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Antiphony
Theodore Reveil is one of the leading lights in String Theory physics, on his way to present his latest research at a triumphant meeting of his colleagues from around the world, when he realizes he has lost the notes for his presentation.At the podium, in the midst of his distraction and confusion, he poses the question: "What if the universe, instead of being a giant machine, is really a giant thought?" Then he crosses a line which he can never step back over again, saying, "The infinities and singularities in these equations may be telling us that what we are missing is unknowable in terms of physical science. These unsolvable terms in our equations may be roadsigns pointing to consciousness-to God-as the missing piece of the puzzle."Antiphony traces the downward spiral of Theodore's career in the wake of what he has said, and the remarkable transformation that leads him into the depths of madness . . . or the revelation of the Final Theory, the ultimate secret of the universe.
206 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 14, 2014
Theodore Reveil never imagined just how much his life would change in the blink of an eye. His notes disappear on the eve of his presentation, and he's not sure what to do. He's gone to great lengths to document his information, and without his notes it'll make it difficult to put his thoughts together. Though he knows he can still make headway in what he wants to say, the notes would have made things easier for him, nonetheless.
Determined to make the most of the situation, he delivers a mind-boggling presentation that leaves him and those around him astounded by his words. So much so, that his life takes another different turn. Theodore finds himself foundering in a dark abyss, unsure of what to do, or how to fix what he's done wrong. He's afraid to go home, to tell his wife of how things really are for them now.
Theodore begins to question everything around him. He's strongly convinced that there's more out there. That there truly is a God at the heart of all things. Some may think he's going crazy, that his mind is fractured in more ways than one. For him, however, that sweet voice he's heard means everything to him. Through it, he's able to make sense of the chaos he calls life. Somehow, someway, the secrets of the Universe will be known, and he'll do everything possible to grasp its meaning.
A thought-provoking story, Antiphony is one of those stories that will have you wondering as to whether the laws of Physics are really as the author states. We find ourselves caught up in Theodore's plight as he tries to gather a hold of his life and emotions. This is a man convinced that there's more to life and science than people know. In his mind, he wants - no, he NEEDS to discover that loose thread of knowledge that the voice he heard left behind for him to find. Chris has delivered a truly poignant story where nothing is as it seems. This is definitely a book I'll be sitting down to read again sometime soon.
Determined to make the most of the situation, he delivers a mind-boggling presentation that leaves him and those around him astounded by his words. So much so, that his life takes another different turn. Theodore finds himself foundering in a dark abyss, unsure of what to do, or how to fix what he's done wrong. He's afraid to go home, to tell his wife of how things really are for them now.
Theodore begins to question everything around him. He's strongly convinced that there's more out there. That there truly is a God at the heart of all things. Some may think he's going crazy, that his mind is fractured in more ways than one. For him, however, that sweet voice he's heard means everything to him. Through it, he's able to make sense of the chaos he calls life. Somehow, someway, the secrets of the Universe will be known, and he'll do everything possible to grasp its meaning.
A thought-provoking story, Antiphony is one of those stories that will have you wondering as to whether the laws of Physics are really as the author states. We find ourselves caught up in Theodore's plight as he tries to gather a hold of his life and emotions. This is a man convinced that there's more to life and science than people know. In his mind, he wants - no, he NEEDS to discover that loose thread of knowledge that the voice he heard left behind for him to find. Chris has delivered a truly poignant story where nothing is as it seems. This is definitely a book I'll be sitting down to read again sometime soon.
April 4, 2014
At first glance, this is a novel about a slightly absentminded scientist, an expert in string theory. In the early scenes he is traveling with his wife, Ilene, to a conference where he is to be a featured speaker. The time comes for his speaking engagement and he cannot find his notes. However, he manages to get through it without them. While it is unfortunate it hasn’t gone as planned, he never imagines the repercussions. I thought it was cute the way Theodore overanalyzed things in his life, such as the physics of the sunlight striking his wife’s hair, the 400 photons per cubic centimeter of space a remnant of the big bang, or, how many droplets of water struck his body each second he was in the shower. These could be quirks of the very intelligent, but only in retrospect did I realize they were potential signs of dangerous obsession. Watch in horror as Theodore descends into a spiral of misfortune.
