So, who’s read Playground? What did you think of it?
The thing I really wanted to discuss was the book’s ending. When do you think the real timeline deviates from the way Todd would have liked it to have been? What did you think of the revelation at the end of the book? Personally, my mind was blown.
If anyone’s interested, my BookBrowse review is here: Book Review: Playground by Richard Powers
…but it doesn’t address the ending, since that would be too spoilerific.
I love the multiple storylines throughout the book. Richard Powers has that unique ability to bring the wider unknowns of our inner and external environments into sharper focus. AI can only extrapolate the data it absorbs. It can not differentiate between the true life lived and the life regretted. AI then can change history to false narratives. It is only a human heart that can truly know oneself.
@kim.kovacs I just finished it - wow! I did not expect that twist and was shocked. I thought it was a great twist, it gave the book a whole new meaning and might make it more interesting to reread as well.
It did make me sad in a way, and I found it troubling that 3 close friends would never be able to reconcile.
Right?!? Quite the twist. I’d definitely like to reread it knowing what was really going on. I certainly didn’t pick up any clues along the way, although I imagine they were there.
Same I didn’t really pick up on it until it was happening / obvious, although I appreciate that it plays on the trope of disparate story lines coming together.