"An astrobiologist thinks of a creative way to help his rare and troubled son in Richard Powers’ deeply moving and brilliantly original novel"
Shortlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize - A Reader's Review
This is about a grieving widowed astrobiologist and his autistic young son. I enjoyed bits of the science and psychology but there were so many things I disliked about this book. None of the characters were believable or rounded, including the narrator or his son. I can't claim to know but I'd be surprised if it resonates with many people's experience of parenting kids on the spectrum, embracing too many cliches of talented, fascinating, magical near-savant (who he also massively infantalises by the way: "tiny hand", "tiny" this and that - he's a 10 year old boy for gods sake!).
I also hated the way he clumsily brought in recent history - a President who is obviously Trump, and even a character who is obviously Greta Thunberg but he gives a ridiculous new name to! And he leads towards a dystopic Amercian vision which is miserable enough but so obvious and lacking imagination that it could have been lifted straight from some social media rants mid-2020 (cattle pandemic and wildfires raging, a President nullifying election results etc...).
No idea why this book was on the list - and if someone could set me straight on that I'd appreciate it! - Tanya Carus
Find out more about the 2021 Booker Prize Winner & Shortlist
The astrobiologist Theo Byrne searches for life throughout the cosmos while single-handedly raising his unusual nine-year-old, Robin, following the death of his wife. Robin is a warm, kind boy who spends hours painting elaborate pictures of endangered animals. He’s also about to be expelled from third grade for smashing his friend in the face.
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
The astrobiologist Theo Byrne searches for life throughout the cosmos while single-handedly raising his unusual nine-year-old, Robin, following the death of his wife. Robin is a warm, kind boy who spends hours painting elaborate pictures of endangered animals.
Bewilderment features in the following genres: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, General Fiction, Fiction
Paperback, Hardback. Not Available.
Bewilderment was written by Richard Powers and published by WW Norton & Co
Bewilderment has 304 pages
