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3.0 

Orfeo: A Novel

By Richard Powers
Orfeo: A Novel by Richard Powers digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Overstory, an emotionally charged novel inspired by the myth of Orpheus.

"Bravo, Richard Powers, for hitting so many high notes with Orfeo and contributing to the fraction of books that really matter." —Heller McAlpin, NPR

In Orfeo, composer Peter Els opens the door one evening to find the police on his doorstep. His home microbiology lab—the latest experiment in his lifelong attempt to find music in surprising patterns—has aroused the suspicions of Homeland Security. Panicked by the raid, Els turns fugitive and hatches a plan to transform this disastrous collision with the security state into an unforgettable work of art that will reawaken its audience to the sounds all around it.

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84 Reviews

3.0
“Orfeo is plagued by some of the same linguistic pretense that is found in The Gold Bug Variations (pretense that thrilled me in my 20s but I now find a bit grating). But it does not have the same dramatic power of that earlier book, and so it fell a little flat for me. I’m a big fan of Richard Powers and in a sense as he has evolved as a writer, I have evolved as a reader. I suspect I would have enjoyed this more had I read it when it was first written fifteen years ago. But now I find it lacking in things his later novels exemplify. It doesn’t have the scope, awe, and moving beauty of The Overstory or the sparkling emotional perfection of Bewilderment. And for early Powers it lacks the wonder and deeply moving characterizations of Gold Bug. And so I turned the last page thinking I had read a smart work by a brilliant writer that I know can and will do so much better.”
“This is one of the most beautiful and intense books ever written. Powers is incredible and the brilliance he possesses is on full display here, anyone who rates this less than 4 stars did not understand it.”

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