point of view.

Funny enough, though I liked both books, neither ending left me feeling quite right. Flood's ending seems...fake...somehow. But it makes a bit more sense if you're already familiar with all the characters in Oryx and Crake.

Martin wrote: "I recently acquired the sequel to Oryx & Crake, one of my all-time favourite books, this sequel being The Year of the Flood.

My question is this:

Will it be necessary to reread Oryx & Crake b..."

I read them out-of-order - Year of the Flood first, Oryx and Crake second - I never felt lost or confused for a moment. Each work stands on its own.

Yes, I definitely think Year of the Flood can work as a stand alone. At first, I didn't even know it was a sequel to Oryx and Crake lol.

Both work as stand alones but if you read YOTF first, it sets the territory to O+C

I just bought TYOTF not knowing it was a "sequel". Will this make my reading experience difficult? I realize people have mentioned that it is more of a parallel, but would it help to know the background? Maybe i should just read it.

This is my personal opinion, and many people beg to differ, but if you're in a position to get your hands on Oryx & Crake so that you can read it first, I would. I really enjoyed reading them in that order (O&C followed by TYOTF).

The two books are really quite different but there are definitely recurring themes and threads which are set up in O&C and which are explored in TYOTF.

Just my tuppence.

I found myself going back through O&C while reading Year of the Flood, just to make sure I was remembering the common characters' back-stories, so re-reading it beforehand wouldn't hurt. (Maybe read something short and pleasant in between, though - Year of the Flood is great, but harsh.)

I also read Year of the Flood without having read Oryx and Crake. I will go on to read the latter, but not yet - year of the flood is compulsive but makes you a bit depressed about the human race, when you read the news and see how close to some of these "possible futures" we are coming.... I agree with Michael above that the ending of Year of the Flood was a bit "unlikely" and highly optimistic compared to the rest of the book...

On which to read first, I think it's highly a matter of taste. For those that like things to be mysterious and enjoy the challenge of putting together the story by pieces the book gives you over time, I highly recommend reading O+C first. For those more into knowing the whole background of something, starting with YotF might be best. I started with O+C first and I'm really glad I did.The universe of YotF seems smaller some how b.c. so much more is explained. I like some of my questions unanswered and for there to be expansive possibilities. Going back and reading O+C after YotF is a totally different experience. I don't want people to miss out on what it's like to read O+C without the background of YotF.

Read Oryx & Crake first. You will be so much more invested in Year of the Flood when you can see how intertwined everything is.

Reading it in Atwood's intended order is like slowly putting together a large puzzle. I feel it might be doing the series a disservice to read it out of order, just because things are revealed a certain way, in a certain order, and obviously carefully planned by the author.

I think they could be read separately. But I read Oryx and Crake 1st and Year of the Flood 2nd and it made more sense. Also I liked O&C a little bit better.

I have only read The Year of the Flood and I enjoyed it, although the ending left too many unanswered questions. Maybe they're explained in Oryx & Crake.

I am excited about the upcoming release of Maddaddam, how about you?

On the other hand, making these books into a trilogy seems feels sort of like putting clothes on your dog.

Will MaddaddaM be released soon?

I agree that making this into a trilogy seems unnecessary, but I welcome any opportunity to spend more time in this world.

MaddAddam. August 27.
I wonder why "Madd" has two d's? Is that how it was in Year of the Flood?

Kev wrote: "MaddAddam. August 27.
I wonder why "Madd" has two d's? Is that how it was in Year of the Flood?"

Yes. It's a palindrome: a word that is the same forwards and backwards.

Just started Maddadam and hoping it will have a satisfying conclusion, so far it has slowed after a good beginning.

Sarah wrote: "Just started Maddadam and hoping it will have a satisfying conclusion, so far it has slowed after a good beginning."

I remember having the same feeling around the beginning-middle. It picks up!

I liked "Oryx and Crake", but was deeply disappointed in "Year of the Flood". Right now I have no intention of reading "MaddAddam" because I'm worried the pattern will continue.

I really enjoyed this entire series. I think you should to read them all to get the full scale of the future that MA has created.

Well, I did not re-read Oryx and Crake before reading Year of the Flood and wished I had. I'd forgotten so much in just 7 hrs! Not that the second book can't stand on its own -- it does -- but all three volumes of the trilogy were intended to dovetail and amplify each other. Afterwards, I did go back and re-read O&C, and got more out of both. Better late than never.

Of course, I'm of an age where remembering where I parked my car is a challenge.

Just finished Year of the Flood. Liked it more than Oryx and Crake but could have used less of the Gardeners hymns etc.

Christina wrote: "Well, I did not re-read Oryx and Crake before reading Year of the Flood and wished I had. I'd forgotten so much in just 7 hrs!"

7 hrs?!

That said, I agree with this. I've just finished reading Year of the Flood, and I really enjoyed it. But, all the way through I was wishing I'd read Oryx & Crake more recently, because (although the story works fine on it's own) it was obvious that events from that book were being referenced, and that knowing both would allow me to piece together the puzzle more, by seeing different viewpoints of the same events. Still, I'm going to go back and re-read O&C now; and then move on to MaddAddam, I'm looking forward to it!

Just finished Year of the Flood and loved it! I too wished I had reread Oryx and Crake, because TYotF brought in so many things that explained parts of Oryx and Crake! Gonna get MaddAddam from library and start it right away!

Vickie, Year of the Flood and Oryx and Crake are two sides of the same story; I don't think it matters too much which you read first. (Personally, I thought MaddAddam very disappointing compared with the other two>)