Goodreads | The Echo Maker: A Novel

Sara rated it:

02/20/08

Read in February, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

The other people I know who have read this book didn't like it, which brought me to think harder and more immediately about why I do like it, or think I like it. Which is good.

I do think I like this book but I don't think I can articulate why yet because it requires at least another read--or at least it requires me to re-read it. Its themes (consciousness, perception, identity, reflection, the way the passage of time affects all) are grand, delivered through its characters, the cranes, thei...more The other people I know who have read this book didn't like it, which brought me to think harder and more immediately about why I do like it, or think I like it. Which is good.

I do think I like this book but I don't think I can articulate why yet because it requires at least another read--or at least it requires me to re-read it. Its themes (consciousness, perception, identity, reflection, the way the passage of time affects all) are grand, delivered through its characters, the cranes, their mythology, and neuroscience and the questions the field has come to introduce. I'd say it falls into the category of books that require a bit of work in order to totally grasp.

There are events in the book I didn't care for upon the first read--Gerald Weber's behavior with Barbara, mainly because I don't understand what its purpose was--it seemed to be a strike of drama that didn't need to be there. Also, I was willing to accept Mark Schluter's miraculous comeback to his "original" self at the end because I've heard stories of something drastic setting aright brains that have turned upside-down. I didn't want a step-by-step sort of murder-mystery solution, but after all of the neuroscience that had been delivered up to that point, it seemed to me like cheating not to at least hint at how he may have recovered.

One other thing that feels lopsided to me is the presence of mythology. When I began reading this book, a friend asked me if it had anything to do with Echo of Greek myth. I looked up the myth before I started reading the book and soon noticed the book had more to do with Native American mythology than Greek, but then there was a slew of myths listed part-way through (including the Greek Echo) and I thought I might find something after all, but then there was no further mention of these myths. Not that I want to be beaten over the head with it, but when I finished the book it was like that part never happened.

Something I wondered about throughout was the neuroscience-speak. About a year ago I read 4 or 5 books in a row on various aspects of the brain--it's composition, function, disorders, philosophy, etc.--and I was working for a couple of neuroscience journals, so reading neuroscience research became normal reading. That said, I wondered throughout The Echo Maker if, had I not done all of that reading, all the neuroscientific passages might have been too heavy, might have read like excerpts of research papers sifted in and turned me off. Hard to say at this point, but it occurred to me.

Things I think are impressive about the book: the dialogue is done well, especially for the characters in Mark's crew--sounds just like the banter of people I know who seem to be a lot like them. Also, I like the way that these grand ideas (that I'm not yet able to articulate) are demonstrated through the lives of characters who, in addition to dealing with the major trauma of Mark's accident and subsequent brain damage, are also normal people with childhoods, dysfunctional parents, money problems and the like. The fragility of the brain in the physical and--the more difficult to get at--consciousness are demonstrated on multiple levels--which is something I'd really like to explore more in the book. On top of it all, the plot is compelling and unfolds well. I needed to know what happened, even though, given the fragility of the brain and the way the passage of time affects memory and identity, I thought nothing could be solved for certain.

Upon a first read I'm able to list things that disconcerted me or put me off more so than things that got my gears turning. However, all the way through I saw lines, snippets, and passages that needed underlining and piecing together when it was all through and brought along into a second read. On a bit of a schedule, I haven't done the piecing together yet. For now, though, I think I like this book but I don't think I can decide for sure to what degree until I've been able to spend more time with it and grasp it in full (or not). The plot is interesting enough and its ideas rich enough to get me to read it again, but life is busy, so I'll see about doing that. I do wonder if some of the elements that put me off might be part of the book's grander themes in action, meta-wise, which I'd be happy to accept if it all came together that way. I'm not so put off by these parts to weigh them heavier than what I think are the book's strong and compelling points.

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Rita rated it:

05/21/08

bookshelves: ambivalent, most-recent

Read in May, 2008

Eh. It was all right. No spoilers (none more than what’s on the jacket flap).

