Myśląc...

by David Lodge

Mistrz powieści uniwersyteckiej powraca do gatunku, który przyniósł mu sławę. Książka "Myśląc..." błyskotliwie i z humorem opisuje "mały światek" angielskiej uczelni ze wszystkimi jego układami towarzysko-erotycznymi. A że głównymi bohaterami książki "Myśląc..." są pisarka i kognitywista, który pracuje nad stworzeniem sztucznej inteligencji, jest to również fascynujący dyskurs o tajemnicy...

Genres: Fiction, Novels, Humor, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Literature, British Literature

342 pages

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

David John Lodge was an English author and critic. A literature professor at the University of Birmingham until 1987, some of his novels satirise academic life, notably the "Campus Trilogy" – Changing Places: A Tale of Two Campuses (1975), Small World: An Academic Romance (1984) and Nice Work (1988). The second two were shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Another theme is Roman Catholicism, beginning from his first published novel The Picturegoers (1960). Lodge also wrote television screenplays and three stage plays. After retiring, he continued to publish literary criticism. His edition of Twentieth Century Literary Criticism (1972) includes essays on 20th-century writers such as T.S. Eliot. In 1992, he published The Art of Fiction, a collection of essays on literary techniques with illustrative examples from great authors, such as Point of View (Henry James), The Stream of Consciousness (Virginia Woolf) and Interior Monologue (James Joyce), beginning with Beginning and ending with Ending.

Reviews

[Victor Eustáquio · Rating 2 out of 5]

It has everything to be a fantastic book: interesting characters, a good plot, at least at the beginning, smart dialogues and a lot of promises. However, David Lodge seems to be so clever that his book becomes nothing else than an unbearable and pretentious big pain in the ass

[Gregsamsa · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a huge disappointment. Perhaps if I had happened to have a whole canister of salt with me when I saw an advertisement for this book, or when I read the flap, or when I perused some online buzz, I wouldn't have felt so duped. Just bored.

This novel is purported to be about the nature of consciousness and how we never truly know what anyone else is thinking, which should have serious implications for the construction of subjectivity in a novel and could result in illuminating effects were these ideas to actually be enmeshed in a narrative about (mis)understanding others.

Nope. The reason why it is touted as being about cognitive science and the nature of consciousness is because one of the protagonists, Ralph Messenger (clever!), works at a place called The Center for Cognitive Science. That's it. Just when anyone is about to actually talk (or think) about what is studied there, something happens or someone comes up to interrupt, just to provide the next chunk of narrative information in what is an extremely conventional bourgeois infidelity story.

The reason I gave it two stars instead of one is that the writing isn't bad at all, and my dislike is based more on what the book isn't rather than what it is, and Mr. Lodge cannot be held responsible for how his book is hyped, no matter how misleading.

[Kamila · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was somewhat puzzled by the reviews and hesitated whether to read this book at all. So glad I did give it a chance! The story, set at a fictitious University of Gloucester, combines personal life of the main characters with insights into cognitive science and literature. It is built around an affair between a charming womanizer Ralph Messenger, who is in charge of the Center for Cognitive Science, and a recently widowed novelist Helen Reed, who teaches creative writing at the university for one semester. The plot, including the ending, and the characters' motivation seemed completely believable and natural. The point of view shifts back and forth between the 1st and 3rd person narrative, and events are detailed from both male and female perspective. There are also numerous writing styles employed: diary, voice recording, e-mails, samples of students' homework (imitating famous modernist writers, whom I, unfortunately, failed to recognize). In the second half of the book the story picked up pace and became a real page-turner. It was very well researched, although the Czech "babe" should have been called Ľudmila Lišková rather than Ludmila Lisk. All in all, I truly enjoyed this book, both in terms of style and topic.

[Kirsty Darbyshire]

This was a good book to read whilst feeling under the weather because I know I'll never catch all the subtexts and references even if I read it when I was running on full power. David Lodge always gives me a feeling that I'm missing half of what's going on, but it doesn't really matter because he still delivers a very readable story full of laughs, wit and tragedies.

