false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167388689m/23001.jpg 23001 9 Cognitive neurologist and well-known writer team up to produce a machine that can pass a comprehensive exam in English literature, with predictably unpredictable results. Like The Gold Bug Variations, this is another of Powers' wild, unforgettable novels encompassing science, philosophy, and the frailty of mankind. 1682428 1995 Galatea 2.2: A Novel total:574|5:131|4:218|3:149|2:62|1:14| 574 2112 804 65 3 1 false false Sat Sep 08 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Jun 27 05:17:54 -0700 2007 Thu Jan 31 18:16:49 -0800 2008 SHORT VERSION: Galatea 2.2 is (in essence) Richard Powers' novelization of the ideas laid out in Douglas Hofstadter's Godel, Escher, Bach. It's well-crafted (if a bit pretentious with the language at times) and (with no small irony) a bit recursive. It's also tragically humanist. I was half-bl...more...]]> 3 1 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 07 15:04:12 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 08 10:29:10 -0700 2008 artificial intelligence to evaluate literature....more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed May 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu May 07 05:55:23 -0700 2009 Thu May 07 05:59:49 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Apr 15 10:00:32 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 09 12:36:04 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 15 10:00:32 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1997 Mon Aug 03 13:31:02 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 03 13:32:19 -0700 2009 more...]]> 1 0 false false Sat Aug 30 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 23 21:28:37 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 30 21:13:06 -0700 2008
The main plot-line is that the main character gets involved with another character to build a machine tha...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 1998 Sat Feb 16 00:08:51 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 16 00:19:34 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Tue Oct 02 15:40:52 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 02 15:44:43 -0700 2007
Pt 1.
I am currently about half way through Galatea 2.2 by Richard Powers. First sign that the author is a little pretentious is that the main character is an author named Richard Powers. This is not a biography. At least I"m pretty sure it's not, considering...more...]]> 2 0 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 01 16:15:39 -0700 2007 Mon Dec 03 11:14:37 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 25 10:22:01 -0700 2007 Mon Nov 19 09:56:01 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jul 13 19:19:56 -0700 2007 Fri Jul 13 19:19:56 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Nov 01 00:00:00 -0800 1995 Fri Jun 29 15:33:55 -0700 2007 Sat Jun 30 14:46:41 -0700 2007 artificial intelligence-- the challenge is whether or not a computer can be taught to understand and appreciate poetry (specifically Milton, if I remember c...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Oct 21 10:00:37 -0700 2007 Sun Oct 21 21:17:28 -0700 2007
part pseudo-autobiography / part science fiction, powers tells the story of (an ambiguously fictional version of) himself teaching literature to a nascent neural-network (i.e., AI program). inevitably, this gives rise to countless questions that run from banal (how??) t...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 1997 Thu Jul 03 14:19:58 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 03 14:45:13 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Feb 18 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 14 08:37:40 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 19 09:39:19 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Feb 18 00:00:00 -0800 2001 Wed Jan 28 17:28:44 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 30 15:57:03 -0800 2009 2 0 false false Wed Aug 29 22:03:10 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 30 08:48:19 -0700 2007 artificial intelligence, leading me to read further into the subject, but the chilly ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jul 15 00:00:00 -0700 2003 Sun Jul 05 14:29:33 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 05 14:29:33 -0700 2009 2 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Sep 26 11:31:33 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 17 10:39:46 -0700 2007
I was reading some of the other reviews of Powers' books on this site, and it amuses me that most of the time people gave low ratings was because the book was too smart and sent the reader running to the di...more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 24 20:24:08 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 24 20:32:19 -0800 2008 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=23001