Mark Schluter crashes his truck off of a highway in rural Nebraska and ends up in a coma for 14 days. His sister, Karin, leaves everything behind to rush to his side and care for him. When he emerges from his coma, he doesn’t acknowledge her as his sister. He suffers from Capgras syndrome, a rare condition where a person misidentifies someone closest to him—believes that person has been replaced by an im...more Eh. It was all right. No spoilers (none more than what’s on the jacket flap).

Mark Schluter crashes his truck off of a highway in rural Nebraska and ends up in a coma for 14 days. His sister, Karin, leaves everything behind to rush to his side and care for him. When he emerges from his coma, he doesn’t acknowledge her as his sister. He suffers from Capgras syndrome, a rare condition where a person misidentifies someone closest to him—believes that person has been replaced by an imposter, or robot, or alien.

A famous Manhattan neuropsychologist, Gerald Weber, is intrigued by the case and visits Nebraska to study Mark.

The book is largely about the dynamics of those three people. And cranes. The bird variety, not the construction kind. There’s a whole lot about cranes. More about cranes than any person might ever want to know.

There is an extended supporting cast: Daniel--the bird refugee enthusiast, Barbara—the mysterious nurse’s aide, Rupp and Cain—Mark’s witless buddies (who make brain damaged Mark look almost normal in comparison), Robert Karsh—the smarmy land developer, Sylvie—Dr. Weber’s wife, and then there’s a cryptic note written by an anonymous guardian angel. These people, along with the big trio, and the cranes, drive the book forward to try to untangle the mystery of what happened the night of the crash, since nobody witnessed it but the birds. It’s not a mystery though. The “mystery” is just the vehicle that moves the characters along to the end.

I did enjoy the neuropsychology parts a lot. But, that’s me. I have a degree in psychology and a minor in biology. At the time I was earning my degree, neuropsychology was a very tempting field for me, except for all the brutal and intense animal research. I was literally nauseated by the inhumane experimentation and the ruthless disregard for the animals in the field at the time, and that was enough to turn me away from pursuing that particular degree. But, the topic has always fascinated me—the intertwining of the brain and the mind and which is really in control.

I was sucked in by the different case histories presented. At one point, Dr. Weber is reflecting on phantom limb pain and how it used to be that the medical field dismissed it, telling the patient that their pain was all in their mind. And, he comments—as if there’s any other kind of pain. I found the neuropsych segments of the book worth the whole of it.

The cranes I could have done without. I skimmed a lot of the crane stuff. Yes, I understood the parallel between the cranes and the neuropsychology. I did understand the tie-in, I got the whole “co-dependency/interdependency/mythological symbolism” thing, but I found it very dreary and overbearing.

I also didn’t like the way the author seemed to kind of hate all of his characters. They were all unlikable in one way or another. For some of those people, he really had to work at bringing that element into their character. Some of the folks would have been just genuinely OK people—normal, likeable, regular folks. But, then he had to go out of his way to introduce some damnable fault. Look at them through someone’s eyes who saw something we’d missed before and now they were reduced and pathetic. I’m all for human characters, but I think his characters were human before making them say, or do, or be seen in such ways that made them become jerks.

I really can’t recommend it, but I wouldn’t NOT recommend it either, because there might be elements to it that someone else would like more than I did.

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Jessica rated it:

10/04/07

Read in May, 2007

recommends it for: bird brains

Flowers for Algernon for the new millennium!!!!!

Okay, not really, no. Well, maybe a little...?

The best parts of this book were those written from the perspective of a character with severe traumatic brain injury. The rest of it was good too, but the characters were never quite convincing enough for me to suspend my disbelief and actually care what happened to them. Of course, I was helplessly distracted the entire time by the Man Behind the Curtain. Does Richard Powers do all his own res...more Flowers for Algernon for the new millennium!!!!!

Okay, not really, no. Well, maybe a little...?

