Why aren't we doing anything about it?

Thoughts after reading "Bewilderment" by Richard Powers.

Hey you beautiful people! I am going to start penning down my thoughts right after finishing any book. The reflections are fully ripe, newly formed like a hot cooked meal. The essence is lingering and sharing them with you would be the right way to help you decide wether you should read the book too or not.

I recently finished reading “Bewilderment” by Richard Powers.

Most of my viewers and readers ask me this question: “Avdhoot, how do you pick your books?” well, I don’t really have a method. There is a north star though - to know what is fascinating me at any given point of time and pick accordingly. Some parts of the year, I am into dramas, sometimes into thrillers, sci-fi, non fiction, biographies, history etc. I only pick up books when I am in the zone of that particular category, and more often than not, a book magically comes to me. Richard Powers was on my radar since a long time. I’ve been meaning to read Overstory, his magnum opus for quite sometime. I knew it was a challenging read and it involved a deep dive into the natural wonders of ‘trees’. Before that, I happened to come across Bewilderment, which was fairly an easy and short read (relatively).

Bewilderment is one of those books which makes you look at the world in a different but more apparent way. It’s almost like you already know it but why don’t you do anything about it? This is also one of Barack Obama’s favourite reads by the way.

The book is a deeply cynical yet delightful bond between Theo and his son Robin. Theo is an astro-biologist, whose work is to find intelligent life in the universe. His son Robin, whose mother and Theo’s wife has recently died in a car accident, is coping up with the loss in his own way. The way Theo writes about his wife is how a child would write about their favourite toy ( if they could write). Pure and unadulterated. The little things he missed about her are apparent in his day to day life. Robin is a unique boy. He has a mental condition which lies on the spectrum of ADHD and OCD. He feels deeply about things. He is erratic, scratches himself when he is confused, shouts when his brain is foggy and starts tearing up when he misses his mom. Theo, who is mourning for his wife, is also taking care of his son and trying to contain the thunder in a bottle.

This blurb may sound like an emotional dramatic story with a melancholic undertone, but the center stage is taken by Nature.

The Universe.

Everything around us.

The father-son bond is shown through their talks and fascination about the universe and our place in it. Theo randomly gives his son imarinary planets with some conditions, and they both simulate life forms, terrains, environments to fond themselves. Robin is deeply curious about nature, and in one of their trips deep into the woods in the Great Smoky Mountains, he asks acute personal questions about humanity’s place in the world. It melts your heart to hear a small child talk about their existence on a tiny rock floating in space. While they are striding in the woods, he spends hours examining rocks, flowers, insects, he even discusses species and their eccentricities. The more he learns about the state of nature, like climate change and species endangerment, he throws a fit. “If we know a certain species of birds is dying, why aren’t we doing anything about it?”, “if we know the earth is dying, why aren’t we doing anything about it”? are some of the questions which hit you in your face. Especially because they are coming from a 9 year old.

In one chapter, he makes a list of all the animals who are on the verge of extinction, decides to paint those animals, sell them in the farmers market to earn some cash and donate it to the foundation of animal conservation. Yes, he is a 9 year old and he feels deeply about his contribution to our ecosystem.

“Why aren’t we doing anything about it?”

There is a Greta Thunberg like character who he sees on television and gets even more inclined to save the universe. There are very few writers who can delve into their curiosity about a topic and make you feel the same level of facination. Powers is clearly a human who deeply cares about nature. His other books also have an overarching love for seas, trees, and everything around us. He brings forth our the bewilderment of human advancement at the cost of natural destruction beautifully through a grieving 9 year old. You would get a feeling of holding still and just observing the universe. The rocks, the flow of river, the growth of plants, the change of seasons, the shine of stars, everything will fascinate you, humble you. It humbled me for sure.

Without spoiling much, in the novel, Theo finds a way to fix his son’s mental health. It’s not therapy, it’s not prescriptions. He is a staunch negator of these aspects. He uses something very different, which is almost a sci-fi concept. I don’t want to break the eggs here, it’s an interesting concept. The novel follows exploration of this concept which is related to Robin’s mother’s consciousness and her passion of fighting for nature.

I love how this novel has sadness, sci fi, drama, self-notes, and a narrative to preserve nature. It’s not in your face saying , “Hey nature is dying”, it’s a more evolved conversation about what are we collectively doing to a place where we live and what truth do we believe in”. Oh how can I miss the political aspects, there is a sprinkle of paradoxical nature of democratic involvement in human advancement. The vast expanse of universe is incomprehensible with a trillion stars and a billion galaxies. But at the same time, the world inside you is infinitely more complex and big- is the essence.

At one point, Theo argues before a Congressional panel to preserve funding for a powerful Earthlike Planet Seeker that's essential to his work. He closes his presentation with a well-known quote from Carl Sagan:

"We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and the depth of our answers."

I am so looking forward to reading more of Richard Powers. He has a dazzling rendezvous with nature, and I am all in for expanding my truth about our place in this universe. Do pick up it, it’s not very long and is easy to read. Unique way to narrate a story too. Look out for the father-son conversations which sometimes feel like a hot knife cutting through butter.

Thank you for reading! I will share more of my book reflection hence.