Heart-wrenching. That’s the word I thought of throughout reading this book. I would read for a bit on the bus, and even when I put the book away, I just felt utterly sad. Because of that, I’m not sure I can say I enjoyed this book, as I don’t really enjoy being emotionally wrung out. But it is the mark of a brilliant writer that he can craft a book that makes a reader feel that way. Bewilderment is about a father navigating raising his special and challenging son, as both are still reeling from losing their wife/mother. It combines science-fiction technology in engrossing descriptions of this planet and potential other planets, processing grief while helping a child process his own, and neurodiversity, all set in a political atmosphere that would seem absurd if it wasn’t so very, very possible.
Quotes
“My boy was a pocket universe I could never hope to fathom. Every one of us is an experiment, and we don’t even know what the experiment is testing.
“My wife would have known how to talk to the doctors. Nobody’s perfect, she liked to say. But, man, we all fall short so beautifully.” – p.5
“I had an awful thought: Maybe the last few months of neural feedback were hurting Robbie. In the face of the world’s basic brokenness, more empathy meant deeper suffering. The question wasn’t why Robin was sliding down again. The question was why the rest of us were staying so insanely sanguine.” – p.138
Amy Bergstrom 