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robinwalter's Reviews (1.87k)
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A mediocre mess
challenging
informative
slow-paced
I'm giving this one five stars for making me think. The author is an experienced translator and a teacher thereof, and so his expertise is unquestionable. Whether his his conclusions are is another matter, but for me, he writes with real insight and presents the whole issue of translation from perspectives I'd never considered before. He also does so with wit and humour - or at least with a wit and humour that appealed to me, judging by the number of other reviewers who complained about the lack of humour. An example of the author's very dry, understated humour that made me smile, toward the end of the book
I don’t know whether language is possible without thought—on the face of it, it must be, since so many people speak without thinking
In all, a dense and informative read that challenged a lot of my preconceptions and definitely enhanced my appreciation for the critical role translation and translators play in the modern world. Not an easy read and at times it did seem a bit repetitive, but the concepts discussed fascinated me and the cogency of the author's presentation was impressive. For anyone interested in languages, I'd say this book is well worth the effort.
challenging
informative
medium-paced
This was a VERY challenging read for someone whose grasp of maths and physics is shakier than a leaf in a hurricane, but it was a rewarding read for that very reason. I love being challenged and having both my neurons taxed to the max, and this book did that in spades. The core tenet, repeated often and well-defended throughout, makes a lot of sense - that time (and especially timeKEEPING) is primarily a social construct.
The science in the book was a real stretch, and made me feel sympathy for the author. Trying to convey the gist of fundamental physics in lay terms without dumbing it down nonsensically must be fiendishly difficult. So the last half of the book especially was very much more "Sci" than "pop". Even so, by reading at a crawl I was left feeling that I had at least a vague, nebulous grasp of the concepts being outlined, and given my lack of intellectual resources, that is a huge accomplishment for the author.
One thing I very much enjoyed in this book was a look at the "Longitude" issue from a different perspective. I found the famous bestseller about Harrison to be interminably dull and badly written, so reading a concise challenge to some of its core assertions and editorialising made me smile.
I also found some of the heaviest chapters on relativity and quantum physics marginally less incomprehensible thanks to having read Walter Isaacson's biography of Einstein. From the history of the discover of light-speed to the development of modern quantum physics, having the same concepts and players referenced again in a different context felt like getting a few pieces of a sprawling jigsaw puzzle together.
In summary, I highly recommend this as an incredibly interesting and well-argued presentation that taught me a lot. It is a popsci book that was very heavily on the 'sci' end on the spectrum but presented with as much deference to 'pop' as possible. With one glaring and inexplicable exception. NOT ONCE in the book was any reference made to the best ever pop-sci summary of time, from another Doctor Who knew the subject well:
""People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly... time-y wimey... stuff."
The science in the book was a real stretch, and made me feel sympathy for the author. Trying to convey the gist of fundamental physics in lay terms without dumbing it down nonsensically must be fiendishly difficult. So the last half of the book especially was very much more "Sci" than "pop". Even so, by reading at a crawl I was left feeling that I had at least a vague, nebulous grasp of the concepts being outlined, and given my lack of intellectual resources, that is a huge accomplishment for the author.
One thing I very much enjoyed in this book was a look at the "Longitude" issue from a different perspective. I found the famous bestseller about Harrison to be interminably dull and badly written, so reading a concise challenge to some of its core assertions and editorialising made me smile.
I also found some of the heaviest chapters on relativity and quantum physics marginally less incomprehensible thanks to having read Walter Isaacson's biography of Einstein. From the history of the discover of light-speed to the development of modern quantum physics, having the same concepts and players referenced again in a different context felt like getting a few pieces of a sprawling jigsaw puzzle together.
In summary, I highly recommend this as an incredibly interesting and well-argued presentation that taught me a lot. It is a popsci book that was very heavily on the 'sci' end on the spectrum but presented with as much deference to 'pop' as possible. With one glaring and inexplicable exception. NOT ONCE in the book was any reference made to the best ever pop-sci summary of time, from another Doctor Who knew the subject well:
""People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly... time-y wimey... stuff."
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A