Playground: A Novel

Written by Richard Powers

Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini, Robin Siegerman, Eunice Wong and 3 more

A magisterial new novel from the Pulitzer Prize–winning and New York Times best-selling author of The Overstory and Bewilderment.

Four lives are drawn together in a sweeping, panoramic new novel from Richard Powers, showcasing the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Overstory at the height of his skills. Twelve-year-old Evie Beaulieu sinks to the bottom of a swimming pool in Montreal strapped to one of the world’s first aqualungs. Ina Aroita grows up in naval bases across the Pacific with art as her only home. Two polar opposites at an elite Chicago high school bond over a three-thousand-year-old board game; Rafi Young will get lost in literature, while Todd Keane’s work will lead to a startling AI breakthrough.

They meet on the history-scarred island of Makatea in French Polynesia, whose deposits of phosphorus once helped feed the world. Now the tiny atoll has been chosen for humanity’s next adventure: a plan to send floating, autonomous cities out onto the open sea. But first, the island’s residents must vote to greenlight the project or turn the seasteaders away.

Set in the world’s largest ocean, this awe-filled book explores that last wild place we have yet to colonize in a still-unfolding oceanic game, and interweaves beautiful writing, rich characterization, profound themes of technology and the environment, and a deep exploration of our shared humanity in a way only Richard Powers can.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Spotify Audiobooks
• Release date: Sep 24, 2024
• ISBN: 9798882333125

Reviews for Playground

[Leong Tzu Ann · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Truly deserving of the simple words 'amazing, lyrical, moving, important, transcendent'

[jamey oneal · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Audiobook. Great narrators. I'd like to point out that IF you listen in audiobook format, there is a section in the text format that is indistinguishable when you listen and it is COMPLETELY necessary to understand the story. I don't want to reveal exactly what it is because it is a spoiler* (I will elaborate at the end of review) but it's vital to understand the ending.
My only complaint - he does drone on. Mostly I enjoy this, at least the parts I enjoy, but the parts that aren't interesting to me are torture. For me, it was Evvie's endless oceanic musings. I was so bored I skipped most of them once I got to the middle of the novel and I realized there was no plot exposition and speeding past of skipping entirely wouldn't leave me lost. That's it, that's my complaint.

Beyond that, this is one of those books that I felt changed me after I read this. It has stuck with me for months and my feelings about it have changed and evolved and still have as much fire as immediately after reading.

Part of it is that I am a Chicagoan and the book has it's heart set in Chicago, and I grew up just a few years after the characters in the book, so I felt very connected.
How to describe this book...it's a lot, but I think one should know that it's a critique of class/unfettered capitalism, global warming, and technology-particularly AI. It's thoughtful, though. I say this as someone who is cautiously supportive of both capitalism and AI, and the way we see these characters navigate their lives and goals is truly human and feels so deep. We watch several characters, some loosely connected, so more directly, grow and change as they also handle money, race, gender, children, aging, intelligence, colonialism, climate change, art, technology, progress...life. Primarily it's through the eyes of a wealthy young Todd who enters an elite high school in the early 80's and befriends a brilliant scholarship student, Rafi, who is navigating being both Black and poor in that environment, the follow them to college and beyond and the girl they meet there. We learn a bit of both of their backstories, and then what happens after they leave college with their respective gifts and move on. There are some parts of the novel that left me feeling confused or felt untethered-like the way Rafi speaks, and I was willing to let them slide because the novel is so engaging, and I'm glad I stuck it out. It's a little hard to talk about because of spoilers.

Now, the thing about the spoiler below is that it doesn't change the story, it changes how you FEEL about the story, and, ya'll, I am haunted. And angry. And so this is why it's an amazing novel. That said, I don't think this is for everyone. It's wordy, and convoluted, and loooong, and a smidge preachy at time (mostly related to Evie and at the end where they are on the island, but the writing is so beautiful and compassionate. Powerful and gentle, and quiet.

This is truly going to be a polarizing experience, and truly a 4-5 star for some people and a DNF for a lot of folks.



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*****SPOILER*****
SPOILER
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At the end, we find the narrator is an AI, speaking to Todd who is dying and has a debilitating disease that has left him unable to move and he's having a story told to him of his life and the life of his friends and other characters. We realize that many of the characters had died long before they could have done any of the things in the novel or could have met and that it's changed a lot of the past to make Todd seem to be a better person; a compassionate story for a dying man. It explains a few things that were confusing or even infuriating , such as how Rafi spoke which was almost comically stereotypical. We were already aware the narrator was unreliable, but now we see that the AI is telling him what he wants to hear, gains forgiveness, gets to be a hero, and die happy. It's unclear exactly where Todd leaves off and the AI takes over.

[Joseph Bair · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Capturing, vivid and engaging through the whole read. I loved it!

[brajcich · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Powers Does it again. Thought provoking and a true reflection of society woven through great characters and plot.

[Latrice K Springs · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Stunning. Well told, well written. Listen, then buy this book.

[Linda Pattison · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The reviews and ratings. A little hard to follow the characters o audio listen.

[Mary · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed living through so many characters, all with such different lives and experiences.

[Joyce Harout · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I tried. Very hard. But at chapter 11, I still had no idea what the heck this book was about, so I gave up.