Year of the Flood

There's a welling-up point, a tipping point, where a book becomes something I can't put down. (Though I did put it down to write this post.)

In reality, I put down Year of the Flood, companion book to Oryx and Crake because I wanted to share that emotional moment with someone. In this little clutch of people I talk to frequently, however, I believe I am alone in my experience of this Atwood novel.

It's funny, I was so worried about reading more by her and having my reverence for Oryx and Crake damaged, but my worries were pointless. Year of the Flood is actually making the first book a richer experience, and I'd like to go back to O&C when I'm finished here, become more deeply steeped in the world.

But, oh, that emotional moment where I saw things in a new way! It would've been so nice to have someone to share that understanding with. Books are so hard to share in the way we share movies. Instead of the set timelined experience, we read at our own paces, and can't share the rhythms of text the same way we share the rhythms of the screen.

Hm, gr.

In any case, more reasons to go back and finish the essays I have about O&C, and expand them in the new light of the Flood.