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Alo? Albert Einstein la telefon
Alo? Albert Einstein la telefon este povestea unei prietenii de ordinul fabulosului și a unei vieți memorabile. Acest roman plin de bună dispoziție, farmec și emoție acoperă aproape un secol de istorie a Europei și prezintă sub o altă lumină omul din spatele mitului Einstein.
În ziua în care împlinește șaptezeci și cinci de ani, pe 14 martie 1954, Albert Einstein răspunde la telefon, în locuința sa din Princeton, New Jersey. De la celălalt capăt al firului, o liceeană de șaptesprezece ani, Mimi Beaufort, își cere scuze - „Probabil c-am greșit numărul“. „Nu, deloc, n-ați greșit numărul“, îi răspunde Einstein. Din acest schimb de replici ia naștere o minunată prietenie, care durează până la moartea omului de geniu, survenită după un an. Este doar una dintre prieteniile evocate de R.J. Gadney în romanul de față.
Scriind la timpul prezent și făcând uz de corespondența și fotografiile lui Einstein, R.J. Gadney reușește perfect să contureze viața trecută a fizicianului, universul academic în care acesta se manifesta, să-i redea meditațiile cu privire la bomba atomică și la propriul rol în construirea ei și, desigur, căutările pentru a formula o lege aplicabilă întregului mecanism al universului. De asemenea, îi pune în valoare șarmul considerabil și tandrețea față de prieteni. Este o carte și savantă, și ușor de citit.
În ziua în care împlinește șaptezeci și cinci de ani, pe 14 martie 1954, Albert Einstein răspunde la telefon, în locuința sa din Princeton, New Jersey. De la celălalt capăt al firului, o liceeană de șaptesprezece ani, Mimi Beaufort, își cere scuze - „Probabil c-am greșit numărul“. „Nu, deloc, n-ați greșit numărul“, îi răspunde Einstein. Din acest schimb de replici ia naștere o minunată prietenie, care durează până la moartea omului de geniu, survenită după un an. Este doar una dintre prieteniile evocate de R.J. Gadney în romanul de față.
Scriind la timpul prezent și făcând uz de corespondența și fotografiile lui Einstein, R.J. Gadney reușește perfect să contureze viața trecută a fizicianului, universul academic în care acesta se manifesta, să-i redea meditațiile cu privire la bomba atomică și la propriul rol în construirea ei și, desigur, căutările pentru a formula o lege aplicabilă întregului mecanism al universului. De asemenea, îi pune în valoare șarmul considerabil și tandrețea față de prieteni. Este o carte și savantă, și ușor de citit.
- GenresBiography
304 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2018
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September 12, 2018
3.5>3
“‘A new toy for me, a new toy for me,’ Albert exclaims when he first sees his little sister Maria, familiarly known as Maja, on 18 November 1881. ‘Where are the wheels?’”
Typical little boy, right? But in so many other things. Albert Einstein was not typical. This fictionalised biography, if I can call it that, explores many of his own papers and those of others who have written about one of the most famous men in the world.
I think my reading of this was somewhat spoiled by having watched the remarkable 10-episode television series, GENIUS-Einstein, on the National Geographic Channel. It’s the same life, so of course the biography has covered the same ground.
Much of it was reporting of the facts, interspersed with imagined dialogue amongst the characters (as in the TV series), but because so much was quoted directly from diaries, letters, papers, and reports, I found it jarring when it changed to family arguments and romantic conversations. It’s hard to know where the facts are and where the supposition is.
Einstein made some of the quotations attributed to him in the dialogue, but I don’t think they’ve all been confirmed as coming from him. I imagine most readers are aware of all the memes and posts shared with famous sayings, followed by “Albert Einstein” (or Mark Twain, to name another to whom clever remarks are often attributed.) I followed the trail of one in the book that I doubted was his, and it seems it probably wasn’t. I’m afraid a book like this will just continue to perpetuate the myth.
But the facts as they are, or were, seem reliable. We have plenty of evidence as to where he lived and when, the professional rivalries, the women, the single-mindedness of his passion for science, and his rather self-centred behaviour when he was absorbed in a topic. This friends, fellow scientists, and teachers all feature here.
He had a terrible time in school and obeying rules. He loved study and reading, but he insisted on arguing (if he attended class), and most of his teachers found him impossible. EXCEPT, there were scientists who recognised his brilliance. Not this fellow. [I don’t know if this is a true conversation or quotation, but I think it represents some of the attitudes of his teachers well.]
“‘You’re a disruptive influence,’ the professor says.
‘Of course I’m disruptive. I don’t approve of your educational methods.’
‘Then leave.’
‘You don’t want to hear my arguments?’
‘I do not.’
‘Your reluctance makes my point.’”
How many students have faced this stubbornness on the part of teachers? Our vet, many years ago, decided to become a medical doctor, for people. [When I asked if it would be any harder, he said that it wouldn’t, because we are just another animal and remarkably like the pig. But I digress.]
When they got to the topic of zoonoses, the diseases that are transmissible between animals and humans (such as Ebola and salmonella), he approached the lecturer and offered to give a talk from his veterinarian’s viewpoint. No thanks, said the professor. My notes and course are all set. I would add that the professor’s reluctance makes the point that people get comfortably set in their routines and won’t budge.
The book opens with the phone call referred to in the publicity, where a young high school student rings Einstein’s phone number by mistake, and he, who loves kids and their enthusiasm, continues the conversation and invites future contact. We don’t hear much of her again until much later in the book, which is a section I enjoyed very much. He’s old and fading, she and her younger sister (young women now) play the violin (as does he), and often visit and play for him.
The love stories (more than one, he did like the ladies) and the family photographs are excellent, and the naughty (naked ladies!) postcards Elsa used to send him show that he was far more than an eccentric with his mind in the heavens, although it often was.
He was a passionate champion for the Jews, who have been persecuted pretty much everywhere pretty much forever. His opinion was that while almost every land on earth has Jews, who are often successful, they are a relatively small proportion of the population, making them an easy scapegoat for whatever is going wrong. So he was thrilled with the establishment of a homeland in Israel.
There's also quite a bit about his agony over the atom bombs dropped on Japan, since it was his work that made the bombs possible. I'd like to quote his thoughts, (as I usually quote from books), but I hesitate to do so here unless I know it’s a direct quotation from his letters. I don't know how much is poetic, or author's, licence!
If you know very little about the man who changed the world, you’d enjoy this. If you’re already familiar with his story, I don’t think this will add much.
The author died recently, May 2018, and here are a couple of interesting obituaries of another interesting man. I see that he wrote screenplays, and in many ways, I think this tells his story like that. Perhaps that’s why I enjoyed the television series more.
https://canongate.co.uk/news/a-tribut... [from his publisher]
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-ra... [The Guardian]
Thanks to NetGalley and Canongate for the opportunity to read a preview copy. I think it will do a lot to humanise a man who was a real character as well as a genius.
“‘A new toy for me, a new toy for me,’ Albert exclaims when he first sees his little sister Maria, familiarly known as Maja, on 18 November 1881. ‘Where are the wheels?’”
Typical little boy, right? But in so many other things. Albert Einstein was not typical. This fictionalised biography, if I can call it that, explores many of his own papers and those of others who have written about one of the most famous men in the world.
I think my reading of this was somewhat spoiled by having watched the remarkable 10-episode television series, GENIUS-Einstein, on the National Geographic Channel. It’s the same life, so of course the biography has covered the same ground.
Much of it was reporting of the facts, interspersed with imagined dialogue amongst the characters (as in the TV series), but because so much was quoted directly from diaries, letters, papers, and reports, I found it jarring when it changed to family arguments and romantic conversations. It’s hard to know where the facts are and where the supposition is.
Einstein made some of the quotations attributed to him in the dialogue, but I don’t think they’ve all been confirmed as coming from him. I imagine most readers are aware of all the memes and posts shared with famous sayings, followed by “Albert Einstein” (or Mark Twain, to name another to whom clever remarks are often attributed.) I followed the trail of one in the book that I doubted was his, and it seems it probably wasn’t. I’m afraid a book like this will just continue to perpetuate the myth.
But the facts as they are, or were, seem reliable. We have plenty of evidence as to where he lived and when, the professional rivalries, the women, the single-mindedness of his passion for science, and his rather self-centred behaviour when he was absorbed in a topic. This friends, fellow scientists, and teachers all feature here.
He had a terrible time in school and obeying rules. He loved study and reading, but he insisted on arguing (if he attended class), and most of his teachers found him impossible. EXCEPT, there were scientists who recognised his brilliance. Not this fellow. [I don’t know if this is a true conversation or quotation, but I think it represents some of the attitudes of his teachers well.]
