Richard Powers’s new novel (shortlisted for this year’s Booker Prize) is a “ghostly and affecting” tale marrying sci-fi with “family romance”, said Rob Doyle in The Guardian. It centres on astrobiologist Theo Byrne, whose wife, Alyssa, has recently died in a road accident. Theo lives with his “other-worldly” nine-year-old son, Robin, an aspiring environmental crusader who’s suspected of being autistic. Rejecting the “meds” his doctors propose, Theo signs Robin up for an experimental, AI-influenced treatment that involves his emotional states being “synced” with those of his dead mother.
Powers has long explored “complex ideas” in his fiction, and Bewilderment follows in that line, said Sam Leith in The Daily Telegraph. It covers big themes, including neurodiversity and environmental collapse. Yet in other ways, it’s so “direct and simple” that it could almost be a young adult novel. Characters are “untroubled by much complexity”, and the overall message boils down to “exploitative capitalism bad; wonder of creation good”. In short, it’s a little “thin and sentimental”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Ukraine: Trump's mixed messagesFeature Trump reverses a Pentagon freeze on Patriot missiles to Ukraine as Russia ramps up air attacks
-
Diddy: An abuser who escaped justice?Feature The jury cleared Sean Combs of major charges but found him guilty of lesser offenses
-
Death from above: Drones upend rules of war in UkraineFeature The world's militaries are paying close attention to drone use in the Russia-Ukraine war
-
Lemon and courgette carbonara recipeThe Week Recommends Zingy and fresh, this pasta is a summer treat
-
Oasis reunited: definitely maybe a triumphTalking Point The reunion of a band with 'the power of Led Zeppelin' and 'the swagger of the Rolling Stones'
-
Properties of the week: grand rural residencesThe Week Recommends Featuring homes in Wiltshire, Devon, and East Sussex
-
Kiefer / Van Gogh: a 'remarkable double act'The Week Recommends Visit this 'heroic' and 'absurd' exhibition at the Royal Academy until 26 October
-
Mark Billingham shares his favourite booksThe Week Recommends The novelist and actor shares works by Mark Lewisohn, John Connolly and Gillian Flynn
-
Heads of State: 'a perfect summer movie'The Week Recommends John Cena and Idris Elba have odd-couple chemistry as the US president and British prime minister
-
The Red Brigades: a 'fascinating insight' into the 'most feared' extremist group of 1970s ItalyThe Week Recommends A 'grimly absorbing' history of the group and their attempts to overthrow the Italian state
-
Jurassic World Rebirth: enjoyable sequel hampered by plot holesTalking Point The latest dinosaur reboot captures the essence of the original – but leans too heavily on 'CGI-heavy set pieces'
