Bewilderment by Richard Powers

 I had picked up Bewilderment with the expectations that anyone would naturally have for a Booker shortlisted book but I have to say this book fell short by a wide margin.

I was having trouble figuring out what the point of this book was and 270ish pages later I was no wiser. I would like to say however that Richard Powers has talked about a number of issues ranging from  mental health, grief and global warming and has handled them in a really sensitive manner. Maybe I would be comfortable labelling this as a thematic book rather than a plot driven or character driven one.

Richard Powers writes beautifully. The sentences kind of flows like thoughts of the main characters. Indeed Bewilderment is a powerful book. But the lack of character development kind of did not work for me. I was struggling to finish this book and considered DNFing at a point. I wished I did because the ending was rushed and did not do any justice to whatever little the plot had to offer. 

All in all I am glad this book did not win. I am sure it is of immense literary value to have made its place in the shortlist. Its possible I wasn't in the space to appreciate what the book has to offer. I might come back to this book in the future when I have a little more time in hand. Hopefully.