Chris’s Pick
March, 2025
Playground
Richard Powers
W.W Norton & Company
September 24, 2024
Similar in structure to Power’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Overstory, Playground follows three different storylines in three different timelines, centering on four characters. It is, at first, disorienting to try to figure out how these storylines will come together; fortunately, the book is so beautifully written it offsets bewilderment.
We are introduced to the primary narrator, Todd Keane, at middle age, dealing with a mortal disease. He has become a beyond-wealthy digital tycoon by creating the online game “Playground”, a virtual economy platform with billions of daily users.
In his youth, Todd meets Rafi Young, both students at an exclusive Chicago high school. Though from very different socioeconomic backgrounds, similarly dysfunctional families, and a classic left versus right-brain mentality, the two bond over their love of games—chess, at first, then the ancient Chinese game of Go. The thirty-year cross-racial friendship is sustained by fierce and constant competition.
A third character joins the two men during their college days. Ina Aroita is from Tahiti, a sculptor and artist that both men fall in love with.
The final important character is Evelyne Beaulieu whom we meet in Montreal, 1947. Evie’s father, in association with Jacques Cousteau, has invented the Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus and Evie becomes one of the first, at age twelve, to breathe and experience life underwater. She grows to become a world-famous SCUBA diver (her character patterned after the renowned Sylvia Earle), writing, teaching, and exploring the ocean’s depths for the entirety of her life. Power’s illustrations of ocean life are enthralling, even spiritual, particularly in describing the giant oceanic manta rays: thirty feet across from wingtip to wingtip, they have enormous brains, are deeply curious, will interact with humans when they deem it necessary, and, quite clearly, play.
{To be sure, this is a cautionary tale about the current and future health of the ocean. Given the depth plus the breadth of the ocean, ninety-nine percent of the inhabitable space on our planet is underwater. With humans unable to live there, our knowledge of the ocean and ocean life is significantly limited, with 80% remaining unexplored and largely unknown.}
How inappropriate to call this planet Earth, when it is clearly Ocean
—Arthur C Clarke
Powers also follows the residents of Makatea, an atoll in French Polynesia. Decimated by phosphate mining in the early 1900’s, Makatea is now being approached by tech billionaires who want to use the island as a launching pad for “seasteading” (this is not the fiction I assumed…it is a real Silicon Valley venture). The islanders must vote to allow this, choosing for or against the future and all its promised bounty. It is in Makatea that all the characters finally come together.
The connecting theme in the book is play, particularly finite versus infinite play, (A finite game played for the purpose of winning; an infinite game for the purpose of continuing the play.) We discover Powers is also playing a narrative game with us, his readers, and it takes attention to figure out what is going on.
I first “read” the book by audiobook; the ending so confused me, I bought a print copy and started over from the beginning (a testament to the pleasure of reading this book). I offer only one hint: Half of the book is in italics, and that is a key towards deciphering the twist at the end of the story.
I enjoy researching a book I am reviewing by finding and listening to author interviews, and it was especially true with Richard Powers. Playground is an extraordinary novel by an author who, in the past, has been criticized as writing “think pieces”, not novels. There is no question that Powers is awed by, and passionate about, his subjects, in this case the technological revolution that humans may be losing control over, and the majesty of the ocean.
Countering the conventional notion of human exceptionalism comes through strongly in this book, as it does in many of Powers’ books. We humans are a very small component of the “immense journey”, ancillary to the larger story of life on earth. Although reading about both the destruction of our oceans and fourth industrial revolution sounds dystopic at best, Powers suggests we move on not with a feeling of despair, but with astonishment of where we are going from here.
Playground may be confounding, but that is the beauty of it. I found myself thoroughly immersed in each of the disparate stories, well before I understood the “game”. Powers is a wizard of a writer, and I highly recommend Playground.
Vicki’s Pick (Guest Reviewer)
February 2025
The Amen Effect
Sharon Brous
Avery Publishing, January 9, 2024
In her remarkable book, Sharon Brous highlights the social and biological need for all to be genuinely present and inclusive. She considers this to be a moral and spiritual necessity that results in a more meaningful life and a more connected and caring world.