“‘You’re a disruptive influence,’ the professor says.
‘Of course I’m disruptive. I don’t approve of your educational methods.’
‘Then leave.’
‘You don’t want to hear my arguments?’
‘I do not.’
‘Your reluctance makes my point.’”
How many students have faced this stubbornness on the part of teachers? Our vet, many years ago, decided to become a medical doctor, for people. [When I asked if it would be any harder, he said that it wouldn’t, because we are just another animal and remarkably like the pig. But I digress.]
When they got to the topic of zoonoses, the diseases that are transmissible between animals and humans (such as Ebola and salmonella), he approached the lecturer and offered to give a talk from his veterinarian’s viewpoint. No thanks, said the professor. My notes and course are all set. I would add that the professor’s reluctance makes the point that people get comfortably set in their routines and won’t budge.
The book opens with the phone call referred to in the publicity, where a young high school student rings Einstein’s phone number by mistake, and he, who loves kids and their enthusiasm, continues the conversation and invites future contact. We don’t hear much of her again until much later in the book, which is a section I enjoyed very much. He’s old and fading, she and her younger sister (young women now) play the violin (as does he), and often visit and play for him.
The love stories (more than one, he did like the ladies) and the family photographs are excellent, and the naughty (naked ladies!) postcards Elsa used to send him show that he was far more than an eccentric with his mind in the heavens, although it often was.
He was a passionate champion for the Jews, who have been persecuted pretty much everywhere pretty much forever. His opinion was that while almost every land on earth has Jews, who are often successful, they are a relatively small proportion of the population, making them an easy scapegoat for whatever is going wrong. So he was thrilled with the establishment of a homeland in Israel.
There's also quite a bit about his agony over the atom bombs dropped on Japan, since it was his work that made the bombs possible. I'd like to quote his thoughts, (as I usually quote from books), but I hesitate to do so here unless I know it’s a direct quotation from his letters. I don't know how much is poetic, or author's, licence!
If you know very little about the man who changed the world, you’d enjoy this. If you’re already familiar with his story, I don’t think this will add much.
The author died recently, May 2018, and here are a couple of interesting obituaries of another interesting man. I see that he wrote screenplays, and in many ways, I think this tells his story like that. Perhaps that’s why I enjoyed the television series more.
https://canongate.co.uk/news/a-tribut... [from his publisher]
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-ra... [The Guardian]
Thanks to NetGalley and Canongate for the opportunity to read a preview copy. I think it will do a lot to humanise a man who was a real character as well as a genius.
April 3, 2018
Not only am I the first one to review this, I even had to create a listing for it. You'd think the publishers or the author would do that sort of thing, but anyway...this is me doing something for the reading community. Great job, me. Skimming of the description has lead me to believe this was going to be something more whimsical and lachrymose, instead this book turned out to be a pleasant surprise, a somewhat fictionalized biography of Albert Einstein, containing only as much whimsy as its character himself did, which is actually no small amount. Einstein is unquestionably a genius, arguably the most significant one of the last century or two. There hasn’t been a mind like his, but what this book particularly succeeded in depicting is his spirit, a stunningly joyous one considering all the vagaries of fate that he has endured in life. The man has had a difficult personal life, fraught with disappointments and adversities, outlived most of his family, left behind places he loved and so on and yet he seems to have maintained a authentically positive outlook and ability to find pleasure and beauty in the world that has seemingly so often gone out of its way to prove the opposite. Maybe there’s something about a certain level of intelligence that allows a person to perceive that sort of mysterious magnificence of all things that can make one genuinely happy. Personally I always thought that level of joy was a privilege of idiots, but maybe it works on the opposite end of the spectrum also. Anyway…this book is lovely. I don’t get into biographies much and probably because I don’t expect them to be as eminently readable and enjoyable as this book was. The narrative was engaging, entertaining (sure, I knew a lot of the facts, but it was still lovely to revisit old knowledge and add new facts to it) and (loved this, my favorite thing and so infrequently found) as each character was introduced more often than not there’s be an accompanying photo, same went for locations. Einstein himself was a fan of photos, so it was perfectly apt. The book deals to a great extent with Einstein’s professional career and accomplishments, but seems to concentrate on a personal perspective, bringing to light the indomitable spirit, charisma and even funniness of the man. The pacifist record alone, the bravery of taking dangerous stands during dangerous times, leading to be investigated by various agencies in Europe and USA, the firm support of equality and antiracism and women rights…makes for a genuinely admirable morally upright individual. If Einstein didn’t exist, he’d be a terrific fictional character invention. I’d read that book too, albeit it possibly with some degree of incredulity. Maybe it would be as great as this one. Thanks Netgalley.
July 15, 2022
Doar o banală, plictisitoare și mult prea lungă biografie a lui Einstein. Toate aceste informații pot fi găsite cu o simplă căutare pe internet, ba chiar într-o formă mult mai aerisită. Să ai cultură generală nu înseamnă să știi toate adresele lui Einstein, cu cine a făcut sex sau cum arătau hainele sale. Toate astea sunt poleite cu o încercare penibilă de a scrie nonficțiune. Nu poți să treci de la un text atât de plictisitor precum primul la unul care se presupune că ar trebui să șocheze, cum e al doilea.
,,Ocupă un apartament nou în cartierul Smichov, pe strada Trebizskeho, numărul 1215, pe malul stâng al fluviului denumit de germani Moldau - Vlatva, pentru cehi. Face drumul până la serviciu pe jos, în douăzeci de minute.''
,,Ți-ai băgat limba în gura mea. Ți-ai băgat mădularul în găoaza mea. Și cu Ilse faci la fel?''
Cineva are nevoie de litiu...
,,Deoarece credința într-un adevăr unic și în faptul de a fin unicul său posesor constituie cauza primă a tot răului din lume.''
,,[...] aerul respirabil din școală, asemenea celui din societate, este otrăvit de putere, de autoritatea pervertită și de frică - de frică, mai presus de orice.''
,,Uneori, plătești cel mai mult pentru lucrurile pe care le primești gratis.''
,,Ocupă un apartament nou în cartierul Smichov, pe strada Trebizskeho, numărul 1215, pe malul stâng al fluviului denumit de germani Moldau - Vlatva, pentru cehi. Face drumul până la serviciu pe jos, în douăzeci de minute.''
,,Ți-ai băgat limba în gura mea. Ți-ai băgat mădularul în găoaza mea. Și cu Ilse faci la fel?''
Cineva are nevoie de litiu...
,,Deoarece credința într-un adevăr unic și în faptul de a fin unicul său posesor constituie cauza primă a tot răului din lume.''
,,[...] aerul respirabil din școală, asemenea celui din societate, este otrăvit de putere, de autoritatea pervertită și de frică - de frică, mai presus de orice.''
,,Uneori, plătești cel mai mult pentru lucrurile pe care le primești gratis.''
September 8, 2019
Romanul biografic "Alo? Albert Einstein la telefon" debutează cu momentul aniversării de șaptezeci și cinci de ani a marelui savant, care primește de ziua lui un telefon de la o adolescentă de șaptesprezece ani, Mimi Beaufort. Încercând să sune la farmacie, tânăra greșește ultimele două cifre și constată cu surprindere că la celălalt capăt al firului este chiar Albert Einstein, cunoscut în acea perioadă în America mai mult pentru că ar fi inventat bomba atomică (aspect negat de fizician în repetate rânduri) și nu pentru că a fost primul om care a înțeles că „niciun semnal nu poate călători cu o viteză mai mare decât viteza luminii”.
Albert Einstein este unul dintre marile spirite ale umanității și nu doar pentru contribuția sa extraordinară în domeniul fizicii teoretice. Dincolo de puterea lui de înțelegere spectaculoasă care i-a adus celebritatea și i-a asigurat un loc în eternitate, el a fost un pacifist, un fervent susținător al libertății, toleranței și egalității tuturor cetățenilor, indiferent de rasă, etnie sau naționalitate, principii în numele cărora a renunțat de două ori la cetățenia germană, în urma evenimentelor tragice din timpul Războaielor Mondiale.
Vă recomand din suflet romanul lui R. J. Gadney, o biografie ficționalizată, însă bogată în referințe, scrisori și fotografii autentice, prin prisma cărora veți putea înțelege mai bine viața și opera marelui savant.
