A Book Review of “Playground”
Richard Powers’ “Playground” is a complex and ambitious novel amazingly woven mixture of emotions, technology, love, betrayal and a lot of ocean or say environmentalism.
The narrative follows the lives of several characters.
- Evie Beaulieu, a marine scientist deeply connected to the ocean who wants to spend the majority of their life in the ocean.
- Rafi Young, a literary-minded individual. The one who keeps writing the poem and does not publish or submit it for a long time.
- Todd Keane, a tech genius who creates a powerful social media platform called “Playground.” Kind of a social media with a concept of digital currency.
- Ina Aroita, an artist living on the island of Makatea. Creating a sculpture using waste deposited from the ocean through waves.
Themes covered in the book
- Environmentalism - The book talks about the impact of humanity on nature and mainly the book covers the impact on the ocean.
- Technology - The book talks about the influence of social media on humans.
- Emotions - it covers a lot of emotions and the author tries to present them as raw as possible.
- Artificial Intelligence - The book also touches on the concept of AI and some of its impact on human society.
Makatea
This is the centrepiece of the Novel around which almost the whole novel is written. The island’s history, marked by past exploitation, adds depth to the novel’s exploration of environmental and social issues.
Ta’aroa
In Polynesian mythology Ta’aroa is a major creator god. In the book, Powers uses the myth of Ta’aroa to set the stage for how the creation and existence come into being.
Quotes
How inappropriate to call this planet Earth, when clearly it is Ocean. ― Richard Powers
Every human heart imagines God in a different way. A way just right for that imaginer. ― Richard Powers