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okiecozyreader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
I was really interested where the book would go from this point. Being an educator, I think about students like Robin and wonder what is the best way to help them.
It’s a little sci fi, with a message about the condition of the earth, nature and empathy. When it got to this part, I felt like it was at times more heavy handed.
I went back and watched Oprah’s interview with the author on Apple plus. (It’s interesting he doesn’t have internet connection and has to go somewhere to do zooms, etc). The discussion about the title was interesting - based on Plato’s Cave - “The eye knows two kinds of bewilderment- coming into the light and out of the light”
This is a story about a little boy who goes into and out of the light - and both processes are bewildering.
I could see comparisons to Flowers for Algernon and at times, it reminded me of Ted Chiang.
“Imagine a planet where the past never went away, but kept happening again and again, forever. That’s the planet my nine-year-old wanted to live on.”
“In the face of the world's basic brokenness, more empathy meant deeper suffering.”
“He'd discovered, on his own, what formal education tried to deny: Life wanted something from us. And time was running out.”
“The world had become something no schoolchild should be allowed to discover.”
“And you always say, an experiment with a negative result isn't a failed experiment.
"No," l agreed. "You can learn a lot from negative results."
Which do you think is bigger?
Outer space ...? Or inner space?
Graphic: Death of parent and Mental illness
aviabraham's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Bullying, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Child death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Grief
gentle_human's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
Moderate: Death of parent, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Self harm, Animal death, Child death, Grief, Suicide, Death, Medical content, Mental illness, Car accident, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Ableism
okayletsread's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child death, Death of parent, and Mental illness
audragio's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Mental illness, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Ableism, and Panic attacks/disorders
kaitlouise94's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Moderate: Death of parent and Child death
Minor: Mental illness
steveatwaywords's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Don't seek nuance (or much complexity) as Powers aspires to bring nothing less than the infinite outer-verse and inner-verse into alignment and then sighs, "But humans. . . . " In many ways Daniel Keyes did as well or better with his own mouse. But once our author has allied himself with Algernon, the whole story is un-enthusiastically foretold.
It is Powers's deliberate and heavy-handed work to offer a sentimental story which makes this entire venture more ideology than literature, more emotional catharsis ("Somebody gets me!") than genuine reflection. Just because it's my propaganda doesn't make it less so.
But enough of that. Along the way, Powers does show why he remains a popular writer and that has more to do with real moments of waxing lyricism (a Neruda fan, for sure). He's eminently quotable: undoubtably portions of this work are already appearing on t-shirts, bumper stickers, and framed IG reels. His highly problematic glossing of medicine, schooling, and cognitive studies, for instance, from the vantage of such pithy verse, can safely be ignored. His takes on political dread or the micro-/macro-scales of nature and the universe, instead of providing challenges to us, are given in the briefest of chapters, only enough time for nods of the head.
My problem with the book isn't about his simplicity, with his designing the story and structure to be easy-reader friendly, it isn't even with the potent questions which appear here and there: it's that these insights are offered as conclusions, not as opportunities for exploration. So many writers have already done so much more . . .
Want a thorough read on animal rights that will grind on readers with its complex ethics? Try Elizabeth Costello by Coetzee. Want to talk about the Great Filter of evolution amongst the stars? Try a dozen science fiction writers from Clarke (philosophy of wonder) to Niven (hard science) to Pellegrino (realist military).
I enjoyed the read, found myself nodding too often appropriately, especially loved the frequent visits to other planets, and will remain committed to my politics and ethics both where they align with Powers and where they do not.
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Animal death, and Grief
hilary_v's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Death of parent and Suicide
perseusj4ckson's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Grief, Child death, and Mental illness
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Bullying, Car accident, and Death of parent
emcsquared's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Grief, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Self harm