Albert Einstein este unul dintre marile spirite ale umanității și nu doar pentru contribuția sa extraordinară în domeniul fizicii teoretice. Dincolo de puterea lui de înțelegere spectaculoasă care i-a adus celebritatea și i-a asigurat un loc în eternitate, el a fost un pacifist, un fervent susținător al libertății, toleranței și egalității tuturor cetățenilor, indiferent de rasă, etnie sau naționalitate, principii în numele cărora a renunțat de două ori la cetățenia germană, în urma evenimentelor tragice din timpul Războaielor Mondiale.
Vă recomand din suflet romanul lui R. J. Gadney, o biografie ficționalizată, însă bogată în referințe, scrisori și fotografii autentice, prin prisma cărora veți putea înțelege mai bine viața și opera marelui savant.
June 19, 2018
via my blog: https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com/
'His curiosity constantly gets the best of him.'
I thought I knew quite a bit about Albert Einstein, boy was I wrong. While Albert and Mimi Beaufort impact each other’s lives after she dials a wrong number (or right, according to Einstein), this is far more a story about Einstein’s life from his birth to his death. Born with a misshapen head, according to his mother, it’s funny just how important that ‘head’ one day becomes. Different from the beginning (his parents fearing he may be dumb) Einstein is curious, and it is this curiosity, this rebellious soul that inspires him to be a force in history. While his genius is exciting and inspiring, his personal life saddened me quite a bit. There is a coldness in how he treated his first wife, Mileva and the audacity of a contract seemed like such a cruelty, one that certainly wouldn’t go over well in present day! To have gone from such strong adoration and love for her to this calculated behavior just goes to show you can love the entire world, be kind and curious of people from all walks of life, because he was certainly engaging, and yet have a wreck of a personal life. How much more it must have hurt that he was so beloved and kind, yet to her he was nothing of the sort in the end. Albert was a man of many secrets, a ladies man too! Mileva certainly wasn’t the first heart he pulverized. Before her, there was Marie Winteler who was getting too serious for Albert’s tastes. He knew his life was to be science, that was all that was occupying his mind and it would be unfair to lead dear Marie on (well more than he already had, his flames cool on a whim it seems). So science it is and Mileva, whom he was once enthralled by, recognizing in her a like-minded soul. The devastation in Mileva’s life is that she was on the path of scientist as well, only to be eclipsed by her husband, becoming only Mrs. Einstein. Is it so shocking she became such a ‘drag’ on poor Albert? Maybe because I am a woman I sympathize with what he put her through, rather than feeling sorry for Albert. The beginning of their love is beautiful, in spite of his mother’s disapproval he married Mileva and there is no denying that their passion was once genuine. If she succumbed to jealousy or disappointment that her life lost all possibility (academically, career) while his flourished, how much can we fault a woman who tolerated his cruel side and raised their children. It’s possible too the loss of her first, their secret child, had taken it’s toul on her spirit. One of his son succumbing to severe mental illness, she too was the one handling it all. His eldest son Hans and Albert too were often estranged. It’s known that many great men and women show a different face to their own children, spouses. A shame, a sad thing to learn of a great man. So he was human and flawed. I remember whisperings that Mileva helped him with his proofs which has also been disputed, who knows, she was certainly an intelligent woman by her own right. She remained to mother his children, cast off, as he conquered the world. How could one not feel compassion in her place?
So on to his first cousin Elsa, whose daughter he later has his eye on, tsk tsk old boy! Yes, first cousin, you read that right! Elsa is his chosen one in the end, and their marriage lasted until her death. Too, he was a rascal with professors, or a pain in the…. depends on who you ask. All this womanizing while hobnobbing with the most famous and important people of the times, naturally he was admired by many for his brilliance. His genius cannot be denied, despite his sometimes less than stellar behavior. It is well-known his biggest regret is his involvement in petitioning the atomic bomb, naturally he feared Germany might develop it first, and that guided his decision. Hated by the Nazi’s, renouncing his citizenship and his membership to the Prussian Academy enflames the party. The violence goes against science, is inhumane and undermines everything Einstein stands for. As a Jewish man, naturally he is horrified by the anti-Semitism. That great big head of his, at this point, now has a $5,000 bounty on it, requiring 2 armed officers protecting him. Fearing for the fate of Jewish scientists in Germany, Einstein travels to Chartwell England to visit with Winston Churchill to see what help he can provide. There really isn’t anyone, it seems, that Albert didn’t rub elbows with! His fight is against those that would suppress intellectual and individual freedom, his voice is great and he isn’t one to cower from a fight. His Jewish activism was just as important to him as being a scientific revolutionist.
It’s amazing how much happened during his time, in a century dominated by science, he was at the top. As much a celebrity as those he met, who often were his fan, he was able to fit in just as perfectly with the likes of movie stars as fellow scientists like Marie Curie. He certainly hated racism, as evidenced by his support for Marian Anderson, one of the most celebrated voices of the twentieth century, who knew he was a bit of a civil rights activist? There were fears, he lost friends to suicide, mental illness rising within his own son and certainly there were many dark moments in the life of this great man. He was always fascinating and lived a rich, fuller life than many of us can even imagine. He wasn’t perfect, who knows if this can be attributed to his genius or simply the strange state of all human beings.
While Mimi is a part of the story, the heart of the novel is Einstein and his incredible life, he was certainly such an interesting creation that I don’t think literature could even invent.
Publication Date: June 22, 2018
Canongate Books
'His curiosity constantly gets the best of him.'
I thought I knew quite a bit about Albert Einstein, boy was I wrong. While Albert and Mimi Beaufort impact each other’s lives after she dials a wrong number (or right, according to Einstein), this is far more a story about Einstein’s life from his birth to his death. Born with a misshapen head, according to his mother, it’s funny just how important that ‘head’ one day becomes. Different from the beginning (his parents fearing he may be dumb) Einstein is curious, and it is this curiosity, this rebellious soul that inspires him to be a force in history. While his genius is exciting and inspiring, his personal life saddened me quite a bit. There is a coldness in how he treated his first wife, Mileva and the audacity of a contract seemed like such a cruelty, one that certainly wouldn’t go over well in present day! To have gone from such strong adoration and love for her to this calculated behavior just goes to show you can love the entire world, be kind and curious of people from all walks of life, because he was certainly engaging, and yet have a wreck of a personal life. How much more it must have hurt that he was so beloved and kind, yet to her he was nothing of the sort in the end. Albert was a man of many secrets, a ladies man too! Mileva certainly wasn’t the first heart he pulverized. Before her, there was Marie Winteler who was getting too serious for Albert’s tastes. He knew his life was to be science, that was all that was occupying his mind and it would be unfair to lead dear Marie on (well more than he already had, his flames cool on a whim it seems). So science it is and Mileva, whom he was once enthralled by, recognizing in her a like-minded soul. The devastation in Mileva’s life is that she was on the path of scientist as well, only to be eclipsed by her husband, becoming only Mrs. Einstein. Is it so shocking she became such a ‘drag’ on poor Albert? Maybe because I am a woman I sympathize with what he put her through, rather than feeling sorry for Albert. The beginning of their love is beautiful, in spite of his mother’s disapproval he married Mileva and there is no denying that their passion was once genuine. If she succumbed to jealousy or disappointment that her life lost all possibility (academically, career) while his flourished, how much can we fault a woman who tolerated his cruel side and raised their children. It’s possible too the loss of her first, their secret child, had taken it’s toul on her spirit. One of his son succumbing to severe mental illness, she too was the one handling it all. His eldest son Hans and Albert too were often estranged. It’s known that many great men and women show a different face to their own children, spouses. A shame, a sad thing to learn of a great man. So he was human and flawed. I remember whisperings that Mileva helped him with his proofs which has also been disputed, who knows, she was certainly an intelligent woman by her own right. She remained to mother his children, cast off, as he conquered the world. How could one not feel compassion in her place?
So on to his first cousin Elsa, whose daughter he later has his eye on, tsk tsk old boy! Yes, first cousin, you read that right! Elsa is his chosen one in the end, and their marriage lasted until her death. Too, he was a rascal with professors, or a pain in the…. depends on who you ask. All this womanizing while hobnobbing with the most famous and important people of the times, naturally he was admired by many for his brilliance. His genius cannot be denied, despite his sometimes less than stellar behavior. It is well-known his biggest regret is his involvement in petitioning the atomic bomb, naturally he feared Germany might develop it first, and that guided his decision. Hated by the Nazi’s, renouncing his citizenship and his membership to the Prussian Academy enflames the party. The violence goes against science, is inhumane and undermines everything Einstein stands for. As a Jewish man, naturally he is horrified by the anti-Semitism. That great big head of his, at this point, now has a $5,000 bounty on it, requiring 2 armed officers protecting him. Fearing for the fate of Jewish scientists in Germany, Einstein travels to Chartwell England to visit with Winston Churchill to see what help he can provide. There really isn’t anyone, it seems, that Albert didn’t rub elbows with! His fight is against those that would suppress intellectual and individual freedom, his voice is great and he isn’t one to cower from a fight. His Jewish activism was just as important to him as being a scientific revolutionist.
