silviagrim

The reason this book works so well is that Wallace writes about the history of grappling with possibly the most slippery and forbidding concept (infinity) in a very conversant tone. While at times, I did feel like he went overboard a bit so that it went from "conversant" to "patronizing," I generally like DF Wallace a lot and appreciated what he was trying to do with this book (i.e. write a book that "anyone can read" about a "very complicated subject"). This is one in a number of books written or due out under the Great Discoveries series that Norton is putting out under their Atlas imprint. Wallace's is, I believe, the first. Regardless, this isn't typical pop science/math literature. I read this book because I really like Wallace and I had a general interest in the subject. True to form, though, this book is written in classic Wallace style. The sentences are not as long as what you may be used to with Wallace, but he has not abandoned his love for profuse footnotes, the acronym (there is an acronym glossary in the beginning of the book in case you lose track), occassionally turning common nouns into proper nouns, and generally using a very conversant prose style interpolated with really impressive words you have to look up in the dictionary that remind you just how smart Wallace is (if the suject matter itself isn't doing the trick). All of this, I believe, stems from Wallace's (perhaps excessive) concern with his audience, which, also, I believe, is what led him in part to do postmodern fiction in the first place. My main problem was that even though this was supposedly written for the layman, I had trouble with A LOT of the heavier, abstract math, which is, well, a large part of the book. I basically just bit the bullet and trudged through it because I'm a dedicated enough Wallace fan to do that. Depending on how much you like Wallace, and how much math you had (and can remember) in high school and college, the reading may be more or less enjoyable for you. Overall, good stuff. I'm looking forward to reading Consider the Lobster.

2022-10-21 05:30