Title: Bewilderment
Author: Richard Powers
Publisher: Acte Sud
Year: 2021
Pages: 400
Dimensions: 22 x 12 x 3 cm
Language: French
Condition: new
Publisher’s summary:
Since the death of his wife, Theo Byrne, an astrobiologist, has been raising Robin, their nine-year-old child, alone. Affectionate and sensitive, the young boy is fascinated by animals, which he can draw for hours. But he is also prone to fits of rage that leave his father helpless.
To soothe him, his father takes him camping in nature or exploring the cosmos. Every evening, father and son explore an exoplanet together and try to unravel the mystery of the origin of life.
The return to reality is often brutal. When Robin is expelled from school following another outburst, his father is ordered to have him treated.
The doctors respond to the child’s distress and singularity only with medication. Refusing this option, Theo turns to a neurologist conducting an experimental therapy worthy of a science-fiction novel. Through artificial intelligence, Robin will train to develop his empathy and control his emotions.
After a few sessions, the results are astonishing. Portraying a father and son in an America on the brink of political and climate chaos, Richard Powers delivers a masterful novel, brilliant in its intelligence and possessing rare emotional force, questioning our place in the universe and leading us to reconsider our connections with the living world.