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Wow. Just, wow.
I did not see that reveal coming at the end, and I had to go back and read the last part again to see if what I thought he was doing was what he had actually done! This is a book that would get richer with every reread. I loved Overstory, but just like this one, I wasn't sure until the ending put it over the top. This was November's #Doublespin @TheAromaofBooks

Richard Powers writes very science-y, literary books the premise of which I‘m often doubtful is for me, then writes so beautifully I can‘t stop! There‘s a big raft of characters here, the story moves disjointedly amongst them, it was tricky at times to keep the threads straight yet it was worth the effort. One to take slowly and thoroughly enjoy, however beware the ending! You‘ll feel you need to start again to untangle what you just read!

The best book of the the year for me.
Made me cry a few times. I love Richard Powers. Themes of human and animal consciousness, peril and possibilities of AI, protecting culture, friendship and betrayal, and beauty of the ocean. Will be thinking on this one for days. As a kid who grew up near the ocean and would have been a marine biologist had I been better at math, this novel really resonated with me.

Camille giving me a high five because, after getting my elder kid and my spouse to read Playground and discuss it with me and then attending a book club about it, I have a new appreciation for what Powers is doing in this novel. I want to re-read it now that my context has evolved so I can see what else I see in it.

This book is great! The world is a playground and we are all playing. The ocean, friendship, oceanography, AI…this book is so true and what a great cast of characters. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I‘m so pleased I finally loved a Pulitzer Prize winning book.😏😆 Social media and the internet and all that has changed for not only us but for the entire living world out there.

This book was read for my book club. It's a decent book but I didn't love it. It's a lot of short stories, in my opinion. They were good but I'm not sure how they all connected except for the ocean.

I was unenthusiastic when I saw this on the #WPNF25 longlist: really, another famous dead white guy? So I dragged my feet on picking it up. But once I did, I struggled to put it down because the writing is SO good. There are some issues with some bits near the end being slotted in not quite so seamlessly, but overall I really enjoyed this.

This book will stay with me for a long, long time. I really liked the first 75% of The Overstory, but then it lost me. This book is not like that. I can‘t really articulate all the things it made me think, and feel. And the vote at the end? Every point was valid, and true! So good. (But I do think Rafi kinda sucked). (20)
⭐️: 4.5/5

This was great! I have little interest in the French Impressionists, and knew very little about Gauguin (most of which turned out to be inaccurate), but this was highly interesting and superbly entertaining as well as informative. What a character! What a life! The book also includes a lot of prints and photos of artwork, on high quality paper. I'm sad this didn't make the shortlist for the #WomensPrizeNF