It’s amazing how much happened during his time, in a century dominated by science, he was at the top. As much a celebrity as those he met, who often were his fan, he was able to fit in just as perfectly with the likes of movie stars as fellow scientists like Marie Curie. He certainly hated racism, as evidenced by his support for Marian Anderson, one of the most celebrated voices of the twentieth century, who knew he was a bit of a civil rights activist? There were fears, he lost friends to suicide, mental illness rising within his own son and certainly there were many dark moments in the life of this great man. He was always fascinating and lived a rich, fuller life than many of us can even imagine. He wasn’t perfect, who knows if this can be attributed to his genius or simply the strange state of all human beings.
While Mimi is a part of the story, the heart of the novel is Einstein and his incredible life, he was certainly such an interesting creation that I don’t think literature could even invent.
Publication Date: June 22, 2018
Canongate Books
July 7, 2018
I found this book very puzzling. I'm not keen on fictionalised biographies but it seemed intriguing to start with - sadly, that effect dwindled rapidly. The writing style began as quite engaging but the dialogue, short paragraphs and disjointed time line became irritating. It appears that the author was a screenwriter and it could certainly be visualised as a film. He had clearly done a good deal of research but I didn't feel that Einstein was brought to life as more than a caricature and I didn't understand the author's intention at all.
(Thanks to Canongate and Netgalley for an ARC.)
(Thanks to Canongate and Netgalley for an ARC.)
September 24, 2018
Confusing premise, but an interesting history of one of the world's most famous figures.
I started this thinking it would be a book about Einstein and a young woman he befriended in his later years. Not only did the phone call from Mimi Beaufort, showed to us in the first chapter, but it then didn't return to the story until the very end.
The rest is a biography of Einstein, from adolescence to his death. I found the style rather strange and irksome - it isn't in true chronological order, it moves back and forth within general time periods, and it is just straight fact and figure, there are no authorial comments or asides, no humour or retrospective reflections.
I couldn't follow the explanations of Einstein's science, and though I quite liked the dialogue and conversations, I wasn't sure what was real and what was fictionalised. The phone call that Einstein accidentally receives comes at the end out of the blue, and I wasn't sure why, looking back, it was part of the writing - this seems like a biography with the Mimi storyline added on, it didn't play a role in the rest of the book.
It did include a lot of photographs of Einstein, his family and colleagues. I did learn a fair amount that surprised me (Einstein was offered a role as the President of the newly-formed Israel).
Recently having seen the Geoffrey Rush series on Einstein, and having read 'The Other Einstein' about his first wife, some of this felt familiar, and it did add to my knowledge of the man and his life. I just didn't really take to the style, format or fictionalised elements.
I started this thinking it would be a book about Einstein and a young woman he befriended in his later years. Not only did the phone call from Mimi Beaufort, showed to us in the first chapter, but it then didn't return to the story until the very end.
The rest is a biography of Einstein, from adolescence to his death. I found the style rather strange and irksome - it isn't in true chronological order, it moves back and forth within general time periods, and it is just straight fact and figure, there are no authorial comments or asides, no humour or retrospective reflections.
I couldn't follow the explanations of Einstein's science, and though I quite liked the dialogue and conversations, I wasn't sure what was real and what was fictionalised. The phone call that Einstein accidentally receives comes at the end out of the blue, and I wasn't sure why, looking back, it was part of the writing - this seems like a biography with the Mimi storyline added on, it didn't play a role in the rest of the book.
It did include a lot of photographs of Einstein, his family and colleagues. I did learn a fair amount that surprised me (Einstein was offered a role as the President of the newly-formed Israel).
Recently having seen the Geoffrey Rush series on Einstein, and having read 'The Other Einstein' about his first wife, some of this felt familiar, and it did add to my knowledge of the man and his life. I just didn't really take to the style, format or fictionalised elements.
June 19, 2018
You know how it is when you awake in the morning with the book you are reading fresh in your mind? With this satisfying book, I felt I had just become immersed in a movie. Perhaps this is because the late R. J. Gadney was also an acclaimed screenplay writer, or maybe because as a well-known artist he was adept at painting a portrait, but this is precisely what this simple present tense account, much of it fictional achieves. Of course, where you are told the book is partly fictitious it has you reaching for Wikipedia but in the end, you come away knowing more of the man, his pacifism and the era, enriched by the subject's playful sense of humour, appalled by the treatment meted out to the Jewish race and taken back to an altogether more scary time, (perhaps even more so than our own times) with Einstein plagued by the memory that he had given the nod and a wink to the Atomic Bomb. The author died a few days before the book's official release but notwithstanding one has to admire the effort and the prodigious research put into its creation. I much enjoyed this book and felt to learn a lot.
April 8, 2020
O scurta si interesanta incursiune in viata si opera lui Einstein, pornind de la primii ani pe care acesta si-i aminteste si incheiand cu experienta fictionala a ultimei prietenii legate cu surorile Beaufort.
Am descoperit citind modestia savantului, perseverenta acestuia in fata celor care nu au avut incredere in el (inclusiv mama sa), am cunoscut tandretea lui de parinte si prieten, persecutarea datorita originii evreiesti care l-a urmarit pe toata durata carierei lui si stigmatul cu care a trait fiind considerat autorul moral, si nu numai, al bombei atomice.
Pe alocuri greu de urmarit datorita multitudinii peronalitatilor cu care intra in contact, este totusi o prezentare succinta a vietii si activitatii lui, poate putin mai detaliata decat o pagina de wikipedia.
Am descoperit citind modestia savantului, perseverenta acestuia in fata celor care nu au avut incredere in el (inclusiv mama sa), am cunoscut tandretea lui de parinte si prieten, persecutarea datorita originii evreiesti care l-a urmarit pe toata durata carierei lui si stigmatul cu care a trait fiind considerat autorul moral, si nu numai, al bombei atomice.
Pe alocuri greu de urmarit datorita multitudinii peronalitatilor cu care intra in contact, este totusi o prezentare succinta a vietii si activitatii lui, poate putin mai detaliata decat o pagina de wikipedia.
September 3, 2022
Aproape nu am putut sa termin cartea. Ceea ce m-a ținut până la sfârșit a fost dorința de a vedea încheiată povestea vieții lui Albert.
Autorul/autoarea nu se poate decide în modul de abordare a poveștii lui Albert: istoric? romantizat? Trece de la relațiile personale la viziunea politică, de la succesul in fizică la persecutarea lui ca evreu fără o continuitate naturală și captivantă.
Povestea lui Albert Einstein merită citită, dar probabil din altă carte sau poate Wikipedia - ar fi mai ușor de urmărit.
Autorul/autoarea nu se poate decide în modul de abordare a poveștii lui Albert: istoric? romantizat? Trece de la relațiile personale la viziunea politică, de la succesul in fizică la persecutarea lui ca evreu fără o continuitate naturală și captivantă.
Povestea lui Albert Einstein merită citită, dar probabil din altă carte sau poate Wikipedia - ar fi mai ușor de urmărit.
July 11, 2019
I thought this was going to be biographical fiction but it turns out to be pretty straight biography, told in small snippets. I am interested in Einstein so that was okay.
May 30, 2018
2.5 stars Another quick read, but I'm not 100% sure what this book could be categorized as? I thought it fiction when I requested it, and in the beginning it appeared that it would be, especially how the wrong number phone call to Albert Einstein was written. What followed this was a very dry, chronological summary of some of the Einstein's life events, instead of the continuation of what first appeared as a quirky quick story about Einstein.
At first it wasn't bad, it seemed heartwarming in many places, but then....I don't know? Is this non-fiction? An imagined non-fiction based story? It's odd, it's very dry and very straightforward, and while a short and quick read, a confusing one for me as to what genre I was reading, or really, the purpose of this story/book.
At first it wasn't bad, it seemed heartwarming in many places, but then....I don't know? Is this non-fiction? An imagined non-fiction based story? It's odd, it's very dry and very straightforward, and while a short and quick read, a confusing one for me as to what genre I was reading, or really, the purpose of this story/book.