The best parts of this book were those written from the perspective of a character with severe traumatic brain injury. The rest of it was good too, but the characters were never quite convincing enough for me to suspend my disbelief and actually care what happened to them. Of course, I was helplessly distracted the entire time by the Man Behind the Curtain. Does Richard Powers do all his own research? Where does Richard Powers live? Does he live in New York? Did Richard Powers haunt the neuroscience journal stacks of Columbia for two years while putting together this book? Because that is kind of what I was picturing. Also, for those who do not already know this, Richard Powers DOES NOT TYPE his novels. He hasn't in years. No, Richard Powers DICTATES his novels, using VOICE RECOGNITION SOFTWARE!!!

How can I POSSIBLY focus on what's going on in the novel, when I'm grappling with an image of THAT the whole time???

None of this is meant to imply that The Echo Maker is not engaging and absorbing fiction, because it definitely is. It is just not quite as engaging and absorbing as the idea of Richard Powers.

But let's face it, that's some stiff competition.

Does Richard Powers *really* know everything? Is Richard Powers a happy man? Is Richard Powers Richard Powers's real name? Does Richard Powers have children? Does Richard Powers have a dog? Does he love his dog? Does he love it more than he loves the children? Does Richard Powers really have the capacity to love, or is this somehow unusually difficult for him? Does Richard Powers feel smarter than everyone else? Does he feel smarter than his characters? If he really does know everything, it must be strange to write about people who do not. Can he empathize with them? Does he pity them? Or is he.... strangely, powerfully (!) jealous?

Is it a great burden knowing everything? When Richard Powers was in elementary school, did some other kids call him a know-it-all? When he was younger, did Richard Powers smoke cigarettes? Has Richard Powers ever taken drugs? What are Richard Powers's friends like? Are they also famous writers? Is Richard Powers pleased when he is referred to as being a "writer's writer," or do you suppose he sometimes wisfully dreams of being more of a "reader's writer"....?

Reading The Echo Maker will not definitively answer any of these questions. But if you read carefully, I'm sure you will notice some pretty big clues....less

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Tempest rated it:

(review of isbn 0312426437)

01/23/08

Read in January, 2008

recommended to Tempest by: The National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize Awards

The Echo Maker is akin to an Oscar-winning film. Dramatic, touching, well-executed, and conventionally conservative.

The story is backdropped against a small town that hosts a spectacular bird migration once a year. The hero is involved in a near-fatal car crash, from which he emerges from with Capgras syndrome; a disease which prevents him from recognizing his sister or his dog, instead believing them to be impostors impersonating the genuine articles. The novel follows them through ...more The Echo Maker is akin to an Oscar-winning film. Dramatic, touching, well-executed, and conventionally conservative.

The story is backdropped against a small town that hosts a spectacular bird migration once a year. The hero is involved in a near-fatal car crash, from which he emerges from with Capgras syndrome; a disease which prevents him from recognizing his sister or his dog, instead believing them to be impostors impersonating the genuine articles. The novel follows them through his worsening paranoia. He begins to believe that everybody is an actor, that his town and his house have been replaced by replicas.

At the exact moment when everybody in the book is deep in their own despair, in waltzes a well known writer and neurologist. The sister has written, begging for help, and the writer ends up flying to their aid. The reader is repeatedly told that his wife and him have been married for thirty years. So exhaustively is this fact reiterated that it becomes obvious something is going to happen to threaten the marriage.

In the domestic scenes that the reader is privy to, the husband and wife refer to themselves as 'Man' and 'Woman', a running gag that is never explained and is never funny, nor profound. As the book progresses, his harmonious life begins to shatter. His newest book gets bad reviews and he is tempted to sleep with another woman.

The introduction of the neurologist/writer allows Richard Powers to pepper the novel with interesting stories. He sets it up so that the neurologist/writer is questioning whether or not he should be using these interesting stories of bizarre brain damage (such as not seeing anything on the left...etc.) to hook his own readership, or students. But then, the stories he is questioning are used in full to pull Richard Power's own readers more deeply into the novel.

