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Googolplex
If you could have anything but the one thing you really wanted, what would you do?
Jack is part of a group of colonists traveling to the distant planet Shylock to build themselves a new home. But Jack has trouble letting go of his past and the world he left behind. He becomes obsessed with what could have been, and with the help of multis – mysterious beings from parallel universes – he begins his search for truth. However, in a world where even love seems impossible to define, what can he find?
Swedish author KG Johansson was born in the fifties, grew up with rock music and became a musician. Today he plays and writes full-time – science fiction and young adult novels, film scripts, opera libretti and music books – and is one of the foremost authors of speculative fiction in Scandinavia.
Jack is part of a group of colonists traveling to the distant planet Shylock to build themselves a new home. But Jack has trouble letting go of his past and the world he left behind. He becomes obsessed with what could have been, and with the help of multis – mysterious beings from parallel universes – he begins his search for truth. However, in a world where even love seems impossible to define, what can he find?
Swedish author KG Johansson was born in the fifties, grew up with rock music and became a musician. Today he plays and writes full-time – science fiction and young adult novels, film scripts, opera libretti and music books – and is one of the foremost authors of speculative fiction in Scandinavia.
206 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 16, 2017
Cloning, DNA manipulation, space travel in cryogenic sleep and new bodies for old brains, colonisation of distant planets after a civilisation collapse, alien visitations from multiple possible worlds. (Am I the only one to wonder why only one species came visiting in that case?)
I liked a lot of the detail, especially the Scandinavian setting for part of the story, with reindeer herds and rowanberry wine. Building our needs from modified DNA, like ship hulls of tooth enamel is also fun. Somewhat icky, but so is wearing cowhide.
I get tired of philosophy which is seen filling the second half of the story. The author is using the example of a man trying to remember, reencounter or recreate his first female infatuation, despite having the chance to be with a perfectly good woman here and now. We can just go along with his conjectures about parallel worlds and quantum physics and morphing bodies like a Michael Jackson video; or we can wonder if the man is actually yearning to return to his own youthful life, in his original body and mind, now long lost. I can't explain a normal man behaving so selfishly and stupidly in any other way. Those who love a good philosophical debate will perhaps give the book a higher rating.
I was sent an ARC. This is an unbiased review.
I liked a lot of the detail, especially the Scandinavian setting for part of the story, with reindeer herds and rowanberry wine. Building our needs from modified DNA, like ship hulls of tooth enamel is also fun. Somewhat icky, but so is wearing cowhide.
I get tired of philosophy which is seen filling the second half of the story. The author is using the example of a man trying to remember, reencounter or recreate his first female infatuation, despite having the chance to be with a perfectly good woman here and now. We can just go along with his conjectures about parallel worlds and quantum physics and morphing bodies like a Michael Jackson video; or we can wonder if the man is actually yearning to return to his own youthful life, in his original body and mind, now long lost. I can't explain a normal man behaving so selfishly and stupidly in any other way. Those who love a good philosophical debate will perhaps give the book a higher rating.
I was sent an ARC. This is an unbiased review.
October 10, 2015
Note: I received a copy of this book by the author, in exchange for an honest review.
Plot/Story:
Googolplex has a really, really unique plot based on very famous concept of multiverses. The uniqueness of the plot really stood out and over all this book makes for a great sci-fi read. There are various elements in the book that I absolutely loved and
Characters:
I felt a really strong connection with the main character, Jack. I felt for him whenever his heart broke and felt happy to see him make progress. Rest of the characters were not stressed upon enough to establish a connection but that wasn't a problem as the story was completely around Jack and his adventures (so to say.)
Having said that, I really liked the concept of multis and was constantly intrigued by their presence and interest in Jack's life.
Romance:
There was just a hint of romance but a lot of passion. Jack was completely hooked on his childhood crush and went to extreme lengths in order to find her. The entire process was really enjoyable. I also liked the concept of sic-fi mingling with a person's love interest on a whole another level!
Writing:
One of the best things about the book is author's simple yet effective writing. It flowed beautifully and flawlessly and made the experience of reading this book a really pleasant one!
Beginning:
The book started with a bang! I really, really enjoyed it and was sucked into it right from the first line. After reading a few pages I started to feel connected to the main character, Jack and I knew that I was in for a pleasant surprise.
