Is that all there is?

Is that all there is?

Have you ever said this after you've finished a book?

I found myself saying this as I finished reading my last book, but not in a negative way, it's what I get for having expectations on how I thought the author would end her book.  My friend, Mary, however, had a negative and "is that all there is" reaction to the ending of the book she just finished. It was "The Life of Pi."  We were on vacation together, and she'd told me she really liked the book and would give it to me when she was finished.  A couple of nights later, she came in the cabin, having stayed up late to finish it, exasperated saying, "I can't believe that's the ending!  What a cop out!"  She told me not to bother reading it.  Can you relate?

The book I read, and would highly recommend is "The Year of the Flood" by Margaret Atwood.  It is a follow up to her 2003 science fiction novel "Oryx and Crake".  I'm a big fan of Atwood, "Cat's Eye", "The Handmaid's Tale" and "The Blind Assassin" are among my favorite books.  "The Year of the Flood" did not disappoint.  I would not classify it as a sequel, but a bridge book to "Oryx and Crake".  It encompasses the before, during and after story line of that book.  If you haven't read these, you are in for a treat.  Atwood has masterfully created a future where bioengineering, including genetic splicing of animals, creating the rakunk, pigoon and liobams has been perfected and are commonplace.  A world where biofilm suits can protect people from infections and bioengineered agriculture has changed every aspect of life as we know it.  There are Happicuppa coffee shops, and chickie knob products.  I'll never forget the restaurant Secret Burgers, because "everyone loves a secret," the secret being what's in the burgers. These places are in the pleeblands, suburbs existing outside the compounds where folks who work at the pharmaceutical companies live.  Atwood displays her genius at storytelling again and again by taking her tale in a direction that is unexpected but still relatable to the reader.  In "The Year of the Flood," the characters exist in an extreme environment of gangs, religious sects, such as the vegetarian Gardeners. The search for eternal youth still exists in this future world, characters go for services at the Anooyoo Spa.  I found myself wondering, "Where would I live in this world?"

Atwood never finds herself bound to the usual arc of story telling, especially when it comes to her endings.  "Oryx and Crake" ended with a question.  When I came to within 30 pages of the end of Year of the Flood, I found myself thinking, "uh-oh."  Atwood doesn't feel the need to tidy things up so the reader can have closure, I admire that about her.  I've not mentioned specific characters as I couldn't describe them and their relationship to each other in this small space.  "The Year of the Flood" is a richly layered novel that poses many questions with regards to bio-ethics, vegetarianism versus meat eating, how we treat our world,  most importantly basic human survival in increasingly desperate circumstances.  If you love a well written novel that isn't so intense as to make it "work" to read, the world Atwood has created in "Oryx and Crake" and "The Year of the Flood" are novels for you.  They are a wonder to experience, in them lies a world you'll never forget. You may just ask yourself, is this where our world is going?  Is that all there is?