That all being said, what kept me reading was the concept. As frustrated as I was with the emotional response Powers was trying to extract from me with conventions and formulas, how brains orient their people through the world is a fascinating study. During a rage against the novel, I was turned onto Dr. Ramachandran, a neurologist/writer who the neurologist/writer in Power's book is unabashedly based on. Ramachandran's books are also full of fascinating case studies, but they are presented as non-fiction. So, they contain the interesting parts of Power's novels without the uninspired writing.

As expected, the ending of the book makes everything more or less ok. Things aren't completely tied up, but the strings are in the process of being tightened. Happiness is inevitable a few chapters after the ending of the book. ...less

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Catherine rated it:

07/05/08

Harrumph. I bought this book because I read an admiring review of it in the New York Times. And, I was interested in the premise -- after a near-fatal car accident, a man doesn't recognize his own sister, who comes back to their miserable Nebraska hometown to care for him. This apparently is a real medical condition, called Capgras Syndrome, which also interested me. (This isn't a spoiler because it happens in the first ten pages). Overall, though, it was a struggle to finish this one -- at 400+...more Harrumph. I bought this book because I read an admiring review of it in the New York Times. And, I was interested in the premise -- after a near-fatal car accident, a man doesn't recognize his own sister, who comes back to their miserable Nebraska hometown to care for him. This apparently is a real medical condition, called Capgras Syndrome, which also interested me. (This isn't a spoiler because it happens in the first ten pages). Overall, though, it was a struggle to finish this one -- at 400+ pages, it made me long, as many contemporary novels do, for the old Maxwell Perkins-style editorships, where editors actually shaped and trimmed and improved books. This book could have been much better if it had been put on a diet, assuming my mythical Wise Editor would have known which parts to go after.

She might start with the overly clinical speculations about the nature of Capgras syndrome -- as long as we understand its manifestations, the reader (unless she's a brain researcher) doesn't much care which part of the temporal lobe is thought to be responsible. The "researcher" in this book -- a scientist who writes reader-friendly texts about peculiar brain conditions -- is such a blatant Oliver Sacks ripoff that I'm surprised he (Sacks) hasn't sued. Maybe he has. This researcher has a role to play in the story -- he's not to be excised altogether -- but his backstory and the other challenges in his life felt like padding to me. Are readers buying books by the pound these days?

When she'd gotten that aspect of the story down to size, my mythical Editor might then turn her attention to the quite predictable "ecologists-versus-developers" battle that builds throughout the book. The nature people are good, the developers are evil -- okay, I'll go there. But Powers evidently doesn't know how to work old-fashioned skullduggery and evildoing into a literary novel. The bad guys are transparently bad, and they look like cartoon characters when held up beside the real, three-dimensional characters in the book. I know it's nearly impossible to incorporate the any of the best elements of genre fiction into a literary novel, but Powers shouldn't have tried.

Like Jim Crace, Powers is at his best when writing about nature. His descriptions of the sandhill cranes, of the landscape, and of weather, are absolutely lovely. And they would have been enough, in a book that clocked in at under 300 pages. But book overall is so blowsy and overblown that the bits of deft writing, of which there are many, can't quite sustain the whole. ...less

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John rated it:

02/05/08

bookshelves: literature

Read in February, 2008

This novel revolves around a 20-something immature man, Mark, who crashes his truck sustaining life threatening injuries, where upon healing ultimately finds himself living a broken life trapped in Capgras' syndrome, a neuro-psychological disease where he is unable to recognize those people closest to him. Written in the third person, what keeps the novel moving foward are the characters who get dragged into Mark's condition and life; from his older sister, a wayward soul frought with her o...more This novel revolves around a 20-something immature man, Mark, who crashes his truck sustaining life threatening injuries, where upon healing ultimately finds himself living a broken life trapped in Capgras' syndrome, a neuro-psychological disease where he is unable to recognize those people closest to him. Written in the third person, what keeps the novel moving foward are the characters who get dragged into Mark's condition and life; from his older sister, a wayward soul frought with her own fragility and emotional insecurities - to a famous neurologist who bears an eerie similarity to the real life physician Oliver Sacks (who as an aside is worth a read in his own right), in that he writes mass market case vignettes of unusual patients he sees - to a pair of friends who work with him at a meat packing plant - to a nurses' aid who cares for him after his illness. All these individuals and their stories are played out against the backdrop the annual migration of cranes that return to the Platte river, which provides the novel with swaths of colorful sometimes cryptic parallels to the main characters.

