Reviews with content warning for Ableism - Bewilderment

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Bewilderment by Richard Powers

21 reviews

madscientistcat's review

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

2.25

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hollyd19's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Reading Bewilderment felt like diving without an oxygen tank, knowing that when you break to go to the surface the coral will disappear, so you hold your breath until it hurts and keep your eyes wide because the beauty is overwhelming but the panic is setting in, too.

Bewilderment follows Theo, an astrophysicist widower, and his young, neurodiverse son named Robin. The two are attempting to navigate their increasingly unstable world, on a personal level after the loss of their wife/mom & in terms of climate change and political unrest. When Robin is threatened with expulsion for an outburst at school, Theo enrolls him in a neurofeedback study happening at his university, which sets in motion the rest of the book.

This was my first Powers and I was very moved by his writing. I took so many notes and highlighted several passages. Relatedly, I felt that Robin’s neurodiversity was portrayed with tenderness and honesty.

Now some minor spoilers to talk about why it wasn’t an unequivocal five stars.

I strongly dislike gratuitous tragedy and since the rest of the book felt masterfully subdued, I was pretty bothered by the revelation that Aly was pregnant when she died. It added nothing. In a similar vein, I was unsatisfied with how Powers wrote the bit about Aly’s possible infidelity. At first it was guardedly hinted at, but when Theo asks “Is he mine?” it felt a bit ham-handed.

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kah296's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I thought this book was PHENOMENAL. In my opinion, it was better than The Overstory. The writing and characters were just gorgeous and it was well-paced. My only complaint is that the end felt a bit rushed. Even so, I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time and will be recommending it to friends and family.

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laurenmvmills's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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erinwolf1997's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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jamii's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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vicyoung18's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Loveable characters? No

1.0

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just_one_more_paige's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Continuing my slow, but hopefully steady, read through of the 2022 Aspen Words Literary Prize longlist, this is my third of the bunch. Powers has had a number of really popular releases over the past few years, but I have never really been moved to pick any of them up. The same was true of this one, if I'm being honest. But because he is so popular, it was one of the easier ones to get my hands on, so I got to it sooner rather than later.

Theo Byrne is an astrobiologist and, now, single father (after the untimely death of his wife in an accident). Theo feels in over his head raising his nine-year-old, Robin,who is a unique child, tender-hearted and fixedly focused on animal rights advocacy and preservation, while struggling in school to control certain emotional reactions to interpersonal interactions. Theo is advised by the school multiple times that Robin should consider further help with his sociality and emotional control, including the potential for medication. Theo desperately wants to avoid that and, instead, reaches out to a fellow researcher to try an experimental neurofeedback treatment. And the reader is brought along on an intimate journey with Theo and Robin, as they jointly navigate the universal complications of family, grief, society, environmental justice, and the political landscape.

Well, I am grateful to Aspen Words for making me pick up this short but impactful novel. Like I said, I would not have done so under just my own volition, and I am truly glad to have spent my time within its pages. First of all, the writing was simply gorgeous. It was tender and poetic and full of feeling juxtaposed perfectly with science and precision and sparseness. I know that there were some criticisms of Powers' choice to euphemistically refer to many fully recognizable characters/parallels to real life (Marie Kondo, TED Talks, Greta Thunberg, Trump, to name a few), and questions as to why he didn't just name them. But for me, the sort of speculative fiction vibe to the story was well served by the choice to use euphemisms/alternate names. Knowing what they referred to meant that the impact of the messages wasn't lessened, but I was simultaneously able to stay "escaped" into the world he created, instead of being thrust back into "real" life too harshly. I also loved the way Theo uses his education/knowledge as an astrobiologist to fuel his imagination, creating (fully developed/realistic) planets as metaphors for life and social emotional teaching moments for Robin. That, and really the majority of their father-son interactions, are so sweet.

There are quite a few major themes that Powers packs into this slim novel, bringing a depth to each that is quite impressive considering how little space he does it in. He spins astronomy/science, social commentary, environmental justice, grief and family loss, touching and poignant father son moments, and a criticism of the way this country stifles and limits anyone who is non-neurotypical (in ways especially egregious with children), together with such finesse. Powers meditates on the importance of empathy, not just for fellow humans, but also for other species, (and how that would make us better humans); through Robin's eyes, this is a particularly powerful and affecting message. And with that, he illustrates the heart-wrenching and terrifying effects of the decline of the world as we know it, specifically natural/environmental and human/interactive, on children; the deep and inescapable trauma of watching that happen in real time, as adults seem to do little to address/stop it. (And as the adult, where do you draw the line between your child's innocence and the need for them to know the truth?) Finally, there is a great exploration of the harmful effects of radicalized politicalization, dogma, religious fanaticism, on individual lives.

The one thing that did strike a bit of a warning bell was the overall reaction from Theo to the use of diagnosis/medication to help his son. I definitely understand that it can be an overwhelming suggestion to a parent and, after working in school systems quite a bit, is over-suggested (for sure). However, the tone of this novel as so deeply anti-diagnosis/medicine is a bit concerning. There are many cases where medication is both necessary and extremely beneficial and ruling it out on principle seems like a dangerous agenda to push. Frustration with a lack of consensus from professionals involved does make sense, but mental health is complex, not always straightforward. I feel like there could have been a few steps between the suggestions of school psychologists/counselors and Theo's full rejection of them as a parent who "knows best" (even after myriad admittances that he feels out of his depth as a parent?). Overall, I felt greater compromise or cooperation might have been better, as a message to the public? Maybe even just an acknowledgement that the extremity of Theo's reactions and/or the validity of other options and/or a line showing that further conversations were had but still no compromise was found? I don't know. While reading, I empathized with Theo, and understood the reasons and emotions that drove his decision making, so within that context, it did fit. And yet, it also really read like Powers had an agenda there, beyond the characterization of Theo within the novel, and it was the one thing that sort of pulled me from the narrative.