November 18, 2019
Presupun că deja nu mai există prea mulți locuitori ai acestei planete care să nu fi auzit de Albert Einstein. Numele lui este mai vestit decât al multor președinți sau personalități politice ale diverselor națiuni și este echivalentul noțiunii de savant. Ce anume a fost atât de importat pentru societatea umană astfel încât să aibă un asemenea impact la nivel mondial? Numele său este legat în primul rând de teoria relativității, dar și de construirea bombelor atomice americane, la sfârșitul celui de-Al Doilea Război Mondial.
R.J. Gadney și-a propus, prin intermediul acestui roman – "Alo! Albert Einstein la telefon", să îl aducă mai aproape de oameni pe cel care a fost Albert Einstein, nu doar savantul, ci omul.
Stilul autorului este lipsit de înflorituri, curgând mai degrabă într-un stil jurnalistic decât romanesc. Dialogurile sunt folosite strict pentru umanizarea și redarea personajelor. El inserează în text diferite citate care îi aparțin autorului, piese de corespondență, fotografii și multe alte date care îi conferă textului autenticitate, acele elemente biografice clasice.
Avem ocazia să descoperim viața intimă a savantului, cele două căsătorii ale sale – cea cu Mileva Maric și cea cu verișoara sa Elsa Einstein, cei trei copii: Lieserl, Hans Albert și Eduard, dar și colaboratori de-ai săi, bărbați și femei cu care, de-a lungul timpului, a fost asociat.
Articolul complet, aici: https://www.delicateseliterare.ro/alo...
R.J. Gadney și-a propus, prin intermediul acestui roman – "Alo! Albert Einstein la telefon", să îl aducă mai aproape de oameni pe cel care a fost Albert Einstein, nu doar savantul, ci omul.
Stilul autorului este lipsit de înflorituri, curgând mai degrabă într-un stil jurnalistic decât romanesc. Dialogurile sunt folosite strict pentru umanizarea și redarea personajelor. El inserează în text diferite citate care îi aparțin autorului, piese de corespondență, fotografii și multe alte date care îi conferă textului autenticitate, acele elemente biografice clasice.
Avem ocazia să descoperim viața intimă a savantului, cele două căsătorii ale sale – cea cu Mileva Maric și cea cu verișoara sa Elsa Einstein, cei trei copii: Lieserl, Hans Albert și Eduard, dar și colaboratori de-ai săi, bărbați și femei cu care, de-a lungul timpului, a fost asociat.
Articolul complet, aici: https://www.delicateseliterare.ro/alo...
April 13, 2018
//Netgalley ARC provided by The Publisher in exchange for an honest review//
I'm giving this book 2 stars merely because I believe the idea of it is really good. It is always nice to catch books humanizing some of the greatest figures in history. For me personally, Albert Einstein is even a better subject than most, I know and partially understand his professional achievements but honestly, I do not know much about his personal life beyond the very public facts. That is why I picked this book, Einstein is a great subject for a book. Also, some passages of this manuscript are quite endearing I have to say.
Now, let's cut to the chase. This book is fundamentally (at least that is what I hope) unfinished. It looks more like a set of key points for a dozen of different essays yet to turn in, that it does a book. It is messy and confusing and incomplete. The writing looks like a draft. Some portions of it are OK, you could even say they are enjoyable, but some other chapters are barely there.
The all thing is quite annoying. I had fine hopes for this book. I was disappointed and I would not recommend it to anyone looking for anything to do with Albert Einstein. Yet, in all honesty, and not just to put a positive spin on a not so positive review, I feel like there is real potential here. It just needs to be researched further, rewritten and fixed. Which seems like a pretty daunting task, but that is my honest opinion on it.
I'm giving this book 2 stars merely because I believe the idea of it is really good. It is always nice to catch books humanizing some of the greatest figures in history. For me personally, Albert Einstein is even a better subject than most, I know and partially understand his professional achievements but honestly, I do not know much about his personal life beyond the very public facts. That is why I picked this book, Einstein is a great subject for a book. Also, some passages of this manuscript are quite endearing I have to say.
Now, let's cut to the chase. This book is fundamentally (at least that is what I hope) unfinished. It looks more like a set of key points for a dozen of different essays yet to turn in, that it does a book. It is messy and confusing and incomplete. The writing looks like a draft. Some portions of it are OK, you could even say they are enjoyable, but some other chapters are barely there.
The all thing is quite annoying. I had fine hopes for this book. I was disappointed and I would not recommend it to anyone looking for anything to do with Albert Einstein. Yet, in all honesty, and not just to put a positive spin on a not so positive review, I feel like there is real potential here. It just needs to be researched further, rewritten and fixed. Which seems like a pretty daunting task, but that is my honest opinion on it.
September 6, 2021
La vita di Einstein è sicuramente rocambolesca, ricca di eventi ed estremamente interessante. Il racconto della chiamata ricevuta per caso dal fisico, dalla quale è emersa una sorta di strana amicizia tra quest'ultimo e la liceale autrice della telefonata, è affascinante e degna di un romantico romanzo moderno (nonostante qui la componente romantica non sia presente).
Purtroppo il racconto di questa amicizia non viene usato per accompagnare il lettore nella vita di Einstein, bensì solo per introdurre e chiudere il racconto.
La biografia è completa, ma la narrazione non mi convince. Lo stile è piatto e, se non fosse per gli eventi della vita del fisico, credo mi avrebbe annoiato.
Inoltre durante la lettura mi sono accorto come alcune citazioni di Einstein vengano riprodotte identiche in diversi punti del libro, discutendo con persone diverse in diversi momenti della sua vita. Credo che l'autore abbiano mischiato le citazioni nei suoi appunti, e che il refuso gli sia poi scappato in fase di revisione.
Nel complesso, considerata anche la lunghezza del libro e l'agilità del tema, ne consiglio la lettura.
Purtroppo il racconto di questa amicizia non viene usato per accompagnare il lettore nella vita di Einstein, bensì solo per introdurre e chiudere il racconto.
La biografia è completa, ma la narrazione non mi convince. Lo stile è piatto e, se non fosse per gli eventi della vita del fisico, credo mi avrebbe annoiato.
Inoltre durante la lettura mi sono accorto come alcune citazioni di Einstein vengano riprodotte identiche in diversi punti del libro, discutendo con persone diverse in diversi momenti della sua vita. Credo che l'autore abbiano mischiato le citazioni nei suoi appunti, e che il refuso gli sia poi scappato in fase di revisione.
Nel complesso, considerata anche la lunghezza del libro e l'agilità del tema, ne consiglio la lettura.
June 22, 2018
I’m not certain what this book is. It is described as a novel, a work of fiction, but it seems to be a biography of Albert Einstein. It even has actual photos included! The only fictional element seems to be Mimi Beaufort, a 17-year-old girl who accidentally dials Einstein’s phone number.
The book opens promisingly. Mimi misdials and ends up reaching Einstein on the day of his 75th birthday. They chat very briefly and end with promises to talk again. The first chapter even has touches of humour: Einstein tells his secretary, “’When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute and it’s longer than any hour. That’s relativity.’” This beginning suggests I can expect to read what the publisher described: “From their first conversation Mimi Beaufort had a profound effect on Einstein and brought him, in his final years, back to life. In turn he let her into his world.” A “riotous, charming and moving novel” is promised, but what the reader gets is a poorly-written biography of the famous scientist. The reader has to plow through 75% of the book before Mimi actually shows up again! And since Mimi supposedly speaks to Einstein on March 14, 1954, and Einstein died 13 months later, on April 17, 1955, how can Mimi have had a profound influence on his final years?
Even if this were a biography, it has so many unnecessary details. When Albert moves, we are told, “The three-room apartment is at Wittelsbacherstraße 13 in a well-to-do neighbourhood near Fehrbelliner Platz. He has a telephone number, Berlin 2807.” When Albert takes trips on the lake in Zürich, the reader gets the ships provenance: “The family takes trips on the paddle-steamer Stadt Rapperswil, built by Escher, Wyss & C. for the Zürich-Schifffahrtsgesellchaft.” When Einstein encounters any fellow scientist, that person’s accomplishments are enumerated: “Lorentz shared the 1902 Nobel Prize with his fellow Dutchman Pieter Zeeman for the discovery of the Zeeman effect: ‘in recognition of the extraordinary service they rendered by their researches into the influence of magnetism upon radiation phenomena’.” We are informed that Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated with a “blowback-operated, semi-automatic FN Model 1910 Browning pistol, manufactured by Fabrique Nationale in Belgium.” This is essential information in a biography of Einstein? We are given the list of Albert and Elsa’s shopping: “red cabbage, goat fat and kippered herring. Bottles of essence of lily of the valley.” Then there are geography lessons: “Albert lectures in Sendal, northeast of Tokyo on Honshu island; in Nikko, in the mountains north of Tokyo; in Nagoya, in the Chūbu region; in Kyoto, and in Fukuoka on the northern shore of Japan’s Kyushu island.” And do we really need to know that Elsa rummages in her handbag “for her phials of aromatic perfumes: Aventure, with its notes of cedar wood, amber and pink pepper, Linde Berlin, which evokes Berlin’s famously fragrant linden trees, and Violet, based on a perfume created for Marlene Dietrich” ? This type of extraneous detail is found throughout and to say it becomes tedious is an understatement.