I did find it interesting that his wife didn’t seem to realize anything was amiss either. Could it be that she was too wrapped up with her friends and magazines and television shows? Or had she seen this before and learned to remain calm despite what went on in Theodore’s head? Toward the end of the story the reader is allowed to recognize his poor judgment in a number of situations on the day everything came to a head. While you will need to pay close attention to his inner dialogue, this is a fascinating story about circumstances, choices, and consequences.
I did find it interesting that his wife didn’t seem to realize anything was amiss either. Could it be that she was too wrapped up with her friends and magazines and television shows? Or had she seen this before and learned to remain calm despite what went on in Theodore’s head? Toward the end of the story the reader is allowed to recognize his poor judgment in a number of situations on the day everything came to a head. While you will need to pay close attention to his inner dialogue, this is a fascinating story about circumstances, choices, and consequences.
March 4, 2014
`The book of revelations is a secondary symptom of a madman; only those who are insane can know beyond the solipsism of this world'
Occasionally a diamond so settled in the crust of the earth can go unnoticed, perhaps lacking the light it requires to send dazzling prisms to the eyes of the chaotic mass of shufflers preoccupied with the instant gratification of technologies competing with the air itself for push-button attention. Such is the case with this epic poem cum novel ANTIPHONY by the author Chris Katsaropoulos, a book so eloquent and brilliant that it requires time - that precious entity few seem to have saved for exploration of the arts - to explore this obvious treasure. It is related to the great works of literature - James Joyce, T.S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf, Solzhenitsyn, Dante Alighieri, Roberto Bolaño, Tolstoy, Proust, Kazantzakis, Kafka, Melville, and Conrad are a few that come to mind. It is presented in four chapters, best described as a quatrain. Written in 2011 it now comes to our attention in a new edition courtesy of Luminis Books, publishers of meaningful fiction, knowing that the book deserves wide attention.
Chris Katsaropoulos' mind is so attuned to poetry, classical music, metaphysics, physics, science in general and man's search for meaning that his book has portions, not unlike cadenzas in a piano concerto where the artist takes a pause from the orchestral score to expound on a note or phrase or thought that shows muscular and spiritual dexterity before returning to the work as a whole, that sing like few other authors can write. It is this gift that Katsaropoulos displays in this masterful work: while weaving a richly imaginative story he perseverates on a thought, relishing the character's time and the reader's indulgence to delve deeply into thoughts not usually found within the covers of a novel. His ability to sculpt words into topics as disparate as quantum physics to classical music to the poetry of the institutionalized poet Christopher Smart (1722- 1771) as set by Benjamin Britten in his antiphonal Rejoice in the Lamb to the cadences of Grieg's Piano Concerto in performance to biblical tales and Greek mythology to the atmosphere of a Midwestern February churchyard silence or the suffocation of a California scientific gathering - his skill remains secure.
Quite briefly stated the story is the progress of Theodore Reviel, a String Theory physicist from a highly regarded Midwestern Institute, who has flown with his wife Ilene to California to present a much anticipated scientific paper on the Perturbation theory (Perturbation theory comprises mathematical methods for finding an approximate solution to a problem, by starting from the exact solution of a related problem) that in the company of the String Theory should lead to the explanation of everything. Prior to his presentation he has a dream or a dreamlike state in which he envisions the coming apart of all scientific fact and all his thoughts are replaced by the possibility that his equations are unsolvable, that the universe is nothing more than a giant thought, that thought leading to the possibility that God is the meaning of everything. In a stupor he inputs his response on his cell phone email, awakens and is off to his presentation. But at this presentation he realizes he has lost his notes, irretrievable after attempts to recover them, and he faces his erudite audience of scientist and inadvertently shares `If the universe really is nothing more than a giant thought, a though projection emanating from some form of consciousness, and we are living within this projection, it would be impossible to discover the source of this projection by examining the projection itself in finer levels of detail...These unsolvable terms in our equations may be roadsigns pointing to consciousness - to God - as the missing piece of the puzzle.' And his private email notes are broadcast to all scientists in attendance and at home in the Institute.