Ending:
The book's ending was not completely surprising, though I felt that it was a little far-fetched. I was expecting it to be a little more convincing than that but unfortunately it didn't happen.
Cover Art:
The cover could have been a little better but, considering the theme of the book, it's actually quite appropriate.
Blurb:
The blurb describes the book perfectly.
You can also read this review at The Reading Bud
Plot/Story:
Googolplex has a really, really unique plot based on very famous concept of multiverses. The uniqueness of the plot really stood out and over all this book makes for a great sci-fi read. There are various elements in the book that I absolutely loved and
Characters:
I felt a really strong connection with the main character, Jack. I felt for him whenever his heart broke and felt happy to see him make progress. Rest of the characters were not stressed upon enough to establish a connection but that wasn't a problem as the story was completely around Jack and his adventures (so to say.)
Having said that, I really liked the concept of multis and was constantly intrigued by their presence and interest in Jack's life.
Romance:
There was just a hint of romance but a lot of passion. Jack was completely hooked on his childhood crush and went to extreme lengths in order to find her. The entire process was really enjoyable. I also liked the concept of sic-fi mingling with a person's love interest on a whole another level!
Writing:
One of the best things about the book is author's simple yet effective writing. It flowed beautifully and flawlessly and made the experience of reading this book a really pleasant one!
Beginning:
The book started with a bang! I really, really enjoyed it and was sucked into it right from the first line. After reading a few pages I started to feel connected to the main character, Jack and I knew that I was in for a pleasant surprise.
Ending:
The book's ending was not completely surprising, though I felt that it was a little far-fetched. I was expecting it to be a little more convincing than that but unfortunately it didn't happen.
Cover Art:
The cover could have been a little better but, considering the theme of the book, it's actually quite appropriate.
Blurb:
The blurb describes the book perfectly.
You can also read this review at The Reading Bud
July 19, 2015
Originally published at Risingshadow.
KG Johansson's Googolplex was originally published in 2010. It won the Spektakulärt Award for the best Swedish science fiction novel in 2010. It's nice that this novel has been translated into English, because it's a thought-provoking, creative and well written novel for adult readers who want to read something a bit different.
Scandinavian speculative fiction seems to be on the rise, which is nice, because it brings much-needed freshness and originality to the genre. Googolplex is an excellent example of thrilling Scandinavian speculative fiction.
I recently read KG Johansson's story, "The Membranes in the Centering Horn", which was published in the excellent anthology Waiting for the Machines to Fall Asleep (Affront Publishing, 2015). Because I enjoyed reading it and found it fascinating, I was eager to read Googolplex. When I began to read this novel, I was positively surprised by its freshness, because the author used well-known science fiction elements and concepts in a fresh and interesting way.
Googolplex is a combination of different elements that together form an enjoyable novel that's different from most new science fiction novels. KG Johansson fluently combines such themes and issues as space travel, DNA modification, colonisation, technological inventions, love and relationships etc (the author covers quite a big range of different elements and he does it extremely well).
Here's information about the story:
- At the beginning of the story, Jack wakes up from stasis in which he has been for seventy-three years. He is travelling towards the distant planet Shylock with other colonists. He and the other colonists have been given new bodies, because Shylock has a gravity one and a half times that of Earth. When Jack and the other colonists arrive on Shylock, they begin to work and build a colony. They also begin to form couples. Jack is attracted to a woman, but their relationship is a bit difficult...
- Soon Jack returns to Earth and begins to relive his memories. He becomes increasingly obsessed with his past and what has happened to him. He gets help from the mysterious beings called multis...
This is the beginning of an intriguing story with entertaining, thought-provoking and philosophical elements. The author explores life, love and relationships in an intriguing and surprisingly deep way.
The author writes well about Jack's life and feelings and also about his obsession with what could have been. At the beginning of the story, Jack lives in a young body that has its own hormones and needs. Although his body is young, his mind is old (his body is still a virgin, but he is not). He has to think about many things, including falling in love and having children. He reflects on his life, choices and actions, and he examines what he has done and what has happened to him. Reliving his memories leads him on a quest to find the truth.
