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4.28 AVERAGE
4.28 AVERAGE
Almost a 5 star for me. I loved the beginning and the end but the middle dragged a bit for me.
Every man is a (self-proclaimed) genius, but every man drives himself mad when he finds the limits of his genius. The women are just wives (also genius, but not relevant), driven mad by their genius husbands. As they lay dying, the men finally start to question whether their genius creations (nuclear weapons) maybe were a bad idea that made the world a worse place.
The last third feels like an out of place discussion about the game of Go and how AI now is better than humans (but technically is related to John von Neumann’s work with self-replicating and advancing automata and computers). This book being a triptych of various geniuses/madmen felt imbalanced and more a story of von Neumann with an appendix that didn’t tie in.
It is with a heavy heart that I abandon this book only half way through. I had high expectations after reading Labatut's previous book, When We Cease to To Understand the World which was truly incredible. But the existential brooding over the consequences of science taken to the extreme that Labatut captures so well in WWCTUTW becomes played out very quickly in The Maniac. And with something like 200 more pages to go, I simply can't go on.
It's also worth mentioning that the way Labatut was able to structure WWCTUTW, closing in on ideas and events he opens up in earlier chapters when you least expect it that previously felt unresolved, the bending of genres, using fictional devices to tell a story of non-fiction... this was all very impressive and engrossing. The Maniac might have felt played out in a different way if he had replicated this format exactly to tell a different story, but I did not enjoy the memoir style of chapter by chapter, from the "pen" of a different people in von Neumann's life. I think this is meant to humanize the man in a way, but with the theme of existential dread already becoming tedious, the picture of von Neumann that emerges feels too much like a caricature - which, even if lets say assume this is apt and absolutely the point of the book to demonstrate that he was in fact a mad man, morally perverted by his computer-like mind, too smart for his own good, etc. - my point is that it is tedious and repetitive. And I was not convinced by the writing that I was reading the words of his wife or his brother or Richard Feynman, or any of the other cast of characters called upon to tell the story of von Neumann. To me it just sounded like Labatut throughout. And that's good enough for me, as he proves himself in WWCTUTW and the first chapter of The Maniac on Paul Ehrenfrest, which then has no relevance to the rest of the book. If you enjoyed WWCTUTW, at least read that first chapter in The Maniac, and then continue reading if you want. I just can't.
Very excited to see what this man does next though!
It's also worth mentioning that the way Labatut was able to structure WWCTUTW, closing in on ideas and events he opens up in earlier chapters when you least expect it that previously felt unresolved, the bending of genres, using fictional devices to tell a story of non-fiction... this was all very impressive and engrossing. The Maniac might have felt played out in a different way if he had replicated this format exactly to tell a different story, but I did not enjoy the memoir style of chapter by chapter, from the "pen" of a different people in von Neumann's life. I think this is meant to humanize the man in a way, but with the theme of existential dread already becoming tedious, the picture of von Neumann that emerges feels too much like a caricature - which, even if lets say assume this is apt and absolutely the point of the book to demonstrate that he was in fact a mad man, morally perverted by his computer-like mind, too smart for his own good, etc. - my point is that it is tedious and repetitive. And I was not convinced by the writing that I was reading the words of his wife or his brother or Richard Feynman, or any of the other cast of characters called upon to tell the story of von Neumann. To me it just sounded like Labatut throughout. And that's good enough for me, as he proves himself in WWCTUTW and the first chapter of The Maniac on Paul Ehrenfrest, which then has no relevance to the rest of the book. If you enjoyed WWCTUTW, at least read that first chapter in The Maniac, and then continue reading if you want. I just can't.
Very excited to see what this man does next though!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“Maniac” (2023) funciona como uma continuação implícita de "When We Cease to Understand the World" (2019), trabalhando os mesmos meandros da racionalidade científica. Depois de Haber, Grothendieck e dos físicos Erwin Schrödinger e Werner Heisenberg, com um foco no quântico e nuclear, agora temos Paul Ehrenfest e Lee Sedol, com Von Neumann a ocupar a zona central do palco, para discutir não apenas a racionalidade do génio científico, mas também como esse génio nos trouxe até à Inteligência Artificial. A leitura é igualmente compulsiva, são apresentados muitos factos pouco conhecidos, nomeadamente sobre as vidas de cada um, a história é muito bem cosida entre ficção e não-ficção, mas ainda assim pareceu-me menos conseguido que o primeiro livro.
Comentário completo em: https://experiencianarrativa.wordpress.com/2023/11/21/maniac-de-benjamin-labatut/
Comentário completo em: https://experiencianarrativa.wordpress.com/2023/11/21/maniac-de-benjamin-labatut/
challenging
informative
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
69/70
Descubro a este autor a través de esta genialidad donde me sentí llevada de la mano por un paseo a conocer a los hombres que llamamos genios y que marcaron un antes y un después en el progreso científico del mundo con sus inventos y descubrimientos (entre ellos el famoso John Von Neuman).
El paseo es tan amplio que me llevo también a lo que fundo las bases de lo que hoy conocemos como IA. El hombre contra la máquina y como están van ganando más terreno.
Las primeras páginas fueron todo un reto lector, pero me pico la curiosidad y no pude parar; hay demasiado por aprender.
This book made me so sad! Why do we create terrible things!
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Kul, annerledes og ikke minst høyaktuell. Følger livet til John von Neumann gjennom fiktive tekster fra virkelige mennesker som stod han nær. Mye fokus på utviklingen av den første atombomben, og Neumanns hypoteser angående det vi i dag kjenner som kunstig intelligens, og følger opp med et kapittel om AlphaGo og spørsmålene rundt om moderne kunstig intelligens og ekte kreativitet. Har vi lært å vurdere hva slags følger et umettelig jag etter teknologisk utvikling kan ha, eller har presset for innovasjon blitt for stort? Ikke en bok som gir deg svarene, men en bok som kan få deg til å reflektere rundt de riktige spørsmålene.