The characters, altough well contrived, were all in some way broken and searching for answers for thier own lives as much as Mark is trying to recreate his own. It is partly this collection of broken individuals that keeps the novel in a permanent sense of anticipation, without ever quite realizing the epic personal meltdowns hiding behind every page. The tension that this creates is never exactly brought to a solid boil, and likewise the novel ends in more of a whimper than a bang, with a gradual tightening of the loose ends without stitching them into a firm pattern.

Perhaps the most impressive piece of this novel was the meticuluous attention that Powers pays to the medical details of numerous neuro-psychological states. Most all references to these conditions were offered in passing, but added to the story and continued to hold my interest - sparking internal discussions about what is real and how the mind inteprets and makes sense of the world around us.

Lyrical and well written, this recipient of the National Book Award and a finalist for the Pulitzer, ultimately left me wanting. Difficult to put a finger on, I felt that the characters some how in the end just didn't really ring true and that the plot line while entertaining enough, in the end did not transport me to some place that I had never been. Worth a read, but not likely a re-read....less

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Diane rated it:

01/10/08

Read in December, 2007

This is a book that makes for better discussion than for reading. The plot starts out simply - a young man (in his mid 20's who is not a total loser, but not exactly a winner either) has a terrible truck accident in central Nebraska near the Platte River where the Sandhill Cranes come every year during migration. He amazingly is not killed but suffers severe head injuries. He receives incredible support from his older sister and others and eventually becomes more or less functional. His brain i...more This is a book that makes for better discussion than for reading. The plot starts out simply - a young man (in his mid 20's who is not a total loser, but not exactly a winner either) has a terrible truck accident in central Nebraska near the Platte River where the Sandhill Cranes come every year during migration. He amazingly is not killed but suffers severe head injuries. He receives incredible support from his older sister and others and eventually becomes more or less functional. His brain injury however makes him question things - he can no longer feel the emotional connection that makes his sister real to him - he considers her an actress, an imposter. He has a similar reaction to his dog and to his home. Other things and people who are not as close emotionally he can accept, however he becomes very paranoid. He is not a particularly likeable character. His sister starts out as sort of a hero, but she also becomes much less than likeable - wimpy and controlling at the same time; a bit domineering in a way that an older Sandhill Crane will "kill" her younger sibling,(I kept searching for the symbolism of the sandhill cranes that pervades the book so thought I ought throw this in). A well known neurologist, Gerald Webber, takes an interest in the case, but the more he is involved, the more he begins to question his own sense of self. In the end, the young man may be the most "normal" person and I realized that we have been seeing the world only through the eyes of these three characters (Mark - the accident victim; Karin - his sister; and Gerald Webber (whom Mark calls Shrinky) - the neurologist) and that reality is actually elsewhere. The sandhill cranes are a recurring there - their predictability, their naturalness, their chance of extinction - but not exactly sure how to relate them to the story.

I looked up some reviews which made me feel like I had read a different book altogether (One reviewer calls it a revisiting of the Wizard of Oz... giving many examples!)