The multis are interesting beings, because they differ from humans. They are believed to come from parallel worlds and have the power to travel in the multiverse. They're a bit larger than humans and have a few legs and arms. They seem to have a kernel, but around it they have layers of flowing gases and fluids that make their appearance exotic and strange. They're called "it", because nobody knows if they have sexes. They communicate by pictures and seem to be able to read minds.
I found it interesting that human beings could live in different bodies and were able to change them when the time was right. Human beings were also able to backup their memories when needed. Backuping up one's memories and accessing them is an intriguing process, because it's possible to store away many memories and only choose the memories that one wants to remember. When a person want to access the memories again, it's possible to remember what has happened before and relive different moments from one's past.
It's nice that KG Johansson concentrates on describing the problems that the colonists face on Shylock. He seems to have thought of all the important things that are related to colonising a planet and fluently writes about what happens in the colony and how the colonists feels about what's going on. For example, he writes about how the colonists have problems with crops and one another etc.
The author's vision of the future of Earth and human beings is genuinely fascinating. He reveals what has happened to Earth and human beings after the upheavals that were mostly caused by polar caps melting and different kinds of oil running out. The world changed permanently, because many people died because of the upheavals, famine and epidemics, but gradually a new world emerged from the ruins of the old world. Reading about the wonders of the new world was interesting.
I enjoyed reading about how humans learned new things from the multis and developed in significant ways over the years. Humans learned to modify DNA, change their apperance, grow bodie and store memories etc. A whole new era began for humans when they learned these things.
One of the most fascinating things about this novel is that Jack learns new things from the multis when begins his quest for truth. The multis teach him many new things, including how to travel between universes. Reading about the learning process was thrilling, because Jack was willing to learn new abilities.
There's an intriguingly sad and touching undertone in this novel that I found compelling. There's also a deeply human level to this novel that is lacking from many science fiction novels, because the author writes about Jack's feelings and obsession with what could have been. I think it's good that there's a human level to this novel, because it brings depth to the story.
Now that I've read "The Membranes in the Centering Horn" and this novel, I have to mention that I want to read more novels and stories by KG Johansson. I hope that he continues to write speculative fiction, because he has a wonderful imagination and is capable of writing different kind of stories.
Because the words "googol" and "googolplex" are mentioned in this novel, I think it's good to say a few words about them. If there are readers out there who are unaware of what these words mean, here's a little mathematics:
- Googol is the large number 10^100 (the digit 1 followed by 100 zeroes).
- Googolplex is the number 10^googol (10^(10^100) aka it is the digit 1 followed by 10^100 zeroes).
If you want to read something a bit different and enjoy well written science fiction, please read KG Johansson's Googolplex. It differs nicely from what's out there on the market nowadays, because it feels fresh due to its combination of imaginative storytelling and thoughtful examination of the protagonist's life and feelings.
Excellent science fiction!
KG Johansson's Googolplex was originally published in 2010. It won the Spektakulärt Award for the best Swedish science fiction novel in 2010. It's nice that this novel has been translated into English, because it's a thought-provoking, creative and well written novel for adult readers who want to read something a bit different.
Scandinavian speculative fiction seems to be on the rise, which is nice, because it brings much-needed freshness and originality to the genre. Googolplex is an excellent example of thrilling Scandinavian speculative fiction.
I recently read KG Johansson's story, "The Membranes in the Centering Horn", which was published in the excellent anthology Waiting for the Machines to Fall Asleep (Affront Publishing, 2015). Because I enjoyed reading it and found it fascinating, I was eager to read Googolplex. When I began to read this novel, I was positively surprised by its freshness, because the author used well-known science fiction elements and concepts in a fresh and interesting way.
Googolplex is a combination of different elements that together form an enjoyable novel that's different from most new science fiction novels. KG Johansson fluently combines such themes and issues as space travel, DNA modification, colonisation, technological inventions, love and relationships etc (the author covers quite a big range of different elements and he does it extremely well).
Here's information about the story:
- At the beginning of the story, Jack wakes up from stasis in which he has been for seventy-three years. He is travelling towards the distant planet Shylock with other colonists. He and the other colonists have been given new bodies, because Shylock has a gravity one and a half times that of Earth. When Jack and the other colonists arrive on Shylock, they begin to work and build a colony. They also begin to form couples. Jack is attracted to a woman, but their relationship is a bit difficult...
