AMERICAN AUTHORS CHALLENGE--FEBRUARY 2023--RICHARD POWERS

Richard Powers has a long list of novels to his credit, and several of them have been nominated for literary awards. His 2019 novel, The Overstory, which seems to be what brought him to wide attention in the LT circles I run in, won the Pulitzer Prize. He was put forth with some vigor for inclusion in this year’s AAC by readers whose opinions I value, and I suspect that most of the participants in this challenge have more familiarity with his work than I do, as I have read nothing so far.

Powers was born in Illinois, in 1957. He spent several of his teen years in Thailand, where his father was teaching at International School Bangkok. After graduating from high school back home in the states, he enrolled at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, where he quickly switched majors from physics to English, but taught himself computer programming in his “off hours”. He never gave up his interest in science and technology, featuring various aspects of those fields in his books.

I confess that descriptions of most of his novels do not draw me in, as they all sound very “pointed” to me. I trust the warblers and cheerleaders will tell me what I’m missing, and I’m looking forward to that. I do have a second-hand copy of The Overstory on the shelf; its reviews are decidedly mixed. Of our group, Mark loved it. Richard did not. Both posted excellent comments to the book page. I will leave the undecided in their capable hands until I have formed my own opinion. It is my intention to read The Overstory this month.

A list of Powers' works, with descriptions, can be found on his website, along with a lengthier biography.

I have a short story in the Summer 2005 issue of Granta to read: The Seventh Event. Like you I never found the descriptions of his books appealing.

Just finished The Overstory which can be a life changer for those not living close to nature

and a renewal for many of the rest of us.

With this one, I have now completed 7 of his 15 books and am working on the rest before
offering a rating.

So far, GAIN ranks at the bottom
with Time of Our Singing,
Echo Maker,
and The Overstory up at the top.

Now reading Orfeo which has veered into pretty strange...not unusual for Mr. Powers!

My first Powers was Time of Our Singing and it was really, really good. I will be reading The Overstory.

I'm not sure whether to go with a reread, or find the one or two I own, that I haven't read. Gold Bug Variations for example. I'll probably start whatever I choose mid-month.

I think I have never participated here before.
Accidently I have the Dutch translation of Bewilderment planned for February.

So far I have read The Overstory in 2020, a 5 star read for me. Last December I have read The Time of Our Singing, also a very good read, gave it 4½ stars. So I am looking forward to my next Richard Powers book :-)

It will be Bewilderment for me this month.

I have The Overstory and will attempt to get that one under my belt this month, too.

I read The Overstory and absolutely loved it! I am in for The Time of Our Singing this month.

I'll be reading The Overstory this month, because it's on my shelf. I read Bewilderment last year, and it was one of the books that really stuck with me. I'm looking forward to the next one, and to checking off another Pulitzer winner.

>10 AnneDC: I now have The Overstory checked out.

Unfortunately, I won't be reading any Richard Powers this month, but I'll lead a cheer. I love him! Nobody has mentioned that The Echo Maker won the National Book Award in 2006.

>6 FAMeulstee: Caroline, *Gold-Bug* was my first, and I'm a bit anxious to know whether it holds up after so many years. I haven't read *Galatea* and wonder about it too.

My least favorite is Plowing the Dark, which sort of fell apart in the end.

Happy Hours with Powers to all of you!

It's Bewilderment for me too. It will be my first book by Powers so not sure what to expect.

I have Orfeo and a week ago I scored a copy of Bewilderment. I'll read at least one of them.

>14 weird_O: Weird - unless you are musically proficient (ORFEO), Bewilderment might be the more enjoyable choice.

I was finally going to listen to The Overstory, which I've owned for a while, but it's over 25 hours long. Maybe I'll find one of Powers's shorter books.

Last night, I ordered a copy of The Overstory from Thriftbooks.com. It should arrive soon. I've heard so many good things about this book. I'm anxious to read it.

One of my favorite writers, and I have read all of his books, except for his first, Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance. My favorites are The Overstory, The Time of Our Singing, The Goldbug Variations and Operation Wandering Soul. Least favorite is Gain. Agree with >15 m.belljackson: that Orfeo is very difficult if you are not musically proficient--I was a music major in college and I didn't get a lot of it.

I just saw this article in the online New York Times, by guest essayist Richard Powers. He makes reference to The Overstory and compares it to what is happening in Atlanta today. Deeply disturbing, to me, and I am now rethinking if I want to read it. I may seek out something lighter by him, from the library. I seem to need *lighter* these days...

Not sure if this will be readable if you aren't a subscriber but here is the link anyhow.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/02/opinion/atlanta-police-center-protests.html?c...

>19 jessibud2: Thanks for pointing to the article. I hadn't heard about the Atlanta issue before this. And I also wonder if I should devote those 25 hours to this book at this time.

I am over halfway through Orfeo and loving it. It's my first Powers and I had no idea what to expect. The music theme is challenging, but not impossible, so don't let that scare you away from reading it. Powers uses words to describe the sounds, feeling, and experience of music. If Powers' descriptions make you curious to hear what he describes with his words, there are at least a couple of Spotify playlists that have compiled soundtracks for the musical works mentioned in this book.

I'm getting a similar feeling from this book that I get from Ali Smith's seasonal quartet.

>20 ffortsa: >19 jessibud2:

Overstory can be a life-changer - don't let anything keep you away!

I started Overstory today.

I just learned that Powers is a local author for me. Who knew? He moved to Townsend TN several years ago, which is about 30 minutes from where I live. He made a research trip to the Smokies while he was working on The Overstory and decided it was where he wanted to live.