The writing gets very selfconscious at times and actually a bit boring. I do find the idea of how we perceive the world very fascinating. But if you really want to read the best of all books about different perceptions, I would recommend Jealousy (or the less accessible Voyeur) by Robbe-Grillet.
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Susan rated it:

01/01/08

Read in November, 2007

recommends it for: Science lovers

Richard Powers’ The Echo Maker started out very captivating with Mark, the main character, losing his memory in a car accident. Throughout the novel, Powers plays with character relationships to create twist and turns in the storyline. Although it was interesting at first, the style becomes overwhelming towards the middle, and by the end of the book my interests have turned into confusion. In writing this novel, I believe Powers’ general audience is science fans because there are scientific ...more Richard Powers’ The Echo Maker started out very captivating with Mark, the main character, losing his memory in a car accident. Throughout the novel, Powers plays with character relationships to create twist and turns in the storyline. Although it was interesting at first, the style becomes overwhelming towards the middle, and by the end of the book my interests have turned into confusion. In writing this novel, I believe Powers’ general audience is science fans because there are scientific or medical terms that are hard to understand, which made it less enjoyable to read the novel. Because of the scientific and medical terms, the storyline started to drag. I felt as though the plot could have been smoother and shorter. What kept me going was my love for mystery. At the very beginning, Powers introduces the car accident as a curse and a mystery case: who caused the accident? Who wrote the note?

Although I did not enjoy the book too much, I did enjoy Powers’ way of creating character through dialogue. His character, Mark, was portrayed very well as a mentally unstable man who loses trust in those dearest to him while bonding with those who are mere strangers. Throughout The Echo Maker, the characters are brought together by this accident, yet they are emotionally distant because of their past with each other. They want to connect, and on the surface it seems as though the characters can relate to one another, but in reality, they all had their reservations and secrets. However, some characters like Daniel were too hard to believe because of his passive and carefree nature. He seemed too godly to be real.

The end also came as a surprise for me. Throughout the novel, I was guessing who wrote the note, and it turns out to be the last person I would suspect. The person who caused the accident was also not someone I would have suspected either. Overall, I enjoyed the beginning and the end, but the middle was lacking. The climax seemed to have appeared at the end while the middle few hundred pages were to build up to the climax slowly. The book would be more enjoyable, in my opinion, if the plot was more direct and straight to the point....less

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Ben rated it:

01/16/08

Read in January, 2008

Plot and formula won out over characters in this Powers effort. Although the description sounds quite intriguing, the execution was flat and undeveloped. To me, it seems as if Powers stumbled upon this concept of the Capgras Syndrome and decided to write about it. How interesting that a person could have this focused paranoia, where he believes everything in the world save one person or thing, whom he believes to be an impostor? Now, to write the book, it seems that Powers researched the ...more

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Mark rated it:

09/14/07

bookshelves: fiction, psychology

Read in September, 2007

SLIGHT SPOILER ALERT: I'm not giving away the ending here, but the following does give away some of the plot developments.

This won the National Book Award last year, and is by an author who has received one of the MacArthur "genius awards." Did it deserve it?

In the end, I can't endorse the choice, even though there is much to commend in this book. The basic story: a Nebraska factory worker flips his truck on a cold winter night, and when he wakes up, he believes that his siste...more

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Mary M rated it:

05/31/08

Read in May, 2008

recommends it for: Book clubs

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I LOVED the first 3/4 of this book. I was thinking, “WOW!!! 5 stars!!!,” but then I started to get a little frustrated. The author unnecessarily dragged out the end, and the long pieces with Gerald Weber were an annoying (and boring)intrusion in the story. Also, themes started repeating and getting heavy-handed. I felt like Karin must have wondered at least four times if her brother were right and she wasn’t who she thought she was. We get it!

Despite this repetition, I did love the the...more

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Melissa rated it:

04/03/08

Read in April, 2008

recommends it for: everyone

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I am always intrigued by the names that authors give to their books – while they seldom explain; they usually evoke a mood or an image or, more directly, a theme. I am still grappling with the “The Echo Maker,” as I am with several of the images in this book.

It begins with the arrival of the cranes landing in great numbers on the Platte in Nebraska. They seem to be the only witnesses to a devastating car crash and the image of birds as witnesses comes up again and again in this intri...more

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Elizabeth rated it:

12/24/07

bookshelves: fiction

Read in December, 2007

There's Mark, who awakes from a coma following a freak accident with the more than nagging feeling that things around him aren't quite right - especially his sister, who has been replaced by someone very closely resembling his sister, his dog, who has been replaced by a very similar dog, and his house, which seems exactly right except for a few details.