The style is very disjointed. Sentences are strung together without connection: “The 16,500-ton Red Star Line’s SS Westernland sails from Antwerp with Elsa and Helen Dukas aboard. An unmarked police car deposits Albert on the Southampton quayside . . . ” Try to make sense of these consecutive sentences: “In the summer they take a holiday on Saranac Lake in the Adirondack Mountains. The doctor administers morphine. Else tries to knit a scarf.” And then there is needless repetition. The information that “Mimi and Isabella might dream of studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Unfortunately there are insufficient funds to enable them to do so” is followed by “They’ve learned that there are no funds available to meet the Royal Academy of Music’s tuition fees, travel and accommodation expenses.”
At times, things that are mentioned make no sense. Einstein suffers from “violent diarrhoea” but is told to drink water and to exercise “to stimulate his bowel movements”? The passage of time is not clearly delineated so confusion results. For example, the reader is told that “Mileva suffers a nervous breakdown and is confined in the Zürich Theodosianum Parkseite Klinik.” Three sentences later, we are told that “Mileva and Tete are confined in the Bethanien Klinik in Zürich – Mileva with chronic nerve pressure on her spine.”
As I stated at the beginning, I’m not certain what this book is trying to be. In actuality it seems like an unrevised rough draft. According to promotional material for the book, Ian McEwan has stated that R. J. Gadney, “has conjured, with an accomplished novelist's art, a strange and luminous fiction, a literary gem.” I’m a great admirer of Ian McEwan’s writing, but he and I definitely disagree about the quality of this book.
Note: I received a digital galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.
Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski).
The book opens promisingly. Mimi misdials and ends up reaching Einstein on the day of his 75th birthday. They chat very briefly and end with promises to talk again. The first chapter even has touches of humour: Einstein tells his secretary, “’When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute and it’s longer than any hour. That’s relativity.’” This beginning suggests I can expect to read what the publisher described: “From their first conversation Mimi Beaufort had a profound effect on Einstein and brought him, in his final years, back to life. In turn he let her into his world.” A “riotous, charming and moving novel” is promised, but what the reader gets is a poorly-written biography of the famous scientist. The reader has to plow through 75% of the book before Mimi actually shows up again! And since Mimi supposedly speaks to Einstein on March 14, 1954, and Einstein died 13 months later, on April 17, 1955, how can Mimi have had a profound influence on his final years?
Even if this were a biography, it has so many unnecessary details. When Albert moves, we are told, “The three-room apartment is at Wittelsbacherstraße 13 in a well-to-do neighbourhood near Fehrbelliner Platz. He has a telephone number, Berlin 2807.” When Albert takes trips on the lake in Zürich, the reader gets the ships provenance: “The family takes trips on the paddle-steamer Stadt Rapperswil, built by Escher, Wyss & C. for the Zürich-Schifffahrtsgesellchaft.” When Einstein encounters any fellow scientist, that person’s accomplishments are enumerated: “Lorentz shared the 1902 Nobel Prize with his fellow Dutchman Pieter Zeeman for the discovery of the Zeeman effect: ‘in recognition of the extraordinary service they rendered by their researches into the influence of magnetism upon radiation phenomena’.” We are informed that Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated with a “blowback-operated, semi-automatic FN Model 1910 Browning pistol, manufactured by Fabrique Nationale in Belgium.” This is essential information in a biography of Einstein? We are given the list of Albert and Elsa’s shopping: “red cabbage, goat fat and kippered herring. Bottles of essence of lily of the valley.” Then there are geography lessons: “Albert lectures in Sendal, northeast of Tokyo on Honshu island; in Nikko, in the mountains north of Tokyo; in Nagoya, in the Chūbu region; in Kyoto, and in Fukuoka on the northern shore of Japan’s Kyushu island.” And do we really need to know that Elsa rummages in her handbag “for her phials of aromatic perfumes: Aventure, with its notes of cedar wood, amber and pink pepper, Linde Berlin, which evokes Berlin’s famously fragrant linden trees, and Violet, based on a perfume created for Marlene Dietrich” ? This type of extraneous detail is found throughout and to say it becomes tedious is an understatement.
The style is very disjointed. Sentences are strung together without connection: “The 16,500-ton Red Star Line’s SS Westernland sails from Antwerp with Elsa and Helen Dukas aboard. An unmarked police car deposits Albert on the Southampton quayside . . . ” Try to make sense of these consecutive sentences: “In the summer they take a holiday on Saranac Lake in the Adirondack Mountains. The doctor administers morphine. Else tries to knit a scarf.” And then there is needless repetition. The information that “Mimi and Isabella might dream of studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Unfortunately there are insufficient funds to enable them to do so” is followed by “They’ve learned that there are no funds available to meet the Royal Academy of Music’s tuition fees, travel and accommodation expenses.”
At times, things that are mentioned make no sense. Einstein suffers from “violent diarrhoea” but is told to drink water and to exercise “to stimulate his bowel movements”? The passage of time is not clearly delineated so confusion results. For example, the reader is told that “Mileva suffers a nervous breakdown and is confined in the Zürich Theodosianum Parkseite Klinik.” Three sentences later, we are told that “Mileva and Tete are confined in the Bethanien Klinik in Zürich – Mileva with chronic nerve pressure on her spine.”
As I stated at the beginning, I’m not certain what this book is trying to be. In actuality it seems like an unrevised rough draft. According to promotional material for the book, Ian McEwan has stated that R. J. Gadney, “has conjured, with an accomplished novelist's art, a strange and luminous fiction, a literary gem.” I’m a great admirer of Ian McEwan’s writing, but he and I definitely disagree about the quality of this book.
Note: I received a digital galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.
Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski).
April 9, 2018
I LOVED THIS.
A face and theory we all know, but what do we really know of his person? Read this book.
A face and theory we all know, but what do we really know of his person? Read this book.
September 14, 2018
Extraordinary
A gentle and penetrating insight into the meaning and implications of the purity of genius in an impure and confused world.
A gentle and penetrating insight into the meaning and implications of the purity of genius in an impure and confused world.
August 2, 2021
RJ Gadney made this a romp of a read, and vividly evoked the 30 years to the 1920s, when Europe was home to a glittering array of scientists, artists, intellectuals, musicians, and powerful people. But the forces of anti-Semitism were there too, and the pace of mounting terror builds with the rise of the Nazi Party until I wanted to scream at a crazily brave Einstein to flee, get out before it was too late. Even though I knew he did, of course.
May 30, 2020
Nu citesc in general descrierea unei carti, este suficient pt mine titlul si coperta.
Aceasta biografie a fost neasteptat de placuta.
Documentarea pentru aceste randuri, pentru aceasta poveste au fost la cel mai in alt standard.
Istorie, fizica, mathematica, poveste de dragoste si realism un asemenea bunchet din tot si toate.
Aceasta biografie a fost neasteptat de placuta.
Documentarea pentru aceste randuri, pentru aceasta poveste au fost la cel mai in alt standard.
Istorie, fizica, mathematica, poveste de dragoste si realism un asemenea bunchet din tot si toate.
June 7, 2018
The brilliant last book by my dear friend Reg Gadney, who died very recently - just a few days before this book came out. It's a memoir of Einstein in fictional form and an extraordinary feat. I don't know how Reg assembled all the detail that makes it ring so true - or how he understood the Theory of Relativity... and now I'll never get to ask him either of those questions, which makes me very sad. But I'm also happy how lucky I was to know such an extraordinary man.
June 3, 2021
A proposta do livro é um pouco confusa pois ao mesmo tempo que se mostra uma biografia séria mescla com romantização, tornando-o um pouco mais leve mas ainda assim travando a leitura em muitas partes por se ater a datas e acontecimentos políticos. As curiosidades apresentadas são incríveis, o lado religioso pesa bastante pela questão dele ser judeu e a Alemanha odiá-los gratuitamente; Einstein foi um cara único, simples, um senão O cientista mais importante de todos os tempos e com uma humildade fora do comum.