>24 cbl_tn: I knew he lived in Tennessee now, but didn't know it was in Townsend. "The Quiet Side of the Smokies" -- we loved it there when our daughter was living in Knoxville. I started The Overstory last night too.

I wont get to it until late next week, but I put my hand on Gain which has sat in the tbr mountain unread for 20 years....

I’d forgotten to post my bit for this month’s challenge, so here goes…I wanted to participate in the challenge, but I didn't necessarily want to read a tome by "a writer of long, challenging novels brimming with complexity." So I went looking for a short story. I don't think that Powers has written a lot of short stories, but "Modulation" was included in the 2009 Best American Short Stories. The story was originally published in "Conjunctions," a literary journal.

"Modulation" is a story about the spread of a malignant digital musical file, as experienced by multiple characters, who we revisit throughout the story in sections headed by tones of a musical scale (the "do re mi" scale).

There's a lot going on the story (refer back to the "brimming with complexity" statement) above, but more than enough to convince me that I made the right choice in picking this short story to get a taste of Richard Powers.

Karen O

I began listening to Bewilderment yesterday and I'm finding it's a great follow-up to The Rosie Project which I just finished and also involves a character on the "the spectrum".

>26 Caroline_McElwee: Tastes sometimes vary widely on LT - GAIN is the only one of the 12 Richard Powers' books

that I quickly Pearled.

>29 m.belljackson: Ooo, I'll bear that in mind Marianne. I'll give it a go, but if you've liked the others an not this... we will see. I could see it was anearlier book, which can mean a writer hasn't hit their stride.

I tried to overcome my instinctive dismissal of Powers and read the first 72 pages of The Overstory. It did nothing to change my mind. So far, it feels like a collection of short stories with a common element (a tree features prominently), none of which I found particularly engaging. I suspect I see sorta what he's up to, having read the flaps and skimmed the chapter headings, but he isn't offering me anything that makes another 425 pages worth my time. I already love trees and I know the human race is hell-bent on destroying the planet. I promise I will read every comment and review from this group that takes a more appreciative view of the book.

>31 laytonwoman3rd: I read and loved the book when it came out, but did find a bit of lag from time to time Linda. It is definitely one I would reread.

I think you would love The Time of Our Singing. I can't get at my copy at the moment, but definitely plan to reread when I can. I can remember reading it the first time.

>12 LizzieD: Apropos of The Goldbug Variations, which I found brilliant when I read it many years ago, I often think about how Jan O’Deigh has a full-time job pretty much rendered obsolete by the internet. All the expertise and reference texts that were once required replaced by something you can carry in your pocket. Who would have predicted?

>33 booksaplenty1949: In the 70s and 80s one of my hobbies was finding interesting things for people I knew - a particular sort of cap, a poster with an ape seen through a window. Pretty much anyone who has a free 3min can find pretty much anything on the Internet, so my skill was rendered entirely obsolete.

>34 quondame: All the more time to look at cat videos. What a world!

With February soon coming to an end,
and now reading Plowing the Dark,
with both Wandering Soul and Bewilderment still to come,

here are High to Low ratings for Richard Powers' books read so far:

The Overstory
Time of Our Singing
Generosity
Living with the Genie
Three Farmers on their Way to a Dance
Prisoner's Dilemma
Echo Maker
Orfeo
Galatea 2.2
Gold Bug Variations
GAIN

All LT Reviewed.

I have only read two books by Powers and I like Time of Our Singing better than The Overstory. I liked The Overstory but feel that this story has been done before and that this one does not have the legacy that the award implies. The connected stories like the connected roots of trees reminded me of other authors works - Cloud Atlas for one. And it also brought to mind Lab Girl. One thing that this book captures is the growing violence of those that are protesters. It’s a story that captures the current culture.

> 36 PLOWING THE DARK goes up over Living with the Genie with competing plots and characters.

OPERATION WANDERING SOUL does for Pediatrics, Children, and Hospitals
what Richard Powers accomplished for Trees in The Overstory.

I read Bewilderment for this month's AAC. I was swept into it, more so than I was by The Overstory. A more simple story, fewer characters. Obviously a 21st century take on Flowers for Algernon, so you know where it is going, what the arc is.

I have a copy of Orfeo, but opted for Bewilderment after being cautioned that an understanding of musical theory is critical to fully appreciating it. But Carrie's comment (>21 cbl_tn:) makes me think I should give Orfeo a try. And Ali Smith's seasonal quartet too.

I just don't seem to be getting enough reading time at the moment, so Powers will be picked up later in the year. Not Gain I suspect, after reading comments above.

I just completed Bewilderment. I thought it first, a gentle story of love and acceptance and the beauty of nature. Then Powers starts getting preachy and sanctimonious and talked to the readers like a five year old. I get it, you don’t have to hit me over the head with a frying pan.

I’m really looking forward to Poet March!

>40 weird_O: Oh. I am not a fan of Flowers for Algernon. Manipulative much!?!

>43 quondame: Oh yes, manipulative. I've neither read the story nor watched the film made from it.

>42 Carmenere: Yeah, yeah. OK. Preachy it is.

Two Stars for OPERATION WANDERING SOUL...
while his 14th book, BEWILDERMENT is starting off beautifully with forays into Astronomy.

>42 Carmenere: (And everyone else) POETRY is waiting for you here.

>46 laytonwoman3rd: yay! Thank you!

Except for the "Goldilocks" mention,
BEWILDERMENT is the only Richard Powers book where I didn't need a decoder ring
for almost every seventh word.

A lot to Love and A lot to Learn...