- Soon Jack returns to Earth and begins to relive his memories. He becomes increasingly obsessed with his past and what has happened to him. He gets help from the mysterious beings called multis...
This is the beginning of an intriguing story with entertaining, thought-provoking and philosophical elements. The author explores life, love and relationships in an intriguing and surprisingly deep way.
The author writes well about Jack's life and feelings and also about his obsession with what could have been. At the beginning of the story, Jack lives in a young body that has its own hormones and needs. Although his body is young, his mind is old (his body is still a virgin, but he is not). He has to think about many things, including falling in love and having children. He reflects on his life, choices and actions, and he examines what he has done and what has happened to him. Reliving his memories leads him on a quest to find the truth.
The multis are interesting beings, because they differ from humans. They are believed to come from parallel worlds and have the power to travel in the multiverse. They're a bit larger than humans and have a few legs and arms. They seem to have a kernel, but around it they have layers of flowing gases and fluids that make their appearance exotic and strange. They're called "it", because nobody knows if they have sexes. They communicate by pictures and seem to be able to read minds.
I found it interesting that human beings could live in different bodies and were able to change them when the time was right. Human beings were also able to backup their memories when needed. Backuping up one's memories and accessing them is an intriguing process, because it's possible to store away many memories and only choose the memories that one wants to remember. When a person want to access the memories again, it's possible to remember what has happened before and relive different moments from one's past.
It's nice that KG Johansson concentrates on describing the problems that the colonists face on Shylock. He seems to have thought of all the important things that are related to colonising a planet and fluently writes about what happens in the colony and how the colonists feels about what's going on. For example, he writes about how the colonists have problems with crops and one another etc.
The author's vision of the future of Earth and human beings is genuinely fascinating. He reveals what has happened to Earth and human beings after the upheavals that were mostly caused by polar caps melting and different kinds of oil running out. The world changed permanently, because many people died because of the upheavals, famine and epidemics, but gradually a new world emerged from the ruins of the old world. Reading about the wonders of the new world was interesting.
I enjoyed reading about how humans learned new things from the multis and developed in significant ways over the years. Humans learned to modify DNA, change their apperance, grow bodie and store memories etc. A whole new era began for humans when they learned these things.
One of the most fascinating things about this novel is that Jack learns new things from the multis when begins his quest for truth. The multis teach him many new things, including how to travel between universes. Reading about the learning process was thrilling, because Jack was willing to learn new abilities.
There's an intriguingly sad and touching undertone in this novel that I found compelling. There's also a deeply human level to this novel that is lacking from many science fiction novels, because the author writes about Jack's feelings and obsession with what could have been. I think it's good that there's a human level to this novel, because it brings depth to the story.
Now that I've read "The Membranes in the Centering Horn" and this novel, I have to mention that I want to read more novels and stories by KG Johansson. I hope that he continues to write speculative fiction, because he has a wonderful imagination and is capable of writing different kind of stories.
Because the words "googol" and "googolplex" are mentioned in this novel, I think it's good to say a few words about them. If there are readers out there who are unaware of what these words mean, here's a little mathematics:
- Googol is the large number 10^100 (the digit 1 followed by 100 zeroes).
- Googolplex is the number 10^googol (10^(10^100) aka it is the digit 1 followed by 10^100 zeroes).
If you want to read something a bit different and enjoy well written science fiction, please read KG Johansson's Googolplex. It differs nicely from what's out there on the market nowadays, because it feels fresh due to its combination of imaginative storytelling and thoughtful examination of the protagonist's life and feelings.
Excellent science fiction!
June 20, 2015
I received this book free for review from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Despite the privilege of receiving a free book, I’m absolutely candid about it below because I believe authors and readers will benefit most from honest reviews rather than vacuous 5-star reviews.
When I started this book I did so with some skepticism. It starts out rather shakily and I very nearly gave up on it. For reasons beyond my ability to really describe them, I found it difficult to engage with the first 30 pages or so. It's probably because the world that Johansson has created is fairly surreal and it takes a while to get your head around it. Once you do, the book reveals itself to be a complex psychological work. As science fiction goes, this isn't one in which we've advanced and all have wacky new gadgets so much as it is one in which humans themselves have evolved beyond the need for gadgets. The protagonist plays about in the nebulous chaos of the multiverse and all the accompanying complexities.
