A review by rebus
Odds Against Tomorrow by Nathaniel Rich

4.5

A remarkably prescient novel, even for those of us who thought like Mitchell while the author must have been writing this book. Indeed, there have been fairly significant storms on the East Coast since then, but none of them on the scale of this catastrophe, which reminds one of some of the scenarios created by JG Ballard in the 60s (though far more realistic). It also evokes some sadness for the younger generations, as even Mitchell's hard working immigrant parents realize that his profession isn't living, wondering why he so fears death when he is choosing not to live. Ah, but then comes the twist, whereupon we learn that the purest intellectual pursuits are always solitary (though I would tell the author that the Bible is absolutely not a literary masterpiece, but one of the most lugubrious books ever written, and fascist, xenophobic, propaganda). Yet Mitchell also took the path of all the greatest mathematicians in history, driven mad by their projections of what the universe must be. 

It's heady stuff, and Mitchell understood that it was the Upper Middle Class with their advanced degrees in exploitation that pose the real risk to humanity. Only a somewhat weak last few pages prevent me from calling it a masterpiece (even if I liked very much where the book went over the last 50 or so pages).