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The Echo Maker
The Echo Maker
Author: Richard Powers
Audio Books swap for two (2) credits.
ISBN-13: 9780792744832
ISBN-10: 0792744837
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0 stars, based on 0 rating
Publisher: Sound Library
Book Type: Audio CD
Other Versions: Paperback, Hardcover
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review
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Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed The Echo Maker on
Helpful Score: 14
The story and themes are interesting but the execution is boring and puerile. It reads like a fiction workshop exercise. No one just "says" or "does" anything. They snort, they groan, they grin, they moan. The main characters are insufferable. The plot depends heavily on uninteresting coincidences. The only likable characters are minor and far too enigmatic to really get a grip on. The dialogue is cloying and the narrative history is just broadly shoveled at the reader.

If he is a mastermind, he must have been having a very bad day.
myanniecat avatar reviewed The Echo Maker on + 218 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 10
I know this book is the 2006 National Book Award winner, but it didn't do a thing for me. I thought it could have been about 100 pages shorter. I didn't care about any of the characters and thought it was rather boring. I struggled to finish it and won't be looking for any more by this author.
reviewed The Echo Maker on
Helpful Score: 6
Boring, but I read it until the end. It may have been a Pulitzer Prize Finalist, but I just didn't enjoy it. So glad its done now.
reviewed The Echo Maker on + 99 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
I was deeply involved with this novel starting on the very first page. Although many of the scientific principles are deep, the insight on the workings of the human brain are interesting, and the way they tie into the emotional structure of the story is seamless. Highly enjoyable, highly readable.
reviewed The Echo Maker on + 14 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
This book is not for the meek. Very "pay attention" reading. Interesting story though once you figure out what is up. I was not satified with the ending. ..but my dad loved it. It's the perfect book for someone who likes to read and LEARN something...in this case, the human brain...and how it recovers from trauma.
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reviewed The Echo Maker on + 77 more book reviews
I got over 100 pages in then gave up. Just didn't care.
reviewed The Echo Maker on + 48 more book reviews
This starts slow, but builds up nicely. By the mid point, i could hardly stop reading.
joeysweeps avatar reviewed The Echo Maker on + 15 more book reviews
Echo Maker was a very intriguing read. The story has an interesting plot with well-developed, realistic characters which made me want to read to the last page. The setting of Nebraska and the migration of cranes was woven into the background but the thrust of the book was examining how our brains work. Initially, Mark, is in a near fatal accident and his only sibling quits her job to be his caretaker. She is devastated as she realizes not only will his condition be long term but that he is positive his sister is an imposter due to having Capgras syndrome post-accident. About halfway through the book. I wondered if the author had invented this medical condition so I turned to the internet for research. Capgras syndrome (delusion) is indeed real and quite bizarre. A well known neuro-scientist is called in on the case who gets pulled into Mark's case while suffering from various crisis himself. The book really made me wonder about perceptions and realities as well as if enough people have the same perceptions, does that make it a reality? The novel gets a bit heavy at times with medical explanations so about 7/8s through the book, I just wanted to know the ending but I find that true of many novels. Do authors feel they have to write a certain number of pages? Powers just reinforces what a complicated organ the brain is and how little we know about it.


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