To the positive side, as I've said, this rather small book is full of wonderful complexities. In the end, it's not so much a book about science as it is one about how science can help us to do some of the same stupid things that we've done for centuries. At its heart, this is a book about love lost and the single most wide-ranging case of stalking in the history of the cosmos. It has a deep philosophical point to make and at the end you're rather struck at the scope of it all. For anyone who has loved and lost and wondered what-if... this book will probably make you feel quite a bit better.
To the negative, and I'm not sure how negative this can really be taken, it took me quite a while to move my brain into a mode that was compatible with the storyline. If anything, I'd recommend that readers read the first 20 pages twice so you can get properly up to speed. Once you get there it's fascinating but immersion takes a while. Also, my copy of the book did suffer from about 20 noticeable typographical errors. Nothing major but a few were bad enough that it took me a bit to figure out what was intended.
In summary, one of the best sci fi books I've read this year. It's creative, innovative and has a deep human component that relays a great message about the humans of now by telling us about humans of the future. Just as the best sci fi should. Highly recommended but do give it some patience.
PS: I hope my review was helpful. If it was not, then please let me know what I left out that you’d want to know. I always aim to improve.
When I started this book I did so with some skepticism. It starts out rather shakily and I very nearly gave up on it. For reasons beyond my ability to really describe them, I found it difficult to engage with the first 30 pages or so. It's probably because the world that Johansson has created is fairly surreal and it takes a while to get your head around it. Once you do, the book reveals itself to be a complex psychological work. As science fiction goes, this isn't one in which we've advanced and all have wacky new gadgets so much as it is one in which humans themselves have evolved beyond the need for gadgets. The protagonist plays about in the nebulous chaos of the multiverse and all the accompanying complexities.
To the positive side, as I've said, this rather small book is full of wonderful complexities. In the end, it's not so much a book about science as it is one about how science can help us to do some of the same stupid things that we've done for centuries. At its heart, this is a book about love lost and the single most wide-ranging case of stalking in the history of the cosmos. It has a deep philosophical point to make and at the end you're rather struck at the scope of it all. For anyone who has loved and lost and wondered what-if... this book will probably make you feel quite a bit better.
To the negative, and I'm not sure how negative this can really be taken, it took me quite a while to move my brain into a mode that was compatible with the storyline. If anything, I'd recommend that readers read the first 20 pages twice so you can get properly up to speed. Once you get there it's fascinating but immersion takes a while. Also, my copy of the book did suffer from about 20 noticeable typographical errors. Nothing major but a few were bad enough that it took me a bit to figure out what was intended.
In summary, one of the best sci fi books I've read this year. It's creative, innovative and has a deep human component that relays a great message about the humans of now by telling us about humans of the future. Just as the best sci fi should. Highly recommended but do give it some patience.
PS: I hope my review was helpful. If it was not, then please let me know what I left out that you’d want to know. I always aim to improve.
September 7, 2015
I was furnished a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I read fiction for one reason – to escape my own reality, and this book certainly took me out of my reality into one of space travel, multiverses, and obsession. It is a different take on the boy meets girl, boy falls in love, girl leaves type of story.
Jack survives the upheavals, works for a new lord, sees the lord's daughter, Rachel, and falls in love. He quite literally stalks her. She notices, and one night seduces him. His fantasies and dreams take flight—he's in love, and he's sure she's in love with him. Puppy love at its best. They will marry, have a family, he will inherit from her father, and all is well in his world until the next day when he's fired for no apparent reason and not allowed on the property again.
The book opens on a space ship, just before landing on a new planet to be colonized, and one is led to believe this will be a rollicking space opera. Soon, we realize our hero is not. After a year or so on this bleak planet, and dreams he can't quite understand, Jack and a few others return to Earth. Jack goes to the place where all his memories are stored, retrieves them, and goes to his palatial home, modeled after Hatshepsut's mausoleum. He discovers he is wealthy beyond measure (no more young serf is he), and that he longs to find his one, only, true love—Rachel.