Filled with practical guidelines and inspiring anecdotes, Brous highlights the possibilities inherent in addressing and healing the polarization, tribalism, and violence of our contemporary culture. For an in depth look at someone who has spent her career in supporting and advocating for all to embrace their “better angels” read & enjoy The Amen Effect.
Pete’s Pick
January 2025
American Covenant
Yuval Levin
Basic Books Publishing
June 11, 2024
Introduction
This book is a discussion of the creation of the U.S. Constitution and the changes in our political climate over the last 237 years that have affected how our government operates and how we, the people, understand our government.
Author
Yuval Levin is the director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he holds the Beth and Ravenel Curry Chair in Public Policy. The founder and editor of National Affairs, he is also a senior editor at The New Atlantis, a contributing editor at National Review, and a contributing opinion writer at The New York Times. His previous books include The Fractured Republic and A Time to Build. A former member of the White House domestic policy staff under President George W. Bush, he live in Maryland.
Text
As an educated political scientist used to studying pretty heavy texts on government operations, I approached this read with a curious frame of mind. I have always loved the beginnings of our country, and was recently pumped up again after reading David McCullough’s biography of John Adams. I have been concerned about the state of our country and the increasingly ineffective functioning of the U.S. Congress in the last 20 years or so. Now added to my worries are concerns about the functioning of the U.S. Supreme Court. So, I was hoping for some enlightened perspective in reading this book.
Mr. Levin does an excellent job of capturing the history of the U.S. Constitutional Convention which took place in Philadelphia beginning in 1787. He takes us through the Convention and recaps the significant issues that needed resolution in order to create a functioning central government—something the country was lacking because it was really just a confederation of 13 individual states. However, the experience of the first 19 years of our country’s existence highlighted the risk the country faced by not having a functioning central government. Yet, the challenges of reaching agreement between 13 very different state perspectives was stupefying. Mr. Levin relies heavily on James Madison’s personal notes, his journal that he kept during the Convention, to help us understand the logic and thinking that went into the compromises that were made to create our central federal government. He takes us through the various negotiations that became necessary and also explains the logic behind the various points of view that needed to be accommodated. He then gives us a perspective on the unique nature of we the people under this new republican democracy that the world had never seen before. Mr. Levin then takes us through quite a discussion as to how our environment and political culture have changed adversely in the last 50 or so years leading us into what he terms a demagoguery.
The author explores for us the concept of Federalism as it existed as a guide in forming the government in 1787, and then takes a look at each of the three branches of government. It each case, he recounts the original concept as written in the Constitution and the thought behind each branch’s purpose in our governmental operation. As he explores each branch, he is also careful to describe how its functioning has changed over the years to what is actually happening now. He also explores some thought into what changes would be necessary to take us back to the original concept of government operations our founders gave us when they gave us the U. S. Constitution and it was ratified by the States. He concludes the book with quite a discussion of the challenges that confront us if we decide to become serious about restoring government operation to the way it was originally intended.
Evaluation
As a political nerd, I was expecting some heavy duty refresher on my understanding of our form of government—and I got it. I grew up very conservative in political thought. Over my adulthood, I have found my views mellowing and even becoming more liberal. However, over the last 20 or so years, I have found myself distressed at the seeming inability of our government to work as it was designed to work. I place most of the blame on a change in political thought that seems to have overtaken those we have elected to office. Whether that change is the result of change in voters’ thinking, or is the result of politicians swaying us with a different perspective, it is almost frightening to me how "corrupt” and ineffective our government has become. As I read through Yuval Levin’s text, I found many “aha” moments to reflect on and I find myself for the most part agreeing with his evaluation of our current situation. I want to believe it is possible to fix our mess, but I sense it is going to require a new generation of politicians with a desire to return to the original concept of government for that to happen.
I found the book challenging, and yet I’m glad I read it.