His audience is outraged, his boss Victor who has been grooming him to take over as head of the Institute department fires him, his best friend (and competitor for the position) Pradeep moves into first choice place, and Theodore leaves the Institute, afraid to tell his wife he is without a job, all of which sends Theodore out into the cold February night to seek solace with nature. He encounters a broken down church where the antiphonal strains of Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb are being rehearsed, meets a former brief female acquaintance in a steeple, and begins to feel what life is like without the institute, without science, with only stream of consciousness thoughts that some may consider madness, others may consider entry into mysticism, others may hear the echoes of what life is really all about - the elusive Final Theory.
Chris Katsaropoulos wastes no words, even when he is streaming thoughts that at first feel dissociative or so far beyond the limits of the reader's mind that they are impenetrable. His title tells us much: `antiphony' - responsive alternation between two groups especially of singers - could represent the actual experience of hearing the Britten choral work in the old wreck of a church, the polar opposites of science and theology, the disparity between inner mind functioning our verbal communication of consciously filtered thoughts, and probably more variations on that theme. His grasp of physics is astonishing as is his ability to phrase theory in a manner comfortably decipherable. His deep entrenchment in literature and in music blossoms on the pages frequently. His grasp of the manifold variations of human relationships breathes of psychology breeding with philosophy. But most of all it is the serene beauty of his writing that mesmerizes and results in starting the book again once finished that proves this is a man of letters who has an enormous gift and future.
Occasionally a diamond so settled in the crust of the earth can go unnoticed, perhaps lacking the light it requires to send dazzling prisms to the eyes of the chaotic mass of shufflers preoccupied with the instant gratification of technologies competing with the air itself for push-button attention. Such is the case with this epic poem cum novel ANTIPHONY by the author Chris Katsaropoulos, a book so eloquent and brilliant that it requires time - that precious entity few seem to have saved for exploration of the arts - to explore this obvious treasure. It is related to the great works of literature - James Joyce, T.S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf, Solzhenitsyn, Dante Alighieri, Roberto Bolaño, Tolstoy, Proust, Kazantzakis, Kafka, Melville, and Conrad are a few that come to mind. It is presented in four chapters, best described as a quatrain. Written in 2011 it now comes to our attention in a new edition courtesy of Luminis Books, publishers of meaningful fiction, knowing that the book deserves wide attention.
Chris Katsaropoulos' mind is so attuned to poetry, classical music, metaphysics, physics, science in general and man's search for meaning that his book has portions, not unlike cadenzas in a piano concerto where the artist takes a pause from the orchestral score to expound on a note or phrase or thought that shows muscular and spiritual dexterity before returning to the work as a whole, that sing like few other authors can write. It is this gift that Katsaropoulos displays in this masterful work: while weaving a richly imaginative story he perseverates on a thought, relishing the character's time and the reader's indulgence to delve deeply into thoughts not usually found within the covers of a novel. His ability to sculpt words into topics as disparate as quantum physics to classical music to the poetry of the institutionalized poet Christopher Smart (1722- 1771) as set by Benjamin Britten in his antiphonal Rejoice in the Lamb to the cadences of Grieg's Piano Concerto in performance to biblical tales and Greek mythology to the atmosphere of a Midwestern February churchyard silence or the suffocation of a California scientific gathering - his skill remains secure.
Quite briefly stated the story is the progress of Theodore Reviel, a String Theory physicist from a highly regarded Midwestern Institute, who has flown with his wife Ilene to California to present a much anticipated scientific paper on the Perturbation theory (Perturbation theory comprises mathematical methods for finding an approximate solution to a problem, by starting from the exact solution of a related problem) that in the company of the String Theory should lead to the explanation of everything. Prior to his presentation he has a dream or a dreamlike state in which he envisions the coming apart of all scientific fact and all his thoughts are replaced by the possibility that his equations are unsolvable, that the universe is nothing more than a giant thought, that thought leading to the possibility that God is the meaning of everything. In a stupor he inputs his response on his cell phone email, awakens and is off to his presentation. But at this presentation he realizes he has lost his notes, irretrievable after attempts to recover them, and he faces his erudite audience of scientist and inadvertently shares `If the universe really is nothing more than a giant thought, a though projection emanating from some form of consciousness, and we are living within this projection, it would be impossible to discover the source of this projection by examining the projection itself in finer levels of detail...These unsolvable terms in our equations may be roadsigns pointing to consciousness - to God - as the missing piece of the puzzle.' And his private email notes are broadcast to all scientists in attendance and at home in the Institute.
