The Echo Maker - Richard Powers

He is awake, or someplace near it. His body drifts on and off. Possible that he himself is here straight through. Only he doesn't know it, when what his mind hooks to comes and goes.
Ideas hit him, or he hits them. A game always, scores pouring in, as standings change. Surrounded by people--seas of them--the crowd a huge changing thought. He never knew himself. Every single human a separate line in a play so large and slow no one can hear it.
Time is a yardstick for pain. And he's got all the time in the world. Sometimes he jerks up, remembering, desperate to go, fix, undo. Mostly he lies still, signals of gnats he would catch and kill. They scatter when he reaches for them.

Something wonderful: he could count to anything, even all these swarms, just by adding one. Covering debts, bets. Hovering up by the highest number. In a lookout tower on a hill. People could do anything. They don't know they're gods, that they live through even death. People might make a hospital where they could keep every possible life alive. And then someday, life might return the favor.

This is a book that challenges human identity to a level so deep it is often scary. Following a brain injury, a brother struggles to return to who he was while his sister struggles with the strangeness of losing someone who still lives. The book uses its characters to intellectually and ethically examine consciousness. It has many layers and covers a lot of ground, but held my attention throughout. It is a very emotional read that contains mysteries and poetic metaphors. I loved the authors use of migrating cranes in the Nebraska town to draw the reader into the larger question of life beyond the human mind. The author's writing is both beautiful and evocative while often reading like a poem. A greatly talented writer.