You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
This book is so much more than I thought it would be. Yes, it’s about math, and what it means to try to break barriers as a woman, and about identity... but it’s beauty is that it is greater than the sum of its parts!
خیلی شانسی، این کتاب را در کتابفروشی، پیدا کردم. پشت جلدش نوشته بود که الهه دهم، داستان کاترین و رویارویی‌ش با فرض ریمان است. فکر می‌کنم همین کافی بود که بخرمش.
کم پیش می‌آید که چیزی درباره زندگی آکادمیک دانشمندان به موازات زندگی شخصی‌شان بخوانیم. درباره گرفتاری‌ها، موقعیت‌های شغلی، پستی و بلندی‌ها، تقلب‌ها، رقابت‌ها و تبعیض‌هایی که کمتر شنیده می‌شود. نویسنده به شکل واقع‌گرایانه‌ای همه این‌ها را خیلی خوب در جای‌جایِ داستانش گنجانده است و همین موضوع، خواندنش را ارزشمندتر می‌کند. در کنار این‌ها، شور و هیجان یک ریاضی‌دان و میل به جستجوگری هم به خوبی به تصویر کشیده شده بود.
چاپ و ترجمه کتاب هم خیلی خوب و تمیز بود. کتاب پر بود از واژه‌های تخصصی ریاضی که برای آن‌ها معادل‌های دقیق‌شان به کار رفته بود. من چندجا را با متن انگلیسی مقایسه کردم و به جز یک مورد اشتباه کوچکِ کم‌اهمیت، همه چیز دقیق بود.
پ.ن.: این کتاب واقعا مظلوم بود. کتابی زیبا با چنین ترجمه دقیق و خوبی، فقط 440 نسخه چاپ شده بود. موقع خواندنش مدام فکر می‌کردم که اگر این کتاب را یک نشرِ پرتبلیغات‌تر و با سروصدای بیشتری چاپ می‌کرد، چقدر بهتر دیده می‌شد.(و اینکه چقدر کتاب‌های معمولی‌تر ممکن است به خاطر تبلیغات گسترده‌تر، بیشتر خوانده شوند.) اینجا فکر کنم وظیفه خوانندگان باشد که این دسته از کتاب‌ها را تا می‌توانند به دیگران معرفی کنند.
پ.ن. 2: این جور کتاب‌ها، به شدت می‌تواند الهام‌بخش باشد. اگر دور و برتان آدم‌هایی دارید که به علم (و یا ریاضیات) علاقه‌مند هستن و یا برای از بین بردن تبعیض‌ها و پیش‌داوری‌های اشتباه می‌کوشند، حتما این کتاب را به آن‌ها پیشنهاد (و یا هدیه) بدهید.
کم پیش می‌آید که چیزی درباره زندگی آکادمیک دانشمندان به موازات زندگی شخصی‌شان بخوانیم. درباره گرفتاری‌ها، موقعیت‌های شغلی، پستی و بلندی‌ها، تقلب‌ها، رقابت‌ها و تبعیض‌هایی که کمتر شنیده می‌شود. نویسنده به شکل واقع‌گرایانه‌ای همه این‌ها را خیلی خوب در جای‌جایِ داستانش گنجانده است و همین موضوع، خواندنش را ارزشمندتر می‌کند. در کنار این‌ها، شور و هیجان یک ریاضی‌دان و میل به جستجوگری هم به خوبی به تصویر کشیده شده بود.
چاپ و ترجمه کتاب هم خیلی خوب و تمیز بود. کتاب پر بود از واژه‌های تخصصی ریاضی که برای آن‌ها معادل‌های دقیق‌شان به کار رفته بود. من چندجا را با متن انگلیسی مقایسه کردم و به جز یک مورد اشتباه کوچکِ کم‌اهمیت، همه چیز دقیق بود.