His audience is outraged, his boss Victor who has been grooming him to take over as head of the Institute department fires him, his best friend (and competitor for the position) Pradeep moves into first choice place, and Theodore leaves the Institute, afraid to tell his wife he is without a job, all of which sends Theodore out into the cold February night to seek solace with nature. He encounters a broken down church where the antiphonal strains of Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb are being rehearsed, meets a former brief female acquaintance in a steeple, and begins to feel what life is like without the institute, without science, with only stream of consciousness thoughts that some may consider madness, others may consider entry into mysticism, others may hear the echoes of what life is really all about - the elusive Final Theory.
Chris Katsaropoulos wastes no words, even when he is streaming thoughts that at first feel dissociative or so far beyond the limits of the reader's mind that they are impenetrable. His title tells us much: `antiphony' - responsive alternation between two groups especially of singers - could represent the actual experience of hearing the Britten choral work in the old wreck of a church, the polar opposites of science and theology, the disparity between inner mind functioning our verbal communication of consciously filtered thoughts, and probably more variations on that theme. His grasp of physics is astonishing as is his ability to phrase theory in a manner comfortably decipherable. His deep entrenchment in literature and in music blossoms on the pages frequently. His grasp of the manifold variations of human relationships breathes of psychology breeding with philosophy. But most of all it is the serene beauty of his writing that mesmerizes and results in starting the book again once finished that proves this is a man of letters who has an enormous gift and future.
January 30, 2019
Good read
This was a very exciting book. I would recommend this to anyone. I thought it well written and a must read.
This was a very exciting book. I would recommend this to anyone. I thought it well written and a must read.
March 22, 2014
When I think of the word Antiphony, the things that come to mind have nothing to do with string theory. They do have to do with music theory though. My mind is immediately pulled from Antiphony to polyphony, monophony and probably then homophony. Perhaps, even cacophony. Though if we're talking about polyphony, it has the potential to be heard as cacophony unless you have a trained ear in medieval and renaissance music.
[caption id="attachment_3334" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Meet Bonjour, Yup, that makes her Hello Kitty :P[/caption]Squirrel! My head just went so many places, about half of them work related - feels a bit like the yarn/fabric of the universe is unwinding right inside my head. Be sure to read all the way to the end of this one as there's a post script.
noun, plural an·tiph·o·nies.
If you haven't figured it out yet, I really loved this book. I've been waiting for it for some time, and while I didn't know quite what I was looking for in terms of reading, this was definitely it.
String theory is a lot like music (at least that's the way I explain it to myself and my non-physics brain). I loved the use of the word antiphony for the title, not only because its related to music, but because it drew a great analogy for me. I could read and understand in a place I'm comfortable (music) while learning a little bit about physics and string theory.
I'll admit I know a bit more about string theory than many people, I've read a lot. I'm a nerd. Lets leave that there.
This book tackles a huge subject (actually two). I'm certainly not envious of the main character, and he would probably be scorned for the rest of his life if he were a real person too.
The book though, opens up a dialogue. I love having conversations about religion and science. I'd refer you to all the discussions on the 'God Particle' or, hell, just Google science and religion discussions. You'll come up with ample sources.
I loved Theodore, wanted to sit down and have coffee with him and talk to him for hours. Going against the grain, especially if you didn't mean to do it in the first place is a hard path to follow.
The writing style was superb, and my head was spinning with fodder. Watching Theodore's life crumble before his eyes, and his inability to cope (or perhaps ability to see more clearly for a different audience) was heart-breaking, maddening and incredible to read.
The book was expertly written, made me think, and wasn't just another piece of fiction. The events aren't real, but the felt like they could be. My dad and I actually had the same argument “What if the universe, instead of being a giant machine, is really a giant thought?” multiple times. Revisiting this made me feel like I was having that conversation again, and perhaps like I had a stronger connection back to the past.
