Reviews

Murmur by Will Eaves

janiswong's review

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

A challenging read, and one that deals with grief, challenging societal norms, and the desire to live truly and truthfully. The writing is literary and impressive, weaving in complex themes tenderly and with care. I found myself drifting off slightly in the middle, but the ending was masterfully pulled together.

krobart's review against another edition

2.0

See my review here:

https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2023/10/09/review-2249-murmur/

gemmamilne's review

5.0

This was an incredible whirlwind of a read. Totally immersive - I felt like I was somewhere else when I was reading this book.

It’s a short novel, which takes it’s jumping off point from chemical castration of Alan Turing. It’s the journal, dreams and letters of a man basically pondering and coming to terms with his situation, life as a whole, consciousness, maths and more.

It was shortlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize - which is for science books - and it just goes to show how powerful fiction can be in exploring some of the most complex themes in science and its history.

Highly recommend this book - and highly recommend giving it a few hours at a time, maybe even reading in a one-er, to really go deep and fall into its sublime words.

reubenlb's review against another edition

4.0

i can’t say that i always understood what was going on, but the prose was captivating

briancrandall's review

5.0

'What is it like, Alec — to come round from a faint?'

I give the best answer I can, hasty and vague. The moment of the faint itself I can't retrieve, whereas the waking up from it is revelatory and fresh, a sort of boundless reacquaintance with being. You were nothing and suddenly you find a form again, solid among the flagstones and the poplar trees. [68]

ladyofthelake's review

challenging dark slow-paced

2.5

foggy_rosamund's review

5.0

This book is challenging, but it rewards the reader's attention and patience tenfold. It tells the story of Alec Pryor, who is based on Alan Turing. At the opening of the book, Alec is undergoing chemical castration, because he is accused of having sex with men. Alec has worked at Bletchley Park, his work has been invaluable to the war effort, but as a man who holds state secrets, he is viewed with suspicion by the police and officials. Will Eaves is concerned with Jungian psychotherapy; with dream states; with the meaning of artificial intelligence; with whether Alec can hold on to his identity while his body changes without his consent. Eaves gives the reader little to hold on to as he wanders in and out of Alec's subconscious: Alec's mind is full of beauty, thoughts on mathematics and AI, and potent with symbols. The reader must let go of their need for a linear plot, and follow Alec into his inner world. Eaves is also a poet, which comes across to me in the precision and beauty of his prose. This book is a remarkable exploration of the way our minds work, of trauma and loss, and an imaginative exploration of AI and computers. I found this utterly fascinating, and kept underlining parts in pencil, but at the same time, it was work to read: I had to take a break halfway through when I was too tired to put in the effort. But it does repay your effort: it's a rich, though-provoking book, one that will bear rereading, and which I highly recommend.

baw's review

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A

4.25

“And yet the loss of it, to each of us in turn, will not matter that much, because, strangely, it is the knowledge there are other rooms, or rather tenants of this room, the lives of others from a future quite unknown to us, continuing beyond our grasp, that gives the room its shape. It is a bounty built from scarcity. We have it once, and that limit, material mortality, gives what I do, the work I wrestle with, the friends I love, the fears I feel, meaning.”

claire60's review

4.0

Really enjoyed the writing in this book, will definitely read it again as I'm sure some parts didn't go in. Starting from the position of exploring Alan Turing and the impact on him of have chemical castration, it then turns into a fantasy book which explores how different his life could have been and explores what his computers might have said. I really enjoyed the letters between him and Joan, they were really endearing. The prose in-between was lyrical, magical and sometimes confusing but always beautiful.

emily1602's review

I think I could have had some of the thoughts in this book, but many of them I could not. It is from Alan Turing's perspective. Mathematical view of the world (not statistics! statistics are a terrible way to view the world. although maybe I have a too simplistic view of statistics), applied to questions of his life- what are we without society's acceptance? what is the relationship between cause and effect? what makes a person/thing (computer ofc) conscious? I understood why some parts of the book were there, but not why other parts were there. The parts I did understand made me think that my problem with the other parts was a lack in my own understanding, not a flaw of the book. Brilliant and kind and captures the way it feels to dream in a way that feels as real as any book I have read. The middle half of the book is a series of dreams/potential alternate lives.

At the end, it turns out that the one strand of real life that seemed to be running through the middle section, letters Turing was exchanging with a friend, turned out to be in his imagination. Deeply lonely ending.