I always read 10 pages a day, and if I get into a book and have some extra time on the weekend, I'll read a lot more. I knock down a lot of books that and I've decided I should start reviewing them on amazon. Not really for the sake of having a review on amazon, just to jot down some overall thoughts after finishing a book. Anyway, I'll share them with you all, too. I just finished "A Madman Dreams of Turing Mechanics" by Janna Levin.
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A Madman Dreams of Turing Mechanics
Janna Levin
Alfred A. Knopf
220 pages
2 out of 5 stars
Although the concept behind this book is quite original, the actual writing comes off as insipid and hollow. A Madman Dreams of Turing Mechanics parallels the lives of two brilliant, though tormented, mathematicians. Their lives overlap, though not in time or place, in an abstract sense, brought together by their work as scientists and their psychological troubles. The story is really about two intellects whose lives revolve around their science and the dissonance between them and the rest of the world. This fascinating premise is all that bumps Levin's novel up to two stars.
The prose are irritating and often riddled with analogies to physics and math. The sparse dialogue between characters sounds less like two people talking and more like a mechanically crafted conversation between the author and... the author. The story never comes together as promised in the first few pages of the novel. We are led to believe in the title that there is a madman, a third intellect, that plays some roll in bringing the two stories together. Throughout the book, short tidbits of first person narrative remind us of this lurking presence. Shockingly, our narrator never steps into the forefront, never becomes a meaningful character.
My overwhelming reaction to the novel: why did I read this book?
*********************************
A Madman Dreams of Turing Mechanics
Janna Levin
Alfred A. Knopf
220 pages
2 out of 5 stars
Although the concept behind this book is quite original, the actual writing comes off as insipid and hollow. A Madman Dreams of Turing Mechanics parallels the lives of two brilliant, though tormented, mathematicians. Their lives overlap, though not in time or place, in an abstract sense, brought together by their work as scientists and their psychological troubles. The story is really about two intellects whose lives revolve around their science and the dissonance between them and the rest of the world. This fascinating premise is all that bumps Levin's novel up to two stars.
The prose are irritating and often riddled with analogies to physics and math. The sparse dialogue between characters sounds less like two people talking and more like a mechanically crafted conversation between the author and... the author. The story never comes together as promised in the first few pages of the novel. We are led to believe in the title that there is a madman, a third intellect, that plays some roll in bringing the two stories together. Throughout the book, short tidbits of first person narrative remind us of this lurking presence. Shockingly, our narrator never steps into the forefront, never becomes a meaningful character.
My overwhelming reaction to the novel: why did I read this book?
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
kiss_kiss_luxury:
yeah, however i was also STILL missing a certain hat...
jocelynn:
To answer your question, I'm a biochem major. I geek out over incredibly long-named compounds and stuff. 