پ.ن.: این کتاب واقعا مظلوم بود. کتابی زیبا با چنین ترجمه دقیق و خوبی، فقط 440 نسخه چاپ شده بود. موقع خواندنش مدام فکر می‌کردم که اگر این کتاب را یک نشرِ پرتبلیغات‌تر و با سروصدای بیشتری چاپ می‌کرد، چقدر بهتر دیده می‌شد.(و اینکه چقدر کتاب‌های معمولی‌تر ممکن است به خاطر تبلیغات گسترده‌تر، بیشتر خوانده شوند.) اینجا فکر کنم وظیفه خوانندگان باشد که این دسته از کتاب‌ها را تا می‌توانند به دیگران معرفی کنند.
پ.ن. 2: این جور کتاب‌ها، به شدت می‌تواند الهام‌بخش باشد. اگر دور و برتان آدم‌هایی دارید که به علم (و یا ریاضیات) علاقه‌مند هستن و یا برای از بین بردن تبعیض‌ها و پیش‌داوری‌های اشتباه می‌کوشند، حتما این کتاب را به آن‌ها پیشنهاد (و یا هدیه) بدهید.
All the World’s A Pulpit
Catherine Chung has issues. Many, many issues. All packed tightly into this sardine tin-like novel of academic mathematics: misogyny and male cruelty of almost every sort to women, casual racism, inter-generational miscommunication, parental abandonment and lone parenting, warfare on two continents, international child smuggling, American academic politics, absence of sisterhood in science, the sad biographies of a number of important mathematicians ancient and modern (most ending badly), personal betrayal, sexual harassment, family deceit, PTSD, some not very subtle didacticism about number theory, and... oh yes, the frustrations of research into the proof of the Riemann Hypothesis.
Chung has just too many axes to grind, so many that none are made very sharp at all. I get it that most men are dicks and that women suffer terribly as a consequence. But this is hardly a revelation. That racism is endemic in small town America is also not a surprise. That families have secrets, lovers irritate one another, and life is often complicated and disappointing are not terribly newsworthy (or fiction worthy) topics unless some other literary purpose is served. Even the quite valid point that injustice reigns in a supposedly civilised world is on its own nothing more than a trite observation. Chung’s appreciation of the aesthetics of mathematics is clear, but her skill in communicating that appreciation is far less so. And the narrative glue, the central mystery of the piece, is so unlikely that it verges on literary criminality. The whole leads nowhere, at least nowhere interesting, certainly not a destination.
I think the takeaway from this book is that if an author intends to preach, he or she really has to decide what they want to preach about. The sin and its source have to be made explicit. Universal evil doesn’t have much credibility, even among hardened Gnostics. Serious writers then must ensure that no one knows they’re preaching if they’re doing so outside a church, synagogue, or mosque. Preaching reaches only as far as the choir in any case, and often not even that far. Much better to let moral outrage emerge through subtle insight than to have one’s protagonists agonise continuously about it. And if you’re describing bad behaviour, it helps to suggest a way such behaviour might be mitigated other than by the wholesale incarceration of those bearing the XY chromosomal infirmity. Otherwise even your fans might abandon the cheap seats for a more entertaining venue.
Catherine Chung has issues. Many, many issues. All packed tightly into this sardine tin-like novel of academic mathematics: misogyny and male cruelty of almost every sort to women, casual racism, inter-generational miscommunication, parental abandonment and lone parenting, warfare on two continents, international child smuggling, American academic politics, absence of sisterhood in science, the sad biographies of a number of important mathematicians ancient and modern (most ending badly), personal betrayal, sexual harassment, family deceit, PTSD, some not very subtle didacticism about number theory, and... oh yes, the frustrations of research into the proof of the Riemann Hypothesis.
Chung has just too many axes to grind, so many that none are made very sharp at all. I get it that most men are dicks and that women suffer terribly as a consequence. But this is hardly a revelation. That racism is endemic in small town America is also not a surprise. That families have secrets, lovers irritate one another, and life is often complicated and disappointing are not terribly newsworthy (or fiction worthy) topics unless some other literary purpose is served. Even the quite valid point that injustice reigns in a supposedly civilised world is on its own nothing more than a trite observation. Chung’s appreciation of the aesthetics of mathematics is clear, but her skill in communicating that appreciation is far less so. And the narrative glue, the central mystery of the piece, is so unlikely that it verges on literary criminality. The whole leads nowhere, at least nowhere interesting, certainly not a destination.
