Richard Powers' most recent novel, Playground, is an ambitious tale of themes as grand as planetary survival and as intimate as trust and friendship. I found it complex and lovely, and quite quotable.
Page 6: The world with all its bright and surprising contents was created out of boredom and emptiness. Everything started by holding still and waiting.
Page 44: Power, the mayor decided, was an isolating thing, especially when power was powerless.
Page 59: Play was evolution's way of building brains, and any creature with a brain as developed as a giant oceanic manta sure used it. If you want to make something smarter, teach it to play.
Page 138: I've started to wander and not just at night. I'll materialize in the kitchen without having gone there. Or out in the garage. Or in the park two blocks down the street... I'm going to need an ID bracelet.
Page 155: Of all the things we humans excel at, moving the goal posts may be our best trick.
Page 200: "Decisions are rarely made by reason but almost always by temperament, and that doesn't change much as people get older."
Page 214: "... People are like sculptures. You can mold them a little when they start out, but not much. A body wants to be what a body wants to be. ..."
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