Fica claro que ele não teve nada com a bomba atômica e abominava aquilo, sofreu muito por ser pacifista no início da carreira e até um pouco antes de morrer foi perseguido.
O final do livro é a coisa mais linda que recompensa tudo.
Resenha no blog
Fica claro que ele não teve nada com a bomba atômica e abominava aquilo, sofreu muito por ser pacifista no início da carreira e até um pouco antes de morrer foi perseguido.
O final do livro é a coisa mais linda que recompensa tudo.
Resenha no blog
September 23, 2019
Fara nici un pic de umor, fara a fi o ,,nestemata literara” (cine e Ian McEwan?), cartea este un talmes-balmes de informatii despre viata privata, despre conceptiile lui Einstein si despre contextul istoric in care a trait. La final, nu stiu ce sa cred si ce nu: ce e fictiune si ce nu e?
Nici macar nu supprta comparatie cu cartea lui Feynman.
Doua stele cu muuulta indulgenta.
*****
Faptul ca intoarcem pe toate fetele niste lucruri care ne deprima sau ne supara nu ne ajuta sa le depasim. Trebuie sa le punem capac noi singuri.
Barbatii le iau in casatorie pe femei, sperand ca nu se vor schimba niciodata. Femeile se marita cu barbatii, sperand ca se vor schimba. In mod invariabil, si unii, si altele ajung sa fie dezamagiti.
Eu unul nu inteleg reactia pasiva a intregii lumi civilizate fata de aceasta barbarie moderna. Oare lumea nu pricepe ca tinta lui Hitler e razboiul?
Magia inseamna sa crezi in tine insuti; daca poti face asta, poti face orice altceva.
Nici macar nu supprta comparatie cu cartea lui Feynman.
Doua stele cu muuulta indulgenta.
*****
Faptul ca intoarcem pe toate fetele niste lucruri care ne deprima sau ne supara nu ne ajuta sa le depasim. Trebuie sa le punem capac noi singuri.
Barbatii le iau in casatorie pe femei, sperand ca nu se vor schimba niciodata. Femeile se marita cu barbatii, sperand ca se vor schimba. In mod invariabil, si unii, si altele ajung sa fie dezamagiti.
Eu unul nu inteleg reactia pasiva a intregii lumi civilizate fata de aceasta barbarie moderna. Oare lumea nu pricepe ca tinta lui Hitler e razboiul?
Magia inseamna sa crezi in tine insuti; daca poti face asta, poti face orice altceva.
October 24, 2019
R.J. Gadney nu a încercat prea mult să-și ascundă adevărata intenție, aceea de a încerca să scrie încă o biografie a lui Albert Einsten. El se folosește o domnișoară inventată, care îl sună din greșeală pe bătrânul geniu, pentru a povesti viața acestuia, iar din cartea de ficțiune pe care o așteptam nu iese mare lucru, pentru că totul e ocupat de descrieri (corecte, dar cu goluri inexplicabile) ale traseului vieții și operei lui Einstein. Un ton puternic documentarist, care îi poate răsplăti pe cei care nu știu mare lucru din peregrinările prin lume ale lui Albert.
Măcar romanul se salvează parțial cu numeroasele imagini, multe din ele inedite.
Măcar romanul se salvează parțial cu numeroasele imagini, multe din ele inedite.
January 9, 2022
Tutto quello che aveste voluto sapere su Albert Einstein ...
August 12, 2018
Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
As a an admirer (& student) of science, I was immediately drawn in by the title of this book. Albert Einstein is one of the greatest names of our century synonymous with science and progress. More importantly, as demonstrated by this book, it is a name that should be synonymous with bravery and loyalty in the face of brutal radicalism.
In all honesty, I went into this book expecting a short piece of fictitious writing and the sentiment prevailed in the beginning. However, it became abundantly clear in a few pages that this book is in fact a nearly year by year account of the significant events in the life of Dr.Einstein that fashioned him into the man that the world has come to know as well as the ways in which he shaped the modern world around him.
The things I enjoyed about the writing were that it was matter of fact and presented things in short paragraphs. I am not a person who delves into non-fiction often so I found the short-paced recounts tolerable and something I could keep up with. Although at the same time this writing style undertakes the risk of presenting itself as a work in process and is in need of refinement. The accounts of personal history which were at first endearing, later on seemed to be dragging, contributed to in part by the consistent use of the original names of places and people I had no clue how to pronounce (and thus no idea who they were). Perhaps a few footnotes could've been provided to overcome this problem for readers not entirely familiar with German vocabulary and pronunciation. The dedication to authenticity is however remarkable.
The marvelous thing for me when reading this book was how many new things I learned. I've known who Albert Einstein was since a young age (greatest scientist of our age and so on) and heard so many things about him that I never truly felt that I did not know everything there was to know. This book made me realise just how easily we de-humanize our idols and forget that they are people with everyday lives, making mistakes just like us; suffering, just like us.
Did you know Einstein's interest in physics was inspired by a compass? Did you know Einstein had a life full of family problems? Did you know he was wildly persecuted as a Jew by extremists? Did you know he was an adamant supporter of womens' rights and shunned racism? Did you know he enjoyed playing the violin? Did you know he was offered the presidency of Israel? Did you know he was devastated by his involvement in the creation of the First Atomic Bomb but deemed his action a necessity at the time?
Even though I had hoped to be reading something quirky, which the writing is at times, I believe the blurb distracts from the true material of the book. Then again, it sounds better than "this is a semi-detailed account of the life of Albert Einstein which is dry in some parts but picks up a good pace towards the end and might turn out to be quite informative." It took me a while to get through this book (hence the low rating) but I would likely recommend it if somebody's looking to read up on Albert Einstein as a person, without the arduous task of scrolling through copious Google and Wikipedia links. The charming parts help make up for the bits that might slow you down.
As a an admirer (& student) of science, I was immediately drawn in by the title of this book. Albert Einstein is one of the greatest names of our century synonymous with science and progress. More importantly, as demonstrated by this book, it is a name that should be synonymous with bravery and loyalty in the face of brutal radicalism.
In all honesty, I went into this book expecting a short piece of fictitious writing and the sentiment prevailed in the beginning. However, it became abundantly clear in a few pages that this book is in fact a nearly year by year account of the significant events in the life of Dr.Einstein that fashioned him into the man that the world has come to know as well as the ways in which he shaped the modern world around him.
The things I enjoyed about the writing were that it was matter of fact and presented things in short paragraphs. I am not a person who delves into non-fiction often so I found the short-paced recounts tolerable and something I could keep up with. Although at the same time this writing style undertakes the risk of presenting itself as a work in process and is in need of refinement. The accounts of personal history which were at first endearing, later on seemed to be dragging, contributed to in part by the consistent use of the original names of places and people I had no clue how to pronounce (and thus no idea who they were). Perhaps a few footnotes could've been provided to overcome this problem for readers not entirely familiar with German vocabulary and pronunciation. The dedication to authenticity is however remarkable.
The marvelous thing for me when reading this book was how many new things I learned. I've known who Albert Einstein was since a young age (greatest scientist of our age and so on) and heard so many things about him that I never truly felt that I did not know everything there was to know. This book made me realise just how easily we de-humanize our idols and forget that they are people with everyday lives, making mistakes just like us; suffering, just like us.
Did you know Einstein's interest in physics was inspired by a compass? Did you know Einstein had a life full of family problems? Did you know he was wildly persecuted as a Jew by extremists? Did you know he was an adamant supporter of womens' rights and shunned racism? Did you know he enjoyed playing the violin? Did you know he was offered the presidency of Israel? Did you know he was devastated by his involvement in the creation of the First Atomic Bomb but deemed his action a necessity at the time?
Even though I had hoped to be reading something quirky, which the writing is at times, I believe the blurb distracts from the true material of the book. Then again, it sounds better than "this is a semi-detailed account of the life of Albert Einstein which is dry in some parts but picks up a good pace towards the end and might turn out to be quite informative." It took me a while to get through this book (hence the low rating) but I would likely recommend it if somebody's looking to read up on Albert Einstein as a person, without the arduous task of scrolling through copious Google and Wikipedia links. The charming parts help make up for the bits that might slow you down.
March 5, 2019
“It’s an honour to find such tenderness unfolding, such purity of beauty and truth. Such qualities are indestructible.”
This review contains details of Albert Einstein’s life that might be considered spoilers. Proceed with caution.