With help from his multi friend (an alien from the multiverse), Jack learns to travel both mentally, and physically, looking for his true love, for surely, there is another Rachel, somewhere, that he can love and be loved by, if only he can find her. Nothing will get in the way of his obsession or its hoped-for conclusion. Not when he meets Rachel as she is, and she has no memory of him, none at all and he doesn't like the woman she became; not when he goes back in time and discovers the reason of his firing; nothing, not even death will stop his search.
This book is well-written, and an excellent, well-crafted story. For me, it became a tad tedious during the second half, hence 4 stars not 5. I wanted Jack to grow up (after all, he was 700 years old by then), put his big boy boxers on and get a life. But that would have been my story, not Jack's. And Jack suffers the worst of all possible ailments. He is obsessed, obsessed by a love that never existed.
I read fiction for one reason – to escape my own reality, and this book certainly took me out of my reality into one of space travel, multiverses, and obsession. It is a different take on the boy meets girl, boy falls in love, girl leaves type of story.
Jack survives the upheavals, works for a new lord, sees the lord's daughter, Rachel, and falls in love. He quite literally stalks her. She notices, and one night seduces him. His fantasies and dreams take flight—he's in love, and he's sure she's in love with him. Puppy love at its best. They will marry, have a family, he will inherit from her father, and all is well in his world until the next day when he's fired for no apparent reason and not allowed on the property again.
The book opens on a space ship, just before landing on a new planet to be colonized, and one is led to believe this will be a rollicking space opera. Soon, we realize our hero is not. After a year or so on this bleak planet, and dreams he can't quite understand, Jack and a few others return to Earth. Jack goes to the place where all his memories are stored, retrieves them, and goes to his palatial home, modeled after Hatshepsut's mausoleum. He discovers he is wealthy beyond measure (no more young serf is he), and that he longs to find his one, only, true love—Rachel.
With help from his multi friend (an alien from the multiverse), Jack learns to travel both mentally, and physically, looking for his true love, for surely, there is another Rachel, somewhere, that he can love and be loved by, if only he can find her. Nothing will get in the way of his obsession or its hoped-for conclusion. Not when he meets Rachel as she is, and she has no memory of him, none at all and he doesn't like the woman she became; not when he goes back in time and discovers the reason of his firing; nothing, not even death will stop his search.
This book is well-written, and an excellent, well-crafted story. For me, it became a tad tedious during the second half, hence 4 stars not 5. I wanted Jack to grow up (after all, he was 700 years old by then), put his big boy boxers on and get a life. But that would have been my story, not Jack's. And Jack suffers the worst of all possible ailments. He is obsessed, obsessed by a love that never existed.
June 26, 2018
Ett sci-fi-äventyr som tar dig med på både filosofiska och teologiska frågor. Det är spännande till en början för att sedan avta och blir lite segt för att sedan ta sig igen och bli spännande på slutet. En konstig bok på olika sätt, men helt ok att fördriva tiden med.
June 24, 2019
Lots of interesting ideas about the multiverse and such, but I'm disapointed that the author chose to explore these huge questions through the lens of a man obsessing over the idealized image of a woman, and then rather than teaching him that she is in fact a person of her own just kind of demonized her when she wasn't perfect enough
December 4, 2020
Den börjar okej men halvvägs igenom blir det för filosofiskt och krystat för min smak. Jag hoppades på en spännande sci-fi men detta är mer en lång inre monolog. Enda anledningen till att jag lyssnade klart var för att det var sista boken innan jag skulle bli klar med 2020’s challenge. Sista timmen av boken är som en enda upprepning av sig själv.
March 24, 2024
Hade svårt att komma in i boken
June 19, 2018
A moving, character-driven story about a man whose obsession with the past takes him to other universes and alternate realities.
There are shades of Hitchcock's VERTIGO in this science fiction novel, where advanced future science is used to satisfy very human desires... and it is up to the reader to decide whether the ambiguous ending is a happy or a tragic one. Destined to become a classic.
There are shades of Hitchcock's VERTIGO in this science fiction novel, where advanced future science is used to satisfy very human desires... and it is up to the reader to decide whether the ambiguous ending is a happy or a tragic one. Destined to become a classic.
