Die Vermessung der Welt

[mothwing]

If you come across that book, read it. There is no paperback version, but that doesn't matter, it is that good, and seriously worth the money.

 

It's a half-fictional, half factual biography of two great men, Gauß and Alexander von Humboldt.

Alexander von Humboldt	Carl Friedrich Gauß
14. September 1769 - 6. Mai 1859	30. April 1777- 23. Februar 1855

See? Who wouldn't want to know more about these two very nice looking gentlemen? (I want Humboldt's tie.)

It's a sketchy biography of both and gives the reader glimpses of their lives, works and oddities. Both men are of course geniuses, and they were both, from a very early age, taught by the best people of their age and met most of their most illustrious contemporaries. The frame story has a less-than enthusiastic Gauß travel to Berlin to the German Congress of Natural Scientists (Deutschen Naturforscherkongress) with his son Eugen, following Humboldt's invitation, and the biographies of the two men are told in turns embedded in that frame story, before they get caught up in a student's revolt during the time of the Carlsbad decrees.
They're both failures as humans (at least in the book) and occupied with their works to the point of obsession, which is both hilarious and tragic at times.

Great, great read.

Comments

[dstroyrofworlds.livejournal.com]

You won't believe it but I started reading it and it got on my nerves so much that I gave up after a couple of pages.
I just can't stand the "characters" and the way it's written.

[mothwing.livejournal.com]

Oh, Really? To be honest, I couldn't have been more sceptical about it because of what our lecturer told us about it (he loves it), and I hated all the females in the novels are only devices to influence the development of the male characters, but somehow, the two have grown on me so much I now love the book. They're hilarious.

I did miss the direct speech at first, but got used to it. Especially after being forced to read "Rot" by Uwe Timm, which is worse in that respect. Hm.

[dstroyrofworlds.livejournal.com]

Perhaps it was the reverse effect making me not like it that much.
I have been told it to be a great book by many persons. I guess I set my standards too high and expected to "get along fabulously" with it instantly and instead I'd have had to "work my mind into it" which I did not expect to happen. Hence my disappointment.
Perhaps I'll give it another try but chances are slim as I want to read Plato, Flüchtiges Türkis, more Pratchett and my sister will kill me if I don't start reading a certain Vampire romantic novel soon...*g*

[mothwing.livejournal.com]

Oooh, the one with the pretty cover with the hands and the apple on it? I have really no idea what it's called, but I wanted to buy it for the cover alone. That apple!! Those hands!!

Do give it another try. It's really funny, you just have to switch off any gender radar that might be working while reading, Women in this novel are furniture. They sometimes initiate character development before dropping back into oblivion, though.