This is another tale of English University life - he's written several before - this one is set at the (fictional) University of Gloucester, a campus university bearing major resemblance to every campus uni I've ever visited. I read his earlier books quite a few years back and only spotted one reappearing character in this one, Robyn Penrose, and she only has a walk on part here. This struck me as a sadder tale than his earlier books. Like them it deals with marriages and adultery and the effects of affairs on those around but I felt there was less comedy in this one. It might just be that I'm not in a very comedic mood today. There's plenty of wit but less silliness, and on the whole I found that good. The characters in this book seemed less stereotyped and more realistic than in earlier books (which is perhaps a dumb thing to say since many of the characters in earlier books were pretty much intended to be stereotypes) and this seemed more like a real story and less of a social observation.

I also enjoyed the fact that we didn't get mired in a slurry of English faculty and one of the main characters was a computer scientist (albeit a cognitive scientist really) and there were plenty of logical puzzlers to entertain me when the literary aspects went flying over my head.

All in all, just as enjoyable as I'd hoped and rather more engaging on many levels than I'd expected.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

A kind of annoying academic novel about a visiting novelist who works through her grief while engaging in an affair with a married cognitive scientist. It wasn't bad for a summer read, though it did have what I identify as a particular kind of semi-macho Baby Boomer smugness about it, where the masculine voice is uncritically chauvinist and sex-obsessed, while the feminine voice is apologetically so. As a romance novel it's not bad--it's just not the thought experiment it would like to be.

[Robert Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, excellent, excellent! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and all it contained. The people and the story and the knowledge and the ending and the manner of the writing all fill me with a kind of drunken glee. While I read, I delighted in the way I seemed to be able to follow the thought processes of the writer as he made the characters talk in such a way that revealed the learning he has on the various knowledges in the story: consciousness, cognitive psychology, artificial intelligence, creative writing etc. It much reminded me of the material I have just finished reading myself in the various modules of the degree I'm studying. I love the way that the characters are made to write journals in order to reveal the inner working of their consciousness and adored the way that there were at least two accounts of each event in the story, one from the male side and one from the female side. I enjoyed the flirting and the wooing and the complications of love and sex and the twists and turns of the relationships as they are revealed one by one to my eager eyes as I scanned them into this brain (or should that be mind?). The title is great, indicative as it is of the meat of this novel: the things that we think; the thoughts; as in 'he thinks', 'she thinks'. Most of all, I love the way the story moves, inexorably and powerfully forward, and the way it ends; satisfyingly and solidly well. I feel that this review does not even begin to capture the sheer delight that is this novel and so I would entreat you to read it for yourself and add your praises to mine. Do it now!

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think David Lodge is incapable of writing a bad novel. This is the type of guy who's basically incapable of shitting anything less than fully formed, coherent narratives.

Sadly I find much of his writing, this book included, to be facile. It's not shit. Or if it's shit, it's fully formed, coherent shit. I just get the impression that he chooses not to exert himself fully, chooses not to delve into his characters like he could, like he should.

It's also difficult not to take some of his male characters as stand-ins for Lodge himself--large, priapic men who, for reasons that beguile me, have the ability to attract beautiful younger woman. Much of this novel feels lifted from "Nice Work," Ralph replacing Vic, Helen replacing Robyn. (Robyn actually makes a completely unnecessary appearance in this novel. Kind of fun, though, I suppose.)

"Thinks..." also feels much too wordy. If I had understood the characters better, if they had seemed a little more real, I doubt that would have been a problem.

Again, not a bad book. I kept turning the pages. All the same, "Thinks..." is kind of a let down. I much prefer "Therapy," a book that has more likeable, more relatable characters and thus a lot more heart.

[Irena Atanasoska · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this book, as my stars will show. I loved the sophisticated conversations between the characters in comparison to their inner thoughts. I loved how the professor is portrayed as a sex addict or of that sort and on the other side is a sweet almost naive Helen. It's beautifully written, especially the dialogs that switch from literature to science and most of the time they entwine. One thing bothered me, though, is that the book is over too quickly, there is almost nothing about the affair that I was waiting for the whole time.

[Kanawinkie · Rating 3 out of 5]

David Lodge shows off his skill in writing in an entertaining story delving into consciousness and academic manners. The book is kept interesting by the constant shift in point of view (including shift in writing styles!) and timing as the story unfolds.

By far the most enjoyable part of the read, in my opinion, were the literary parodies done by Helen's writing students dealing with some of the cognitive science issues brought up in the story.

[Elina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Λατρεύω τον Lodge, αλλά το συγκεκριμένο του βιβλίο ήταν απλά ένα εύπεπτο, ευχάριστο κείμενο. Είχε πράγματα προς σκέψη, αλλά χωρίς εμβάθυνση ή κάτι άλλο.