October 23, 2015
Scandinavian speculative fiction seems to be the buzz word now days in the literary world and rightly so as there are some incredible works coming to light from that region of the world. However, every now and then, a writer emerges and transcends any localized tag or label to move to the international stage. Case in point is Henning Mankell, the award winning author from Sweden that is an international best seller, known for his crime novels, with my favorites being the "Wallander" series and "The Man From Beijing."
The reason I'm using Mankell as an example is, in my opinion, is if given time and proper exposure, KG Johansson will too, become like Mankell and join him on that literary world stage. Bold statement? Yes. Hyperbole? No. I will let the prose of KG Johansson serve as evidence for such claims.
I find it remarkable how those who speak and write English as a second language are often times better at using English so effortlessly than we, the native born. With this novel, Johansson's use of the English language exhibits a grammatical structure and a natural flow of speech that is as natural as it is compelling. Like Mankell, Johansson has a mastery that paints vivid landscapes for the readers imagination, allowing for the experience of getting into the story and lost in another world.
With Googolplex, the author has written a sci-fi tale that is complex and intriguing. The story is surrounded around the main character, Jack, a conflicted man with more questions than answers. Jack is written in a manner that is easy for the reader to connect with. What I took away from this fascinating read is more than what meets the eye. Throughout the book, there are basic aspects are at the heart, granted, maybe in the shadows, of this story, but never the less present in theme and thought. One is the search for the truth, with Jack, needing an understanding of that truth in order to make sense of it all. On this point, the narrative is engaging in showing a side of Jack that we all possess. Another is Jack's inability to let go of the past, it seems in fact, that it is his past that drives his future. Throw in the quest for love and you've a classic tale. Yes, the setting is in sci-fi, but the real issues that drive the Jack are universal in nature and that is what makes this book is enduring to me. I like a book that sticks in my mind long after reading it, I like a book that makes me think, especially on an introspective level.
I have to recommend this book on many points, as a break-through novel to introduce a great writer to the English reading public, as a great sci-fi book worthy of merit, and as a contemplative read that is as cerebral as it is entertaining. I believe KG Johansson will be an over-night success that took a lifetime to happen with this novel. Well done, well done indeed.
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The reason I'm using Mankell as an example is, in my opinion, is if given time and proper exposure, KG Johansson will too, become like Mankell and join him on that literary world stage. Bold statement? Yes. Hyperbole? No. I will let the prose of KG Johansson serve as evidence for such claims.
I find it remarkable how those who speak and write English as a second language are often times better at using English so effortlessly than we, the native born. With this novel, Johansson's use of the English language exhibits a grammatical structure and a natural flow of speech that is as natural as it is compelling. Like Mankell, Johansson has a mastery that paints vivid landscapes for the readers imagination, allowing for the experience of getting into the story and lost in another world.
With Googolplex, the author has written a sci-fi tale that is complex and intriguing. The story is surrounded around the main character, Jack, a conflicted man with more questions than answers. Jack is written in a manner that is easy for the reader to connect with. What I took away from this fascinating read is more than what meets the eye. Throughout the book, there are basic aspects are at the heart, granted, maybe in the shadows, of this story, but never the less present in theme and thought. One is the search for the truth, with Jack, needing an understanding of that truth in order to make sense of it all. On this point, the narrative is engaging in showing a side of Jack that we all possess. Another is Jack's inability to let go of the past, it seems in fact, that it is his past that drives his future. Throw in the quest for love and you've a classic tale. Yes, the setting is in sci-fi, but the real issues that drive the Jack are universal in nature and that is what makes this book is enduring to me. I like a book that sticks in my mind long after reading it, I like a book that makes me think, especially on an introspective level.
I have to recommend this book on many points, as a break-through novel to introduce a great writer to the English reading public, as a great sci-fi book worthy of merit, and as a contemplative read that is as cerebral as it is entertaining. I believe KG Johansson will be an over-night success that took a lifetime to happen with this novel. Well done, well done indeed.
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November 13, 2015This book was featured in the Nota Benes section of the November/December 2015 issue of World Literature Today Magazine.
http://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2...
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July 28, 2016
quite slowly moving. towards the the end gets better as all multiuniversum etc stuff is envisioned in more detail
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