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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this was interesting, and i’m unsure how to feel about it. On one hand, i found the subject matter fascinating- taking these monumentous scientific discoveries (which i knew very little about, so already interesting) and spotlighting their human element was very intriguing. I’m also very interested in scientific discovery and it’s ethical/moral dilemmas, so I found that interesting as well.
i think where i got stuck was, as many other reviews mention, the blend of fact and fiction. it felt weird to sit and think, “wait, did this really happen???” when i was reading about a very real person and a very real discovery but with insane invented details. i think i get what the author was going for, but it got confusing and hard to trust the text, especially towards the end.
but overall, it was interesting, certainly thought provoking, and i learned alot(though I had to fact check some of it lol)
i think where i got stuck was, as many other reviews mention, the blend of fact and fiction. it felt weird to sit and think, “wait, did this really happen???” when i was reading about a very real person and a very real discovery but with insane invented details. i think i get what the author was going for, but it got confusing and hard to trust the text, especially towards the end.
but overall, it was interesting, certainly thought provoking, and i learned alot(though I had to fact check some of it lol)
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
informative
mysterious
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
As the author has said in an interview, "This book is about what happens when we reach the edges of science; when we come face to face with what we cannot understand. It is about what occurs to the human mind when it pushes past the outer limits of thought, and what lies beyond those limits."
There were a few parts of this book I did not understand. Why aggrandize the lives of these scientists and mathematicians whose lives already had hints of the authors message encoded in them to begin with? The subtlety should have been enough, to push the case. The bridge between fact and fiction was strange. Without the last chapter, this book would have earned 2 stars from me.
However, The Night Gardener, the last chapter, could have been a standalone piece itself. It seeks to unify the absolute insanity of tales that Labatut told in the first parts of the book, and succinctly conveys the author's point. I honestly would have preferred this last chapter be another book entirely, that I would have loved much more that the whole sum.
Spoiler
There were a few parts of this book I did not understand. Why aggrandize the lives of these scientists and mathematicians whose lives already had hints of the authors message encoded in them to begin with? The subtlety should have been enough, to push the case. The bridge between fact and fiction was strange. Without the last chapter, this book would have earned 2 stars from me.
However, The Night Gardener, the last chapter, could have been a standalone piece itself. It seeks to unify the absolute insanity of tales that Labatut told in the first parts of the book, and succinctly conveys the author's point. I honestly would have preferred this last chapter be another book entirely, that I would have loved much more that the whole sum.