March 2015 Discussion: Orfeo by Richard Powers

[AACPL]

Hi! Welcome to this month's Goodreads discussion: Orfeo by Richard Powers. My name is Alyssa. I'll be moderating our conversation, so please share your thoughts!

Peter Els is a washed up composer. He used to create abstract patterns in experimental music--much to the bewilderment of his audiences--but now he is an amateur scientist, trying to splice musical patterns into living cells.

Richard Powers is often described as a cerebral writer, and he lives up to that moniker at times in this book, especially in some of his musical analyses. However he also writes beautifully about an intriguing concept, and his flawed characters can draw you into the story--like Peter, a man who is more in love with music than with his own personal relationships.

What do you think? What were your first reactions as you read (or listened to) this book?

[Carlotta]

I'm only about 50 pages or so in, but I'm definitely enjoying it. I'm doing a combination of reading/listening and after a little bit I started noticing that there aren't any chapters. Makes the story kind of feel like a piece of music, unfolding in movements but never really coming to a full stop.

[AACPL]

That's interesting--I listened to the audio book, so I didn't have that perspective. I like your idea about the flow of the narrative, though. It kind of ties into the style of writing, too. It tells the story in snapshots of Peter Els' present and past, mixing them together. They're separate, like the musical movements you allude to, but also part of the character's and story's larger whole.

[Alyssa]

I think it's interesting to have a character so defined by a passion. Music is what set him apart from other kids in childhood, but it's also what connected him to the world. Els says that "music blurred the line between prophecy and recall," and indeed music is the perfect venue for telling Els' story--his past and his future.