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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
Estábame gustando bastante hasta que o autor pasou de ensaio a narrativa e puxo a un científico nun sanatorio pajeándose pensando nunha nena de 14 anos. Decepcionada no, lo siguiente.
Any book that devotes ~ 1/5th of its pages to Alexander Grothendieck gets 5 stars from me. Beyond tales of my favorite mathematician, When We Cease to Understand the World is an absolutely fascinating, if somewhat fictionalized, account of many of the geniuses and cowards responsible for the greatest mathematical and scientific achievements of the 20th century. Don’t let my summary fool you into thinking this will be a dry read. This book is gripping, bordering on thrilling, in its descriptions of the whims and paranoias of many of the 20th centuries most important thinkers (it’s also wayyyyyy shorter than I expected it to be).
It becomes easy to tell when Labatút has fictionalized certain details of his subjects lives (things he couldn’t possibly have known without being in their heads), but these passages enrich the book to an astounding degree. I eagerly look forward to reading more of his work.
It becomes easy to tell when Labatút has fictionalized certain details of his subjects lives (things he couldn’t possibly have known without being in their heads), but these passages enrich the book to an astounding degree. I eagerly look forward to reading more of his work.
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
made math cool again
challenging
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I had no idea what to expect from this very intriguing novel, which I thought was nonfiction at first. It deals with the lives of several 20th century scientists, and how their discoveries changed the world (mostly for the worse), but it is not a biography in the normal sense of the word, to say the least. I have been thinking of what genre to put this strange novel into, and I guess "magical realism" would be fitting, even though most of it is historically true, though a lot of liberties are taken. The magical part comes in places where a particular scientist becomes obsessed with his work, and the author fills in the gaps of what may have happened at that time -- and let me tell you, it gets weird in spots. Weird as in visits from a long dead German poet, a longer dead Persian mystic, and Mahakali, the Hindu goddess of time and death.
I don't think you need to like science all that much to enjoy the book. When I found out that this was not in fact a nonfiction book as I expected (I read a lot of science books), I almost passed on it, but decided to read the first chapter. Holy shit. Try not to be in a war with poison gas. I'm just saying....
I don't think you need to like science all that much to enjoy the book. When I found out that this was not in fact a nonfiction book as I expected (I read a lot of science books), I almost passed on it, but decided to read the first chapter. Holy shit. Try not to be in a war with poison gas. I'm just saying....
A couple of years ago we had to set goals at work for what we wanted to accomplish that year. I think that type of goal setting has very low utility for people who already want to do their best, but my manager suggested everyone on our team add a personal goal and I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity for an extra bit of accountability.
I had always wanted to read more. I remember when I was younger, I asked my dad how he seemed to know everything, and he said, "I read a lot." I'd hear from my family and from Jeremy on the books they were reading and wanted to be smart and well-read but could never get the habit to stick. I was also very capable in my job at the time and felt the need to challenge my brain outside of work, so I made the goal to read every day. No page goal, no number of books, no tracking how long I read – I just wanted to create the habit – and I did it! After I told my manager about how proud I was to have accomplished that goal and how much I learned to enjoy reading, he surprised me with a copy of this book. It remains the only time someone has gifted me a book for no special occasion other than thinking I would enjoy it.
Unfortunately, I didn't. This style of book is.. weird. Some people want to call it a new genre, but it's just historical fiction for science topics. The author takes noteworthy historical figures in science, physics, or chemistry and fills in the gaps of their lives or discoveries with sensational and sometimes disgusting events. I really did not like wondering which parts of the story were real and which were fictional, so I've had to just remove all of it from my memory so I don't conflate fiction and reality. (And no, that is not the inspiration for the title, although that would've been way more creative.)
It's really hard to predict whether someone will like a book. Jeremy was 50/50 on whether I would love or hate Death's End, and it ended up being one of my favorite books. That said, at least this book will hold a place in my heart as a kind of memento from the start of my reading habit.
I had always wanted to read more. I remember when I was younger, I asked my dad how he seemed to know everything, and he said, "I read a lot." I'd hear from my family and from Jeremy on the books they were reading and wanted to be smart and well-read but could never get the habit to stick. I was also very capable in my job at the time and felt the need to challenge my brain outside of work, so I made the goal to read every day. No page goal, no number of books, no tracking how long I read – I just wanted to create the habit – and I did it! After I told my manager about how proud I was to have accomplished that goal and how much I learned to enjoy reading, he surprised me with a copy of this book. It remains the only time someone has gifted me a book for no special occasion other than thinking I would enjoy it.
Unfortunately, I didn't. This style of book is.. weird. Some people want to call it a new genre, but it's just historical fiction for science topics. The author takes noteworthy historical figures in science, physics, or chemistry and fills in the gaps of their lives or discoveries with sensational and sometimes disgusting events. I really did not like wondering which parts of the story were real and which were fictional, so I've had to just remove all of it from my memory so I don't conflate fiction and reality. (And no, that is not the inspiration for the title, although that would've been way more creative.)
It's really hard to predict whether someone will like a book. Jeremy was 50/50 on whether I would love or hate Death's End, and it ended up being one of my favorite books. That said, at least this book will hold a place in my heart as a kind of memento from the start of my reading habit.
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
*Audio
Dark side of scientific discovery explored in fictionalized accounts. Not uplifting in the slightest but informative and thought provoking. Quite a unique approach in writing structure. Can’t say that I actually enjoyed it - so not rating it higher. Recommend giving it a try.
*Good narration- recommend on audio
Dark side of scientific discovery explored in fictionalized accounts. Not uplifting in the slightest but informative and thought provoking. Quite a unique approach in writing structure. Can’t say that I actually enjoyed it - so not rating it higher. Recommend giving it a try.
*Good narration- recommend on audio