Tayari's Blog: Richard Powers Wins the National Book Award

Comment #1, by KelvinAlejandro

I am half way through the book. I can understand why people have labeled Powers as too cerebral, but this book has the perfect match of science and heart. His portrayal of Karin, the sister of the main character who suffers a head injury that erases Karin out of his conciseness, is excellent. He inhabits this woman's existence more than conceivably but believable in all ways. He goes to all social stratospheres in the novel , from famous New York scientist to meat packers, with great easy and understanding . His language is vivid. The descriptions are cool, snappy, brilliant, observant, funny. The human dynamics are complicated. The humor is fantastic--different for every character. I could use less of the birds descriptions... Though I am enjoying the slow pace of the potboilers he is creating for me at the end. Mr. Power is a force to reckon with. I came to him simply because he won the prize and I am please to say I am not disappointed.