Fiction

cbabe

(4,848 posts)

4. Richard Powers/Playground

Sun Feb 23, 2025, 12:25 PM

Feb 23

Story flips between characters and time. Baffled me until I caught up half way through.

The end was completely ‘whaaat!?’

Powers is a brilliant writer. But I wish he had a better editor.

Plot follows two male friends, poor black poet and rich white techie (cringe). They discover the game Go, also black and white. Becomes their intricate life metaphor.

And then Evie, French Canadian famous best ever oceanographer. And her dives with all the sea creatures. Best poetic parts of the book.

And the South Pacific Island and it’s people trying to stay above water, literally.

And the sentient ai.

Book is one big near future mishmash metaphor.

It could have been a masterpiece but not.

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japple

24 replies

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Highlight:

What Fiction are you reading this week, February 23, 2025? [View all] hermetic Feb 23 OP

Critical Mass, by Daniel Suarez roscoeroscoe Feb 23 #1

Sounds quite interesting hermetic Feb 23 #3

"Local Woman Missing" by Mary Kubica. sinkingfeeling Feb 23 #2

"Dark and twisty, hermetic Feb 23 #5

Richard Powers/Playground cbabe Feb 23 #4

Powers also wrote hermetic Feb 23 #6

I have a vague memory of reading The Overstory. Nature writing is cbabe Feb 23 #7

Oh totally hermetic Feb 23 #8

Stepping aside, I read a great nonfiction book cbabe Feb 23 #13

I'm intrigued. "Wall of White" at Lake Tahoe? Or "The Darkest White" at a glacier??? txwhitedove Feb 23 #17

Maybe. Do they include a lot of snow science? cbabe Feb 23 #19

I'm just searching non-fiction on snow science, skiing and avalanche. How old was the book? txwhitedove Feb 23 #20

Dragons in the snow sounds right. Good searching. I'll have to read to make sure. cbabe Feb 24 #22

Finished, "The Mailman," Bentley Little Bayard Feb 23 #9

Ooh, haven't read that one hermetic Feb 23 #11

Thank you for the weekly thread, hermetic. I'm in between books right now. japple Feb 23 #10

Ain't that the truth? hermetic Feb 23 #12

The Waiting by Michael Connelly MIButterfly Feb 23 #14

Good one hermetic Feb 23 #15

I loved The Wedding People! Just read that Sony bought screen rights. mentalsolstice Feb 23 #16

Great evening after kid volleyball and family birthday with margaritas and mexican food, yum. txwhitedove Feb 23 #18

I finally finished "The Power" Berkely Blackfriars volume 2 yellowdogintexas Feb 24 #21

Murder and the First Lady, by Elliott Roosevelt question everything Feb 24 #23

Re-reading Stephen King's "IT" dwayneb Feb 26 #24