Scan barcode
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, Mental illness, and Death of parent
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: Ableism, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
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: Child death and Death of parent
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: Animal death, Child death, Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic
brogan7's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
2.5
He made several choices in plot development that felt like an error to me.
I felt increasingly that Richard Powers was just going off on his ideas, instead of listening for the story.
Early on in the story, I could feel Aly's brain waves rubbing off on me!...and then in his narrative, it all started to go downhill, which, honestly, isn't that the perennial story of our screwed up Judeo-Christian culture, everything goes to shit?
I wanted a little more imagination, a little more nudge in the direction of unforeseen hope, a gap between certainties, which he hinted at at the beginning of the book.
I wanted him to explore the questions of: if we all become happier, does that really help? A blissed-out Robin is attractive on screen, but how does that rob him of his humanity, of which his despair is a part? And also how does the charisma of positivity attract people, but dull the message? Instead, he goes off in a totally other direction, and I ended up not only unwilling to believe the ending but heartbroken in a whole different way. He had a story and he lost an opportunity...
Also I don't get Robin's query about the limits to searching for an alien life form. Maybe the constraint is not on that end....p. 229-230, "Maybe the Great Filter isn't behind us. Maybe it's ahead of us.". ...what is he talking about? I think he was getting at something interesting but I couldn't make sense of it, and that really bothered me.
Moderate: Grief and Death of parent
TW: ecocide, climate griefcarbine's review against another edition
I abandoned this one at the point when
I acknowledge that my viewpoint may be biased as I work in mental health with children and families who fit this description, thus it may have hit too close to home. Still, I really would prefer to read stories about neurodivergent folks written by members of that community. Otherwise, it too often comes across as exploitative.
Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent
hilary_v's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Suicide and Death of parent
perseusj4ckson's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, and Grief
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Bullying, Car accident, and Death of parent
brucy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Car accident, and Death of parent
lou_christie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Child death and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death