[Morag77 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just re-read this and loved it as much as I did the first time. David Lodge seems to me like a true genius, perhaps because he can make his incredibly clever and erudite novels accessible to ordinary readers. It's a travesty that he's never been awarded a Booker. This book is fascinating in the way it introduces concepts like Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science. It is about witty characters who I immediately cared about, it moves along at a cracking pace with heaps of intrigue (and sex, naturally), and gave me some ideas to consider when I think about how my brain might actually work. I'm trying to get my hands on a copy of Incognito by David Eagleman, but in the meantime I'm re-reading The Decisive Moment by Johnah Lehrer, just to try to expand on some of the concepts in Thinks.
Incidentally, Thinks is about 12 years old, so the science isn't exactly cutting-edge, but the ideas within it are still worth considering.
And if you're a true literati you'll love the allusions and parodies of modern writers that he slides in. Can't recommend this enough.

[Anamarija · Rating 4 out of 5]

Očekivala sam dobru knjigu i dobila sam dobru knjigu.
Jednako zabavnu i pametnu, dovoljno poticajnog stila i zapleta, a opet bez pretenzija da bude visoka filozofska rasprava o ljudskom umu. Gotovo savršeno štivo za uzivanje na plaži ili bar dugi vikend na kauču.

[Alexander Theofanidis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed that. "We can never know for certain what another person is thinking", but seriously, just read the damn book and think whatever you want. Nodoby's goin' to know.

[Kristina Monika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Romanas apie vasaros romaną (nors labiau apie jo dalyvius: Jį ir Ją), kuriame mintijimų man pasirodė per daug.

Mėgstu storas knygas (kai yra daug gero turinio), mėgstu ir plonas knygas (kai daug pasakoma per mažai), o skaitant "Mintijimus" mane visą laiką lydėjo mintis - kam šitoje istorijoje tiek daugžodžiavimo (knyga neplona - 494 psl.)? 

Iš vienos pusės suprantu tokį "priėjimą" - vasaros romanas tarp universiteto dėstytojų aprašomas iš abiejų pusių perspektyvos, gerai parodant, kaip skirtingai mąstoma tose pačiose situacijose. Jo ir Jos dienoraščiuose laisva eiga liejasi abiejų mintys, aprašytos organiškai ir natūraliai - jų daug ir jos šokinėja nuo to, kaip dirbtinį intelektą priversti mąstyti, iki - jos gražūs papai. Bet tie ilgi vidiniai monologai ir dialogai tarp Jo ir Jos vietomis vargino, atrodė ištęsti. Be didelio sąžinės graužimo užsitęsusias mintis tik greitai permesdavau akimis - ir neatrodo, kad tai sutrukdė sekti istoriją ar veikėjų transformacijas. Jis - profesorius, mėgstantis megzti romanus su moterimis, pabaigoje "grįžta" į šeimą, o Ji - rašytoja, ištikima mirusiam vyrui ir visuomenės moralės normoms, leidžia sau pasimėgauti malonumais ir pamiršti gedulą. Viskas kaip ir gerai - įtikinamai parodytos tiek vidinės prieštaros, logiškai nelogiškos mintys ir poelgiai, tiek skirtingos mąstymo perspektyvos, bet veikėjų motyvacijos gana paprastos, todėl galvoju, kad viską papasakoti buvo galima ir trumpiau:)

D. Lodge rašo gerai ir nepretenzingai, lengvai ir su humoru, bet aš galų gale likau nesupratusi, kam tiek daug žodžių, puslapių bei laiko (ir rašytojo, ir mano) buvo skirta tokiai istorijai.

[Samuel J]

Rien de plus personnel que les idées qui nous traversent. Rien de plus insondable que le fonctionnement du cerveau… et les pensées des autres. Comme tout Lodge qui se respecte, Pensées secrètes se déroule dans une université (à Gloucester), entre deux intellectuels (un chercheur et une romancière) que tout semble séparer au départ. Lui, quinquagénaire adepte de siestes crapuleuses, est directeur du département de sciences cognitives (entendez par là : "l'étude systématique du fonctionnement de l'esprit"). Entre physique quantique et intelligence artificielle, il fait l'inventaire de ses conquêtes. Elle, jeune veuve au sens moral perturbé par les avances du charmeur-chercheur, est invitée à l'université pour animer des ateliers d'écriture. Tous deux tiennent un journal et explorent leur fonctionnement cérébral et émotionnel. Lui prend pour objet d'étude le déballage de ses fantasmes croustillants. Elle couche sur son écran le vacillement de sa bonne conscience.

