Sunday, March 04, 2007

WikiFray Book Club: The Echo Maker



Part 4, 5

By Dawn Coyote at 10:09 AM email
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4 comments:

august said...

I hated the last hundred pages. I didn't care about any of the characters, and I found Weber's undoing totally unconvincing. Barbara is allowed a story but not really an identity -- reporter ex machina. Karin -- I'd gotten tired of Karin.

I did love the scene when Karin and Mark visit the old house. After that, however, I got bitter.

Mar 4, 2007, 11:26:00 AM  
JohnMcG said...

Yeah -- the ending was more of an, "oh," than an "aha."

And I'm not sure I find it credible -- was there anything about Matk's character before or after the accident that suggested he would write or utter something like the note's contents?

Even the old house visit seemed a bit incredible to me, since it seems strange that it would take a year for them to do that, espectially if Karin was depserater to trigger Mark's recognition.

-----------------

I could see how Powers may have been trying to parallel 9/11 -- a traumatic event throws us into this odd state where everything seems different and we don't recognize out friends, and are willing to believe anything to maintain what we think is true, but if so, I'm not sure what the resolution of the mystery says about that -- that those who have been friendly to the US (e.g. the Saudis) are responsible for 9/11?

Mar 4, 2007, 12:08:00 PM  
Keifus said...

I liked that scene too, august, was waiting (sort of) to comment that I liked it, even though I saw it on the Simpsons first.

I found the denouement* satisfying enough, mostly because I was glad that the what happened mystery was resolved. I started guessing at about the time the book veered more strongly into water politics, with Babs emerging as a convenient enigma in that political tussle. (It wasn't she that left the note, but close enough.) Mark leaving it as "someone else" was a cute twist, and maybe not necessary--agree that it seems out of his character to name god...

K


* I love that word. It literally means "untying," but in literature, it signifies the exact opposite.

Mar 5, 2007, 7:30:00 AM  
Dawn Coyote said...

Good news: late last week I came up with a solution to a problem I'd been having with a project at work.
Bad news: the newly-unjammed project immediately took over my life, and I've not finished the book.
Good news: oh, but I love program development. Love, love, love it!
Bad news: traveling and working, working and traveling.
Good news: With any luck, I’ll have a response up by tomorrow evening.

(with apologies for lameness)

(((((and thanks for the love)))))

Mar 6, 2007, 7:13:00 PM  

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