Play Book Tag discussion

Richard Powers has crafted a brilliant novel which combines ideas about the environment, the role of play and the human drama of love, loyalty and competition in his work, Playground.

For a large part of the book the setting is Makatea, a small island in French Polynesia in the middle of the Pacific.

" Makatea was French Polynesia’s only cash cow, and it grew into one of the most developed spots in the colony. It had electricity and plumbing, shops, billiard parlors, a bistro, tennis courts, a soccer field, and even a movie theater. It also had miners succumbing to lung disease and children dying from contaminated water."

The book follows several characters with a shifting perspective. Two of the main characters Rafi, and Todd bond over a love a games. Their friendship based on equal parts of competition and loyalty is an uneasy one and the book traces its evolution and devolution.

But equally important in this book as many of Richard Powers' work is the environment and the beings of this earth, with so many living in the sea. Through one of the main characters, Evie Beaulieu who is an oceanographers and in awe of life under the sea. The reader explores this world with her.

"Years of study had convinced Evelyne that mantas were far smarter than the world suspected. She had spent too many decades of close observation to be cowed any longer by the prohibition against anthropomorphism. What began, centuries ago, as a healthy safeguard against projection had become an insidious contributor to human exceptionalism, the belief that nothing else on Earth was like us in any way. Play was evolution’s way of building brains, and any creature with a brain as developed as a giant oceanic manta sure used it.

And so we tie play and the world playground together. So beautiful and warming to this retired teacher's heart.

So glad to see you loved it too!

Joy D wrote: "So glad to see you loved it too!"

I think this one would be a good one to do a buddy read on.

I thought that Rafi and Todd's relationship was really interesting.

I loved the insights into the island life and the ocean creatures when Evie dived.

I find it so interesting that so many animals are more intelligent than we once thought.

Booknblues wrote: "Joy D wrote: "So glad to see you loved it too!"

I think this one would be a good one to do a buddy read on.

I thought that Rafi and Todd's relationship was really interesting.

I loved the insigh..."

I’ve been reading about animal intelligence and it’s fascinating. There is so much we still don’t know because researchers have blind spots in the way they conceive and measure intelligence.

NancyJ wrote: "I’ve been reading about animal intelligence and it’s fascinating. There is so much we still don’t know because researchers have blind spots in the way they conceive and measure intelligence.
..."
I find it so interesting.

The whole thing with play really resonated with me, because as an early childhood educator, I know that play is so essential to development and intelligence and as an animal lover, I've watched all sorts of animals initiate play and of course it must have the same purpose.

I have the book in the house and have been following the discussion. It sounds so interesting!

I especially like the discussion here about play and animals. I recently learned that some birds (parrots) play, which I had not known before.

Looking forward to this one. Thanks for this review.