The Echo Maker--a review

[zenithblue]

I've been struggling to write something that will do justice to Richard Powers' incredibly complex novel The Echo Maker. Plotwise, the story is relatively simple; Mark Schluter, a twenty-something slacker from a small town in Nebraska, flips his truck in an accident on an icy stretch of road in the middle of nowhere. His older sister Karin, after

Comments

[antarcticlust]

Consider me Powers target audience, then! I mean, my tastes in literature ranges from the beautifully sparse to the delightfully complex...but this sounds like a real treat. Thank you for the review! It's very intriguing.

[zenithblue]

I thought of you once or twice in particular while reading it, actually--something about the weaving of neurology and evolution and geography and narrative. Hope you enjoy it if you get a chance to pick it up.

[decemberthirty]

Ooh, cool. I haven't heard of this book, but it sounds really fascinating. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!

[zenithblue]

I totally recommend it, it's incredible. It won the National Book Award this year and people griped because he was "obscure." I'm like, what the hell, isn't that the *point* of the National Book Award, to reward excellence instead of fame? But yeah, pick it up if you get a chance, it's incredible.

[zenithblue]

Oh, I have a Boullosa book on my to-read pile...one of the books you gifted me last year on my birthday (I always read book gifts but I take my sweet time getting to them sometimes). It looks really good. I don't know much about her otherwise, you'll have to elucidate me.