The Time of Our Singing : A Novel
by Richard
Powers (Author)
- Paperback: 640 pages ; Dimensions (in
inches): 1.17 x 8.28 x 5.52
- Publisher: Picador USA; (January 1, 2004)
- ISBN: 0312422180
I'm a committed Powers reader ever since Plowing the Dark, his
novel about an artist creating computer simulations for virtual reality
and a prisoner building an imaginary world, yet Powers' magnificent new
novel, The Time of Our Singing somehow slipped by me in
hardcover. I didn't miss it in paperback, though, and for that I'll be
ever grateful to the gods of serendipity who guide my reading -- this
novel is a peak experience.
A German physicist meets a black singer at the Marian Anderson concert
in Washington DC in 1941, they fall in love, marry and have three
children. Their mixed race family's saga is told mostly by their second
son looking back from 2000, recounting with understated pathos how he
was always pulled between his older brother and sister. Histories of
racism and Western music come entwined in this sweeping complex novel
of 600+ pages. Every sentence is so beautifully crafted, I was not
surprised to learn Powers was a programmer in the days when disk space
and processor time came at a premium. The Time of Our Singing
is nominated for the National Book Critics Award to be announced March
4, 2004; may Richard Powers win this award and then some.
Shauna Singh Baldwin
SHAUNA SINGH BALDWIN's books of fiction include What the Body
Remembers (Doubleday, Knopf Canada, 1999) and English Lessons
and Other Stories (Goose Lane Canada, 1996). Her next novel, The
Tiger Claw, will be published by Knopf in Sept 2004.