There's Karin, brought back to her hometown as a result of her brother's accident, bewildered and distressed by her brother's condition, conv...more

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Ginnie rated it:

12/22/07

bookshelves: fiction

Read in December, 2007

Here I go again about to make a fool of myself. I ended up reading The Echo Maker wanting to fillet out the pages about the sand cranes, the Platte River and create a magical new book just about the Echo of the Eternal Return of birds and man and nature and the turning seasons. Throw away the unreliable narrators here, the unbelievable Gerald Weber-Sacks and his paper doll wife and daughter ( did anybody else have trouble with the neurologist self-diagnosing asomatognosia (p.431) and ex...more

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Jennifer rated it:

03/29/08

Read in March, 2008

Good God, this book brings new meaning to the word slow. It's the story of a brother and sister, Karin and Mark, raised by an unstable father and a religious fanatic of a mother. With both parents gone, Karin escapes Kearney, Nebraska to try to make a life for herself, only to be drawn back to Kearney out of her sense of duty to her brother Mark, who suffers severe closed-brain trauma in a mysterious car accident.

Mark suffers from Capgrass Syndrome, which leads him to believe that Karin has ...more

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David rated it:

04/11/08

Read in April, 2008

I've always had mixed feelings about Richard Powers. On the one hand, he is at work creating a new kind of American literary voice -- one fluent in the vocabulary of technology that anyone with a computer and a gadget fetish begins to incorporate into his or her discourse. It's a burning, living, thoroughly modern idiom that most writers -- pale and sheltered one sees them -- have ignored, maybe even with some disdain. But on the other hand, Powers has always been a writer uncomfortable with emo...more

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C(h)ristine rated it:

10/17/07

Read in July, 2007

National Book Award winner. Story about a character with a brain injury. Given to me by a friend (thank you thank you!). All signs pointing me to read this book! And Powers does have some languid prose that creates a crisp landscape in my mind. I will, for instance, never forget the cranes that he describes throughout the book. I mean, check out the opening lines below–are they not gorgeous?

But. But! The book’s momentum (ie., plot) is very slow. Maybe it’s my mood (I LOVED the book Out...more

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Lawrence A rated it:

10/17/07

bookshelves: fiction, nationalbookawardwinners

Read in September, 2007

Once again, Richard Powers manages to combine an exploration of humanity's quest for scientific knowledge and self-knowledge with humanism itself. Here, he follows the thoughts and deeds of an Oliver Sacks-like neurologist known for publishing popularized accounts of the bizarre symptoms of his patients, as well as one those patients, a 20-something blue-collar Nebraskan who is suffering from Capgras Syndrome, which causes him to believe that his sister is an imposter nefariously planted by unk...more

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Sergey rated it:

07/06/07

bookshelves: 2007, english, fiction, loan, novel

Read in July, 2007

Richly written and complex (and laborious at times), Richard Powers' The Echo Maker explores the depths of human psychosis, an attempt to understand the meaning of 'self' - an evolution of understanding the consciousness and identity of man as a race of thinking, evolving animal. The story is simply: Mark flips his truck one winter evening and suffers head injury, developing a rare syndrome know as Capgras believing his sister, Karin, to have been replaced by a doppelganger, a robot. H...more

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Myron rated it:

07/20/08

Read in July, 2008

The more I think about it as a diagnosis of post-9/11 mental states the less I think of it, for what it is, on its surface. Interesting angle on Oliver Sacks-ian writing, and attention-holding characters; but Dr. Weber's side holds up much less well in contrast (and overly, almost transparently self-consciously contrasted just-so in Weber's, wife Sylvie's and daughter Jessica's characterizations) to Karin's relationship with Mark (and Barbara Gillespie's shoe-horned relationship to Mark, and Du...more

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