Is the universe just a thought? Are we all just thoughts in the cosmic flutter of life? Is this cacophony of voices screaming out via social media, the web and every day in the street really that important? Or is it all just part of the big unanswerable questions we don't want to think about every day.
In medieval times, they explained everything explainable as being part of 'God's' plan. In today's universe, that's sort of a huge faux pas. The book deals brilliantly with this, and I can't encourage you enough to go out and read it.
1. alternate or responsive singing by a choir in two divisions.
2. a psalm, verse, etc., so sung; antiphon.
3. a responsive musical utterance.
If you haven't figured it out yet, I really loved this book. I've been waiting for it for some time, and while I didn't know quite what I was looking for in terms of reading, this was definitely it.
String theory is a lot like music (at least that's the way I explain it to myself and my non-physics brain). I loved the use of the word antiphony for the title, not only because its related to music, but because it drew a great analogy for me. I could read and understand in a place I'm comfortable (music) while learning a little bit about physics and string theory.
I'll admit I know a bit more about string theory than many people, I've read a lot. I'm a nerd. Lets leave that there.
This book tackles a huge subject (actually two). I'm certainly not envious of the main character, and he would probably be scorned for the rest of his life if he were a real person too.
The book though, opens up a dialogue. I love having conversations about religion and science. I'd refer you to all the discussions on the 'God Particle' or, hell, just Google science and religion discussions. You'll come up with ample sources.
I loved Theodore, wanted to sit down and have coffee with him and talk to him for hours. Going against the grain, especially if you didn't mean to do it in the first place is a hard path to follow.
The writing style was superb, and my head was spinning with fodder. Watching Theodore's life crumble before his eyes, and his inability to cope (or perhaps ability to see more clearly for a different audience) was heart-breaking, maddening and incredible to read.
The book was expertly written, made me think, and wasn't just another piece of fiction. The events aren't real, but the felt like they could be. My dad and I actually had the same argument “What if the universe, instead of being a giant machine, is really a giant thought?” multiple times. Revisiting this made me feel like I was having that conversation again, and perhaps like I had a stronger connection back to the past.
Is the universe just a thought? Are we all just thoughts in the cosmic flutter of life? Is this cacophony of voices screaming out via social media, the web and every day in the street really that important? Or is it all just part of the big unanswerable questions we don't want to think about every day.
In medieval times, they explained everything explainable as being part of 'God's' plan. In today's universe, that's sort of a huge faux pas. The book deals brilliantly with this, and I can't encourage you enough to go out and read it.
April 15, 2014
I quite enjoyed this book. Having a personal interest in string theory and fundamental physics, the subject matter was fascinating for me, as were the philosophical questions raised regarding the existence of God and the melding of God and science in the search for that elusive theory of everything.
The story was built around how making one small mistake, in the wrong place, can bring the walls tumbling down, life crashing down around one’s ears. In this instance, the protagonist, Theodore Reveil, a physicist researching perturbation theory, found everything that he had known and worked for crumbling before his very eyes. It was interesting to see how fast a life and career that had taken years to build could unravel.
I liked Theodore Reveil. I found the crisis of conscience that he was going through fascinating - God versus science, or God and science, as opposed to all of his previous beliefs about God having no place in science or in a theory of the universe.
The character development was good. The relationships that evolved between Theodore and his family and friends, were interesting. Theodore came across as many people’s view of the eccentric, obsessed scientist, lost in his work, not really understanding or paying attention to the day-to-day world around him. He was over-analytical of everything he observed. He attempted to place common day occurrences and events within the spectrum of his knowledge and interest, questioning the most mundane of things and building some convoluted theory around them.
The book was well paced and used numerous literary devices to great effect. His ‘religious’ visions’ seemed to be expressed in a ‘stream of consciousness’ manner, with thoughts and images coming out roughshod and disorganised, in a rapid, rambling fashion and a blurring together of ideas. There was little punctuation, creating a kind of breathlessness to these passages, driving the reader on to the more manageable pace of the general narrative. They reminded me of the style of many passages in James Joyce’s, ‘Ulysses’.
