Richard Powers Forum

Richard Powers

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Seriously? There is no discussion or comment about Three Farmers on their Way to a Dance? The Gold Bug Variations? Gain? Galatea 2.2???

Sigh....

>>By greenfyre (Tuesday, 2 Mar 2004 06:48)

I have never heard of any of thoughs books but i have sadly seen
Turning Wood With Richard Raffan

by Raffan, Richard

But that is because he has a good demo video which i had to watch for woodshop. The amazon title search they have is really bad here.

>>By Billy Pilgrim (Wednesday, 3 Mar 2004 00:14)

This is in response to Greenfyre above . . . I am a huge fan of Powers and glad to see that there is a discussion area for his writings . . . someday I should re-read his first 5 novels . . . I did not make it all the way through "Gain" . . . don't quite no why . . . but "Three Farmers . . .", "Goldbug Variations" and "Galatea" are books that I recommend to all my friends . . . looking for a "cerebral" writer who is also in touch with the "real" world . . . Ppowers seems to me to be a master of the English sentence . . . I find his "structured" poly-narrative fascinating . . . I would think that most Powers fans would also enjoy David Mitchell, Pynchon and the author of "Underworld" (whose name just flew out of my head . . . sorry . . . maybe there's something Freudian going on here) . . . also there are some fine "cerebral" French writers . . . Roubaud, Benabou etc.
I'm sure that there were a number of "plays" on various "styles" that passed over my head in "Galatea" . . . I think Powers probably is capable of a number of "voices" in the sense of Joyce's Voices etc.
Let's go deeper into these matters. I look forward to that.
Sator

>>By satorotas (Wednesday, 27 Jul 2005 19:40)

I just recently saw a critical work on Powers simply entitled,
"Understanding Powers". I read some portions of it . . .it did look while. The critic distinguished odd-numbered from even-numbered novels by Powers in regards to Engagement and Detachment and, if I'm recalling correctly, this particular critic saw "Ploughing the Dark" as a combitation of Engagement and Detachment . . . he also associated these two themes with Emerson and Emily Dickinson. The critical book seemed to be well put together/cogent in its argument and the book was rather short so one would not be burdened at all by the time it would take to assess the critic's presentation.
I just can't recall the critic's name
at present . . . I'm sure it will
come to me right after I submit
these commends. Just the
way those things go.

>>By satorotas (Wednesday, 28 Sep 2005 16:34)

Powers has a very good website with links to articles and reviews of his books.From reading Plowing the Dark I went to an article there by Bruno Latour,who is writing a book on Powers.The article is absolutely fascinating and deals with the question of "life" in written characters.It makes a lot of reference to the Turing Test.I am not educated in the sciences,but from the point of view of s.o. who was very curious to read a good literary novel dealing with technology,this was all thrilling reading.I am desperate to keep the thread of this subject matter as it is a lot of work for me.I am interested in metafiction as a genre.If anyone has any suggestions I'd be most obliged.

>>By DANSTABLE (Thursday, 7 Jun 2007 02:26)

Powers is absolutely my favorite author. Galatea 2.2 is my very favorite book. Funny, I've given this book as a gift to two very learned friends and they couldn't get through it! I regret that I can't share his message with others.

>>By Carolsan (Tuesday, 12 Feb 2008 18:13)

The discussion board is currently closed.