Égal à lui-même, l'auteur nous livre une subtile confrontation de points de vue et la rencontre explosive de deux jardins secrets. Il détourne les recherches actuelles sur le cerveau par un duel intellectuel et un duo charnel savoureux. De la conscience phénomène chimique à la conscience territoire de l'art, les deux personnages se rejoignent au final sur la bizarrerie de l'instinct sexuel qu'il ne s'agit plus d'étudier… mais de consommer. Rien ne résiste à l'humour de Lodge, ni la tradition du journal intime ni quelques plumes britanniques pastichées au passage. Ses "accros" y trouveront leurs repères habituels : ironie plaisante et sarcasmes cultivés sont en effet de mise. --Claire Pardieu

[Mary Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book on Nancy Pearl's Book Lust favorite book club books. I've always enjoyed David Lodge, but found this to be a true gem. The plot is nothing new, but the satire, and the writing from different points of view and in different styles, is superb.
Ralph Messenger is a science professor at a university in the English countryside, with an expertise in human consciousness. He's known to be a womanizer, and is married with children. Helen Reed is a writer in residence, a widow, and newly arrived on campus. Naturally, they flirt. But nothing is simple. Helen is keeping a journal of her innermost thoughts. Ralph is alternately recording his musings or writing them on a computer. And just like the murder mystery where a gun shows up early on, the reader just knows something will go awry.
Lodge's writing is so smart. He moves with ease between the two narrators, and even throws in some student writing. Helen gives an assignment to describe what it's like to be a bat. One submission is written in the style of Salmon Rushdie, another Martin Amis.
Since my own book club has never read Thinks, I am going to recommend it. I wonder what else I can find on this list...

http://booklust.wetpaint.com/page/Fav...

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A David Lodge novel is guaranteed to be a satisfying read, and Thinks... is no exception. A campus novel and a love story, this is also a fascinating examination of human consciousness. The two main protagonists are Ralph Messenger, a philandering academic, head of the Cognitive Studies department at the University of Gloucester, and Helen Reed, a recently bereaved novelist, appointed to teach creative writing for a semester as a stand in for the usual teacher who is away on study leave. The story of their affair is told in three voices: the direct stream of consciousness approach of Ralph as he dictates his thoughts in to a speech recognition programme in an attempt to capture what's going on in his mind with the minimum of intermediary obstruction, the considered, reflective diary entries of Helen, and the voice of the omniscient , third person authorial narrator. This device works very well in delivering a panoramic view of the characters and their interaction, and in highlighting some of the key issues in consciousness studies and, in particular, how they relate to the work of the novelist. Thinks... Is both a thoroughly engrossing read and an engrossing introduction to key debates about the mind and consciousness.

[Nancy Millichap · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know David Lodge best as a satirical novelist with a well-honed focus on the peccadilloes of British academia. In this novel, which traces the affair between a scholar of consciousness and a recently widowed novelist visiting his university, his approach to the narrative is more ambitious than in other work of his I'm familiar with. In particular, Ralph Messenger, the scholar of consciousness, tapes his stream of consciousness at a number of key points by speaking into a recorder, with the "transcripts" included in the narrative. He also alternates between points of view of the two characters and, I think, is pretty convincing in the female voice (Helen). One thing to be aware of is that digital technology - explanations of it, uses of it in research and in personal communication, etc. - figures prominently in the story, and it's the digital technology of roughly 2001, which feels rather dated at this point. One wonders what Ralph Messenger's center would be studying these days! The satire of British academic life is as much fun as it always is in Lodge, but this novel affords additional pleasures for Brit-centric erstwhile English majors like me.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lodge's campus novels (at least the three now I've read) always feature smart, yet emotionally messy Americans and Brits thrown together with lots of sexual tension heaped on for good measure. This novel's set within the context of the fictional University of Gloucester. Middle-aged Ralph Messenger is the campus star, director of the school's prestigious Centre for Cognitive Science. Married to a monied American, he is a known philanderer and has his sights set on recently widowed visiting professor, the novelist Helen Reed, who is stalwartly devoted to the memory of her dead husband. As Spring semester unspools, everyone eventually dramatically discovers that their colleagues and mates, both dead and alive, are not who they seem, and the difference between what we think we know about a person and who they really are is vast. The discourse among characters is meaty here: memory, consciousness, cognition are thoroughly plumbed from the perspective of several academic disciplines and discourses. Lodge's novels are always smarter than I am.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Thinks" is a meditation on the nature of consciousness from two contrasting points of view: from the third person and from the first person. Appropriately enough, half of this book is written from a mechanical third-person point of view and the other half is written from a very intimate, first-person point of view. Furthermore, the scientific, third person point of view is embodied by Ralph Messenger, a philosopher/cognitive scientist, and the first person point of view is embodied by Helen, a fiction writer.

