Others: Positive A fictional examination of the lives of real-life scientists and thinkers whose discoveries resulted in moral consequences beyond their imagining. When We Cease to Understand the World is a book about the complicated links between scientific and mathematical discovery, madness, and destruction. Fritz Haber, Alexander Grothendieck, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger—these are some of luminaries into whose troubled lives Benjamín Labatut thrusts the reader, showing us how they grappled with the most profound questions of existence. They have strokes of unparalleled genius, alienate friends and lovers, descend into isolation and insanity. Some of their discoveries reshape human life for the better; others pave the way to chaos and unimaginable suffering. The lines are never clear. At a breakneck pace and with a wealth of disturbing detail, Labatut uses the imaginative resources of fiction to tell the stories of the scientists and mathematicians who expanded our notions of the possible.
Lists: …
Nathaniel Rich
2019 · 224 pages · 3 reviews
Others: Leaning positive"By 1979, we knew nearly everything we understand today about climate change--including how to stop it. Over the next decade, a handful of scientists, politicians, and strategists, led by two unlikely heroes, risked their careers in a desperate, escalating campaign to convince the world to act before it was too late. [This] is their story"--
What made the match, strongest first
Bernardine Evaristo
2019 · 466 pages · 9 reviews
Others: Overwhelmingly positiveGirl, Woman, Other follows the lives and struggles of twelve very different characters. Mostly women, black and British, they tell the stories of their families, friends and lovers, across the country and through the years. Joyfully polyphonic and vibrantly contemporary, this is a gloriously new kind of history, a novel of our times: celebratory, ever-dynamic and utterly irresistible.
What made the match, strongest first
Ann Rule
1980 · 498 pages · 1 review
Others: PositiveThere are actually two stories here: one describes the gradual disintegration of a seemingly normal, affable, brilliant man into a sexual psychopath so evil, so methodical in his vicious killings, that one wonders if he was at all human. The other story is that of Ann Rule herself, a decent, hard-working, middle-aged mother of four who meets and befriends a nice young man working beside her in a crisis clinic. A man she regards as a younger brother; a man she views as a close and trusted friend. The slow but inexorable realization on Rule's part that this man is in fact an unspeakably violent serial killer is as painful to read as it was for her to experience. Each victim is described in terms of such respect and such anguish that even a family member, I think, can feel that his or her daughter has been given a chance to shine, a chance to be more than a victim, more than a nameless number (8th girl killed, and so forth). The poignancy of these girls' very human preoccupations and lives serves to outline the contrasting horror in even more detail. That is why Rule does not have to defile the victims with intricate detail. The contrast between their young lives and their terrible deaths is enough in itself.
What made the match, strongest first
Maylis de Kerangal
2010 · 269 pages · 1 review
Others: PositiveFrom Maylis de Kerangal comes this story of a dozen men and women – engineers, designers, machinery operators, cable riggers – all employees of an international consortium charged with building a bridge somewhere in a mythical and fantastic California. Their collective effort to complete the megaproject recounts one of the oldest of human dramas, to domesticate – and to radically transform – our world through built form, with all the dramatic tension it brings: a threatened strike, an environmental dispute, sabotage, accidents, career moves, and love affairs … Here generations and social classes cease to exist, and everyone and everything converges toward the bridge as metaphor, a cross-cultural impression of America today.
What made the match, strongest first
Nigel Kneale
1960 · 188 pages · 1 review
Others: PositiveWhen ancient bones and something resembling an unexploded bomb are found on a London building site, the military and scientists are baffled. As further astounding discoveries are made, the renowned Professor Quatermass begins to unravel a terrifying thread of chaos and terror ...
Ottessa Moshfegh
2018 · 304 pages · 10 reviews
Others: Overwhelmingly positiveIt's early 2000 on New York City's Upper East Side, and the alienation of Moshfegh's unnamed young protagonist from others is nearly complete when she initiates her yearlong siesta, during which time she experiences limited personal interactions. Her parents have died; her relationships with her bulimic best friend Reva, an ex-boyfriend, and her drug-pushing psychiatrist are unwholesome. As her pill-popping intensifies, so does her isolation and determination to leave behind the world's travails. She is also beset by dangerous blackouts induced by a powerful medication.
What made the match, strongest first
Loved itI just think it was fascinating beautifully written and if even if you're not like a sciencey person it really doesn't matter I just think it's so clever and I kind of want more of this but for different things but I don't feel like that's what the direction they'll go in but yes I loved it.