Hearing voices in ones head is not generally accepted as a good thing, especially when one acts, based upon these voices. Theodore seems driven to act by what he has experienced, or at least during and shortly after the experience, without any real knowledge of what he is doing and against his ‘better’, or more rational, judgement. This sets up a deep internal struggle within his consciousness.
I liked the wide range of influences and topics apparent in this book – classical music and music theory, string theory, poetry, literature, mythology, spiritualism and religion. The author took all of these and used them to weave a descriptive cloak around the characters and plot.
I found this book to be well written and an enjoyable read. The ending was a little open ended for my liking, I would have liked there to be another chapter to wrap things up for me, but I suppose that this way we get to draw our own conclusions.
I would recommend this book if you are interested in the science and god question. If you enjoy literary fiction, combining poetry and prose, that deals with deep philosophical questions about the universe in which we exist, and indeed about existence itself, then you will surely enjoy this book.
This review is based on a complimentary copy.
The story was built around how making one small mistake, in the wrong place, can bring the walls tumbling down, life crashing down around one’s ears. In this instance, the protagonist, Theodore Reveil, a physicist researching perturbation theory, found everything that he had known and worked for crumbling before his very eyes. It was interesting to see how fast a life and career that had taken years to build could unravel.
I liked Theodore Reveil. I found the crisis of conscience that he was going through fascinating - God versus science, or God and science, as opposed to all of his previous beliefs about God having no place in science or in a theory of the universe.
The character development was good. The relationships that evolved between Theodore and his family and friends, were interesting. Theodore came across as many people’s view of the eccentric, obsessed scientist, lost in his work, not really understanding or paying attention to the day-to-day world around him. He was over-analytical of everything he observed. He attempted to place common day occurrences and events within the spectrum of his knowledge and interest, questioning the most mundane of things and building some convoluted theory around them.
The book was well paced and used numerous literary devices to great effect. His ‘religious’ visions’ seemed to be expressed in a ‘stream of consciousness’ manner, with thoughts and images coming out roughshod and disorganised, in a rapid, rambling fashion and a blurring together of ideas. There was little punctuation, creating a kind of breathlessness to these passages, driving the reader on to the more manageable pace of the general narrative. They reminded me of the style of many passages in James Joyce’s, ‘Ulysses’.
Hearing voices in ones head is not generally accepted as a good thing, especially when one acts, based upon these voices. Theodore seems driven to act by what he has experienced, or at least during and shortly after the experience, without any real knowledge of what he is doing and against his ‘better’, or more rational, judgement. This sets up a deep internal struggle within his consciousness.
I liked the wide range of influences and topics apparent in this book – classical music and music theory, string theory, poetry, literature, mythology, spiritualism and religion. The author took all of these and used them to weave a descriptive cloak around the characters and plot.
I found this book to be well written and an enjoyable read. The ending was a little open ended for my liking, I would have liked there to be another chapter to wrap things up for me, but I suppose that this way we get to draw our own conclusions.
I would recommend this book if you are interested in the science and god question. If you enjoy literary fiction, combining poetry and prose, that deals with deep philosophical questions about the universe in which we exist, and indeed about existence itself, then you will surely enjoy this book.
This review is based on a complimentary copy.
May 1, 2013
Stunning. Worth re-reading. This book is really amazing -- even though I have to admit skimming through part of it. A physicist searches for the One Equation that will explain all of life. It's a pretty audacious quest. Here are just a few of the questions this book discusses:
* How can the overlap between science and spirituality be experienced?
* How do mind and soul intersect?
* Can a world-reknowned scientist speak the truth about spirituality and stay in the academic community?
* What is the difference between genius, madness, and mystic experience?
As you can see, the topics are rather meaty. But the language is oddly poetic. Katsaropoulous writes like a poet sometimes, like Joyce or Faulkner or Woolf at others. A lot of the scientific discussions were way over my head. Still, I want to read this book again. The plot is surprisingly engaging. I'd give this 4.5 stars (if possible with Goodreads) because of the very long Joyce-esque passages. Other than that, it's so good that I immediately bought the author's first book. It's a pleasure to spend time with his brilliant mind and deep soul while reading his work.
* How can the overlap between science and spirituality be experienced?
* How do mind and soul intersect?