I'm also not sure how I felt about the ending. It was a gut punch in the moment for sure, but after sitting with it...it seems too easy? Other reviews have noted that it is a reference/homage to Flowers for Algernon, which is mentioned throughout the novel, but having never read it myself, I can only say how I reacted to the ending in this one context, without that influence. And in this case, I felt like it allowed Theo an escape that undermined some of the progress and emotionality of the rest of the story.

The combination of curiosity and fear/loss, the grounding of one mixed with the out-of-control of the other, that form the baseline for this book conceptually is really well executed. There is such a rising and crashing of hope, as the emotional line traveled by the reader, and it was quite affecting. There is a line from a poem by Pablo Neruda that Powers uses to describe Theo's wife throughout the novel, “compact but planetary,” that feels like the perfect descriptor for the scope and feel of the themes and writing in this novel as well. A stunning, gorgeously rendered, introspective piece of fiction.

“I wanted to tell the man that everyone alive on this fluke little planet was on the spectrum. That's what a spectrum is. I wanted to tell the man that life itself is a spectrum disorder, where each of us vibrated at some frequency in the continuous rainbow.”

“Nobody’s perfect [...] But, man, we all fall short so beautifully.”

“Every belief will be outgrown, in time. THe first lesson of the universe is to never reason from a single instance. Unless you only have one instance. In which case: find another.”

“…but against shamelessness, outrage is impotent.”

"We learned how the Constitution was one thing and the local powers of enforcement were another. That alone was enough civics lesson to show why legal public demonstration was never enough to threaten the status quo.”

“He wanted drama and showdown and righteous calls for justice from concerned citizens. Instead, he got America.” (Wow, what a sobering and upsetting statement about this country.)

“In the face of the world's basic brokenness, more empathy meant deeper suffering.”

“Earth had two kinds of people: those who could do that math and follow the science, and those who were happier with their own truths. But in our hearts' daily practice, whatever schools we went to, we all lived as if tomorrow would be a clone of now.”

“The trap evolution shaped for us: the entire species might have been on the line, and I'd still worry first about my son.”

"Oh, this planet was a good one. And we, too, were good, as good as the burn of the sun and the rain's sting and the smell of living soil, the all-over song of endless solutions signing the air of a changing world that by every calculation ought never to have been."

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susannaobrien's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Given The Overstory is my favourite book, I went in with high expectations and left feeling a little disappointed. I found the focus on space and descriptions of plants harder to connect with and less engaging than the forests of The Overstory.

But, if I try not to compare the two, Bewilderment is still a beautifully written book which gives you a lot to think about.

I thought the theme of kinship was well explored. There's the difficulties of parenthood in Theo and Robin's relationship, particularly without the continued advice of Alyssa. Theo is so aware of the consequences of potential mistakes, even ones he wouldn't know are mistakes until later which reminded me of us reckoning with the discovered impact of industrialisation on climate change. Theo also feels anxious about Robin all the time but is determined to appreciate all of his strengths (an important perspective for neurodivergent representation). Robin is therefore treated with respect and (mostly) honesty, not always afforded to children his age, and although he deals with so much eco anxiety, he finds it worse to be lied to. There's a less-than-subtle reference to Greta Thunberg but I did appreciate the focus on the need to listen to young people.

There's a sense in the book that no matter how close you are to someone, you still don't know them completely, but it's the curiosity and sense of exploration that is worth pursuing: much like science's pursuit of solutions to the climate crisis and knowledge about our universe.

Then there's the overwhelming sense of kinship with the planet, its "sentient beings" and potiential life in the wider universe. This is where you can see Richard Powers continued exploration of themes from The Overstory. It's this kinship that evokes a sense of responsibility in Robin, who is frustrated that the world doesn't seem to be facing up to the urgency of the problem. This is contrasted throughout with western, capitalist political attitudes that centre humans and the Earth as the most advanced life forms whose economic growth shouldn't be threatened with something like space exploration, which they see as a waste of resources. The parallels to Trump and those who doubt science and support conspiracy theories was again, not particularly subtle, but helped root the story's message in reality.

I thought the themes of making progress emotionally but also scientifically were interesting. The book provoked a lot of concern in me, because of the ease at which things seemed to go backwards in the story. This again has parallels to the real scepticism and blocking we've seen of climate justice, and reminds us that small changes to laws and attitudes can snowball into disasters without us even realising.

The ending was sad but didn't hit me as I might have expected in the moment. Not sure what that says. On further reflection, I can see the "inevitability" that Powers describes feeling about this ending.

I also think a few of the planet descriptions could have been edited as although I enjoyed them, they sometimes distracted from the story.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but I felt tense around the conversation on medication vs therapy vs support for neurodivergent children. I'm not sure Powers reaches a strong conclusion one way or the other, but there are moments which I think could strike a bad tone amongst the neurodivergent community.

Overall, this book ties a lot of threads together, from the ethics of raising children when the world seems to be on fire, to the empathy towards all beings and the resilience needed to keep trying to change things, to how figuring out our relationship to other life forms helps us learn so much about ourselves. I could imagine going back to it again.

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internationalreads's review against another edition

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dark emotional fast-paced

3.5

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