I think the takeaway from this book is that if an author intends to preach, he or she really has to decide what they want to preach about. The sin and its source have to be made explicit. Universal evil doesn’t have much credibility, even among hardened Gnostics. Serious writers then must ensure that no one knows they’re preaching if they’re doing so outside a church, synagogue, or mosque. Preaching reaches only as far as the choir in any case, and often not even that far. Much better to let moral outrage emerge through subtle insight than to have one’s protagonists agonise continuously about it. And if you’re describing bad behaviour, it helps to suggest a way such behaviour might be mitigated other than by the wholesale incarceration of those bearing the XY chromosomal infirmity. Otherwise even your fans might abandon the cheap seats for a more entertaining venue.
I finished The Tenth Muse by Catherine Chung. This book packs a lot onto its 280 pages. Each turn of the page was like peeling back another layer of this brilliant, complex puzzle of a story. Katherine is a mathematician that is working to solve one of the worlds greatest maths equations. While she does, we adventure with her into the past as she discovers who she is and where she came from. Part feminist fairytale, part enthralling mystery, this is a book I highly recommend you pick up!
I was gifted this book by the publisher for review.
I was gifted this book by the publisher for review.
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The world is sleeping on this book.
I must admit that the premise of this book, historical fiction and mathematical theory, intimidated me but I'm so glad I read it anyway. What an incredible tale of a mathematical genius woman of colour, navigating fraught family and professional relationships at a time when most universities did not accept women into their institutions. My description doesn't do this book justice- it was so good, I couldn't put it down.
I must admit that the premise of this book, historical fiction and mathematical theory, intimidated me but I'm so glad I read it anyway. What an incredible tale of a mathematical genius woman of colour, navigating fraught family and professional relationships at a time when most universities did not accept women into their institutions. My description doesn't do this book justice- it was so good, I couldn't put it down.
informative
I don’t think this quite reached the 4-star mark for me because, in the end, this is just another maudlin WWII story. I was hoping for more insights into the workings of the mathematical mind. The most successful of these occurred early in the story, when the author displayed how child-Catherine’s calculation methods marked her as a truly spatial thinker, a true mathematician. After that, though, the only math-bone I found chewable was the rather elegant comparison of math to Buddhism, which came late in the book. Most of this novel was just an illustration of how terribly women are treated. Like, I know – I live it. The mystery element ensnared me here and there, but mostly left me cold. The writing may have been trying for the laconic lucidity of Catherine’s field, but it didn’t do it with exceptional grace. The exploration of post-war sentiments in Germany (denial, mostly) was a surprisingly interesting little nook in the story, and the thrill of studying abroad came through in all its glory. So, I’m torn. I was so excited to see a novel about a female mathematician but was hoping for something much less entrenched in the politics of the mid-20th century.
idk what im looking for to make it to 5 but i really love it anyway
A historical fiction novel set in the United States and Germany during the 1960s. Katherine is a gifted mathematician who wants to make a name for herself in the male-dominated world of mathematics by solving a famous math problem. She also wants to learn more about her family and her past, having somewhat mysterious origins.
This is a great novel. I didn't get sucked into it right away, but once I did I was completed absorbed. I was particularly impressed by all of the threads Chung wove into the story: the treatment of women in mathematics, beauty, the treatment of women during war, daughters versus sons, post-WWII Germany and how it faced or failed to face its recent past, fairy tales, the stories we tell, friendship, patronage. It's a wonderful novel, and no knowledge of complex math is required, although it is delightfully complex in the story that it tells and the questions that it asks of the reader and the relationships that it depicts.
This is a great novel. I didn't get sucked into it right away, but once I did I was completed absorbed. I was particularly impressed by all of the threads Chung wove into the story: the treatment of women in mathematics, beauty, the treatment of women during war, daughters versus sons, post-WWII Germany and how it faced or failed to face its recent past, fairy tales, the stories we tell, friendship, patronage. It's a wonderful novel, and no knowledge of complex math is required, although it is delightfully complex in the story that it tells and the questions that it asks of the reader and the relationships that it depicts.