2021 Booker International shortlist: When we Cease to Understand the World

[WndyJW]

I hope it arrives so you can complete the set.

[LindaJ^]

I reread When We Cease to Understand the World and still loved it. Since my original review never saved, I wrote another -- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[WndyJW]

Very nice review, Linda.

[LindaJ^]

Thanks WndyJW.

[Tom]

I'll add my two cents here, which reflects much of what has been said already. The book is brilliant and one I plan to re-read in the near future (and push on others). It is brilliant in how it makes complex mathematics interesting and digestible, in how it sparks the desire to dig deeper into these subject matters and the history of the people involved, and in the important message it portrays quite clearly.

But it really is pushing the boundaries of what is considered fiction. Should it be eligible? And if so, should it win, given the fictional elements aren't necessarily what make this a good book?

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

Your last point is a very good one but not sure it will bear on this set of judges

[Tony]

Tom wrote: "I'll add my two cents here, which reflects much of what has been said already. The book is brilliant and one I plan to re-read in the near future (and push on others). It is brilliant in how it mak..."

I actually liked this a lot, but a second read showed its limitations. Once the novelty of the content lost its shine (this isn't really an area I knew a lot about before first reading the book), it read fairly plainly. I was certainly a lot less enamoured with it after the reread...

[Tom]

Tony wrote: "Tom wrote: "I'll add my two cents here, which reflects much of what has been said already. The book is brilliant and one I plan to re-read in the near future (and push on others). It is brilliant i..."

Interesting. I plan to reread at some point in the not-too-distant future. I wonder if I'll feel the same.

[Paul]

Hossein wrote: "I just read “ when we cease to understand the world “, I couldn’t understand the schwarzchild singularity.
Can you explain it in a more simple way?"

Not sure I can actually! More of a pure mathematician. And I can't remember what the book says about it.

Anyone...

[Hossein]

Thanks Paul🙏🙏🙏

[David]

I'm not sure I can explain it either, Hossein, other than to say it's the hypothesis that allows us to postulate the existence of a black hole. The wikipedia article for "gravitational singularity" contains a good explanation.

Ultimately, I think the scientific details are incidental to the book since Labatut is more focused on the characters involved and the psychological impacts of the scientific advances he writes about. At least that's what I tell myself since most of it went over my head too.

[Hossein]

Thanks David, yea I think he focused more on characters.