"Thinks" is interesting and insightful in places, but there is nothing to be admired in the main characters. In fact, this book has very little, if any, redeeming value.

[Kenneth · Rating 1 out of 5]

A disapointing read. Didn't like the characters. The modern novel, according to the novelist main character, is about consciousness. But, really, if this is the barometer, it is about empty sex. The other main character is a cognitive scientist who claims truth is foremost in his life, but lies and cheats on his wife to no end. I even found the way the cognitive science aspect was treated, though surfacely entertaining, was rather flat and didactic. Plus, I unfortunately learned that kissing is called "snogging" in England...And that just isn't right! :P I have never felt so sorry to have bought a book. :S

[Abby Damen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was mind-blowing. David Lodge is an amazing writer! I loved to find out how much research he did concerning consciousness, and a bunch of other topics. The tension between the heart and the head, art and science, consciousness and sub-consciousness... were referenced throughout the entire book and I thoroughly enjoyed reading the arguments that Helen and Richard had together.

Fascinating read, very entertaining and engaging. It also seemed to further articulate some of those commonly controversial ideas about the role of the head and the heart in terms of humans and their relationships through the books exploration into adultery and romance. Such an exciting novel to read!

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love me some David Lodge, but this wasn't my favorite. (Though it's more of a 3 1/2 star kind of book.) The novel has strange pacing: sooooo slow in the middle, rapid-quick in the last 30 pages. I enjoyed the combination of dictations, writing exercises, multiple POV narration, etc., though the idea that "everyone is thinking different thoughts!" was hammered home a bit too hard. I admire how, like in many of his novels, Lodge did ample research on other fields of academia (in this case, cognitive science) to get the characters just right.

[Teagan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book interesting in the way that it was written, but the positives stop there. I thought the characters were unrelatable, nasty, and downright cruel- each and every one of them. Additionally, the book was not advertised as an erotic novel, but much of the book focused on the characters' sex life in great detail. David Lodge was attempting to be funny, and in moments, it worked. However, for the great majority of the novel, the narrators just came off as pretentious assholes.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well... it's a gimmicky disservice to the fields of cognitive science and literature, and a disappointingly enjoyable read at that. It's one of the thousands of exceedingly decent books that float around the WaPo book review section, garnering equally forgettable praise. It's the dust that literature sloughs off and a handbook of cute, semi-distinguished party topics that pop science feeds upon.

[Marina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I should have probably given five stars to the book since I do think it's a great example of a "stream of consciousness " novel. For me, it was a bit harder to follow so I lost interest now and then, so I wouldn't recommend it to people who are impatient. It has a good story, a lot on consciousness and adultery, and strong discussions. High quality book for those who know to appreciate it.

[Joanne-in-Canada]

Some nice writing (reminiscent of Carol Shields) and an initially interesting premise of intellectual sparring between a university science professor and a visiting novelist/creative writing lecturer about the nature of consciousness. However, I found the overriding theme of infidelity and the will-they/won't-they suspense tiresome, flipped through to get the answer, and stopped reading.

[Susan Ackland · Rating 1 out of 5]

I enjoyed David Lodge's "Nice Work" immensely and was looking forward to reading "Thinks." It opens with a long interior monologue on what it means to think. Very clever, intricate, and boring -- at least to me. With so many books and so little time, I stopped before I really got started,

[Johanne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I loved and devoured about four or five novels by David Lodge, so bought this, when I saw it in the bookshop. And never got past the first 50 pages or so. Couldn't get into it. -- might not be the fault of the book, though.

[Woody · Rating 3 out of 5]

mon premier Logde et je ne suis pas déçu.Malgré quelques passages assez scientifique, l 'histoire somme toute banale tient bien la route avec de jolis morceaux de réflexion concernant les croyances et la conscience.