* Can a world-reknowned scientist speak the truth about spirituality and stay in the academic community?
* What is the difference between genius, madness, and mystic experience?
As you can see, the topics are rather meaty. But the language is oddly poetic. Katsaropoulous writes like a poet sometimes, like Joyce or Faulkner or Woolf at others. A lot of the scientific discussions were way over my head. Still, I want to read this book again. The plot is surprisingly engaging. I'd give this 4.5 stars (if possible with Goodreads) because of the very long Joyce-esque passages. Other than that, it's so good that I immediately bought the author's first book. It's a pleasure to spend time with his brilliant mind and deep soul while reading his work.
December 10, 2011
Antiphony is, in many ways, an awe-inspiring novel. It was, I think, written in awe. Awe of science and reason. Awe of intuition and faith. Awe of the one and the many, of unity and diversity.
Writer Chris Katsaropoulos has a way of delving deeply into what seem like small moments–the whole novel takes place in just three or four days–and capturing all their nuances and vibrating tension.
Throughout Antiphony, the protagonist (a physicist researching string theory) experiences dreams and visions that fill pages the way a flash flood fills a ravine–a torrent of words flowing into the space between the margins and pressing onward to the next page and the next.
It makes me wonder how he did it.
Writer Chris Katsaropoulos has a way of delving deeply into what seem like small moments–the whole novel takes place in just three or four days–and capturing all their nuances and vibrating tension.
Throughout Antiphony, the protagonist (a physicist researching string theory) experiences dreams and visions that fill pages the way a flash flood fills a ravine–a torrent of words flowing into the space between the margins and pressing onward to the next page and the next.
It makes me wonder how he did it.
March 29, 2012
I won this in a goodreads giveaway
To be honest, I wasn't entirely sure if I would enjoy this one. Based on the synopsis, I thought it would be VERY different than what I was used to and that made me uncertain. However, I was very pleased when I started reading and found an Ian McEwan type prose forming an intriguing story and narration. One small mistake and this man's world comes crumbling down. This is a fear that many of us share. It is part of the paranoia that people have when it comes to public speaking. I was genuinely nervous for Theodore as he took the stage to speak and his spiral into madness was painful to read.
I am looking forward to searching out more of Chris Katsaropoulos' work. I really enjoy this style of writing.
To be honest, I wasn't entirely sure if I would enjoy this one. Based on the synopsis, I thought it would be VERY different than what I was used to and that made me uncertain. However, I was very pleased when I started reading and found an Ian McEwan type prose forming an intriguing story and narration. One small mistake and this man's world comes crumbling down. This is a fear that many of us share. It is part of the paranoia that people have when it comes to public speaking. I was genuinely nervous for Theodore as he took the stage to speak and his spiral into madness was painful to read.
I am looking forward to searching out more of Chris Katsaropoulos' work. I really enjoy this style of writing.
April 5, 2012
Theodore Reveil is a scientist of the highest order poised to deliver new answers in the the advancement of String Theory, but when the spotlight falls upon him, he forgets his mathematical equations and their solutions and poses instead a question: What if the world is simply an idea taken from zero to infinity in a single instant? Science calls, and Theodore responds most unexpectedly with a spiritual awakening that he fears must be madness and his colleagues perceive to be the ultimate betrayal.
Katsaropoulos is a keen observer who approaches the physical, intellectual and spiritual aspects of his characters with equal insight and frankness. Antiphony will make you think and remain in your thoughts long after you've finished reading it.
Katsaropoulos is a keen observer who approaches the physical, intellectual and spiritual aspects of his characters with equal insight and frankness. Antiphony will make you think and remain in your thoughts long after you've finished reading it.
July 10, 2013
This is an amazing book about String Theory Physics and God. What if the Universe really IS a giant thought? What does that mean? Katsaropoulos explores this question with beautifully written prose through the eyes of one physicist. What really happens to Theodore Reveil? Does he discover God and the true Theory of Everything or does he lose his mind? You decide. I know what I think.
April 4, 2013
This book made me feel pretty ignorant and confused. The writing was so amazingly detailed that I wonder if he wasn't being "spirit-guided" (for want of a better description). Certainly interesting even if I didn't get a lot of it.
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