Albert Einstein Speaking begins with an accidental phone call. A young woman named Mimi Beaufort connects with the seventy-five-year-old physicist when she misdials a telephone number. Albert Einstein is immediately captivated by her youthful, friendly voice and asks his personal secretary to track down her phone number in Connecticut. The story then flashes back to Einstein’s own mother and father in Ulm, in southwest Germany, and to Albert’s birth on March 15th, 1879. They marvel over the size of baby Einstein’s head, fearing he might have a disability. The doctor reassures them that Albert will be of normal intelligence. Next comes the birth of Einstein’s younger sister, Maja. “A new toy for me, a new toy for me,” young Albert exclaims. As a child, Einstein is slow to speak and when he does he repeats everything twice.
“Curious. Curious. I don’t want a child who is curious. I want a child who’s normal.”
The reader is treated to descriptions of Einstein as a child. How he isolates himself and spends a lot of time with his own thoughts. He builds houses made out of cards and strolls through the neighbourhood observing things. Though he has a great thirst for knowledge, he does not enjoy school, seeing it as a distraction from more worthwhile pursuits like thinking. He is taught algebra by his uncle Jakob and shows a particular affinity towards it.
“Anyone who doesn’t take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either.”
Albert gets his first taste of anti-Semitism as a child when a teacher shows his students a nail and solemnly tells them that the Jews nailed Jesus to a cross. Einstein distracts himself by working on theorems at home. He devours books on every subject from natural history to force and matter. When Albert’s father’s business again fails, the family moves to Milan, and Einstein is sent to a boarding house. His parents hope that he will go to university to become an electrical engineer. Albert has other ideas about what he would like to study.
“Anyone who’s never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
During school, Einstein battles with depression and “confesses he’s suffering from a serious nervous malaise.” When a teacher tells Albert to leave school, because he is a distraction to the other students, he follows his family to Milan. Then he moves to a town near Zurich to go to school and falls in love with the daughter of the people he is billeted with. Marie is not his intellectual equal but she is beautiful and kind. He begins university in Zurich. Albert falls out of love with Marie and in love with a girl named Mileva.
“One day this Einstein will be a great man.”
Einstein discovers the writings of Leonardo da Vinci and annotates his copy with the words “I know this to be true.” Albert begins to work as a private tutor and then later at a patent office. Mileva becomes pregnant with their first child, Lieserl, and she and Albert eventually get married. Soon they are pregnant again and Mileva gives birth to their son, Hans. Einstein dives into his work and comes up with some of his best-known theories.
“When I am doing something with complete enjoyment I don’t notice that the time passes.”
The book poses the disappearance of Lieserl as a mystery. Did she die of scarlet fever or is she still alive? Albert begins to lecture at the University of Zurich, a post he almost did not get due to growing anti-Semitism. Mileva gives birth to their third child, Eduard. She, too, suffers from depression and their marriage is not always an easy one. While he is in Warburg, Albert meets up with his second cousin, Elsa, and they fall in love. Albert tries to ignore this longing for Elsa, but to no avail. Thus, when Albert takes a position in Berlin it is not the only reason his marriage falls apart. Elsa and Albert get together just as the country enters World War I. Albert becomes estranged from his children, who are living in Zurich with their mother. He offers Mileva increasing sums of money to grant him a divorce so that he can marry Elsa. Finally, the divorce is finalized and he and Elsa get married.
“Sometimes one pays the most for the things one gets for nothing.”
Elsa and Albert head to America where Einstein gives numerous lectures. Soon after, Albert is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. As anti-Semitism grows in Germany, Einstein is at first incensed by the idea that he will leave.
“Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities.”
Ultimately, Albert and Elsa are forced to leave Germany for America. The threat of violence is just too great. Their departure takes place not a moment too soon as Hitler comes to power and the Nazi party takes over Germany. Einstein is vilified by many as a communist, because he is a pacifist, but celebrated by others for this very same quality. Albert leads a quiet life in Princeton: working constantly and taking frequent walks. Elsa becomes ill and dies in Princeton. Albert is grief-stricken.
“The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking and thus we drift towards unparalleled catastrophe.”
Albert is convinced to write a letter to FDR about the invention of the atomic bomb. After the bombs are deployed, the perception grows that Einstein played a greater role in their development than he did.
“Albert struggles to his feet and performs a boogie-woogie of his own devising.”
The last chapter of the novel begins by describing the world that Mimi Beaufort comes from. Her family is wealthy, but the money is running out fast. Mimi tells her sister about her accidental call to Albert Einstein.
“I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.”
After securing Mimi’s telephone number, Albert calls her to wish her happy birthday. He invites her to come visit him. A beautiful friendship develops from there that lasts until his death. But why have the FBI arrived on Einstein’s doorstep? What do they want to ask his secretary? You’ll have to read it to find out.
“The fear of death is the most unjustified of all fears.”
I have included so much of the plot because a) it is common knowledge and b) the story of Einstein’s life is not really the point of this novel. The beauty of this book is in the writing. The author has an incredible way with words that transforms what might otherwise be a simple biography into a work of literary historical fiction.
“Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.”
This book is filled with lavish descriptions. It humanizes the great man in a way that nothing I have ever read about him before has ever done. The science is explained in layman’s terms throughout and becomes amazingly accessible. Einstein’s love of Mozart comes up frequently, as does he constant pipe smoking. Albert’s many famous acquaintances are mentioned in this book from Marie Curie to Freud to Winston Churchill to Charlie Chaplin. The book is also filled with pictures of the people who are mentioned in the text. It helps the reader imagine that they are a fly on the wall watching Albert Einstein’s life unfold.
“All of us are together on this small Earth, yet each person thinks that he’s at the centre of it.”
If I had one complaint to make about this book it is the fact that it contains almost too much detail. It is certainly well-researched, but it felt at times like certain things could have been edited out. Despite the fact that the book is quite short, and can be easily read in a day, there are parts that feel longer than they needed to be.
Thank you to Net Galley and Canongate for providing me with an Advanced Reader Copy of this book.
Grade: A
https://kendallsbookreviews.wordpress...
https://kendallmorganhall.com
This review contains details of Albert Einstein’s life that might be considered spoilers. Proceed with caution.
Albert Einstein Speaking begins with an accidental phone call. A young woman named Mimi Beaufort connects with the seventy-five-year-old physicist when she misdials a telephone number. Albert Einstein is immediately captivated by her youthful, friendly voice and asks his personal secretary to track down her phone number in Connecticut. The story then flashes back to Einstein’s own mother and father in Ulm, in southwest Germany, and to Albert’s birth on March 15th, 1879. They marvel over the size of baby Einstein’s head, fearing he might have a disability. The doctor reassures them that Albert will be of normal intelligence. Next comes the birth of Einstein’s younger sister, Maja. “A new toy for me, a new toy for me,” young Albert exclaims. As a child, Einstein is slow to speak and when he does he repeats everything twice.
“Curious. Curious. I don’t want a child who is curious. I want a child who’s normal.”
The reader is treated to descriptions of Einstein as a child. How he isolates himself and spends a lot of time with his own thoughts. He builds houses made out of cards and strolls through the neighbourhood observing things. Though he has a great thirst for knowledge, he does not enjoy school, seeing it as a distraction from more worthwhile pursuits like thinking. He is taught algebra by his uncle Jakob and shows a particular affinity towards it.
“Anyone who doesn’t take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either.”
Albert gets his first taste of anti-Semitism as a child when a teacher shows his students a nail and solemnly tells them that the Jews nailed Jesus to a cross. Einstein distracts himself by working on theorems at home. He devours books on every subject from natural history to force and matter. When Albert’s father’s business again fails, the family moves to Milan, and Einstein is sent to a boarding house. His parents hope that he will go to university to become an electrical engineer. Albert has other ideas about what he would like to study.
“Anyone who’s never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
During school, Einstein battles with depression and “confesses he’s suffering from a serious nervous malaise.” When a teacher tells Albert to leave school, because he is a distraction to the other students, he follows his family to Milan. Then he moves to a town near Zurich to go to school and falls in love with the daughter of the people he is billeted with. Marie is not his intellectual equal but she is beautiful and kind. He begins university in Zurich. Albert falls out of love with Marie and in love with a girl named Mileva.
“One day this Einstein will be a great man.”
Einstein discovers the writings of Leonardo da Vinci and annotates his copy with the words “I know this to be true.” Albert begins to work as a private tutor and then later at a patent office. Mileva becomes pregnant with their first child, Lieserl, and she and Albert eventually get married. Soon they are pregnant again and Mileva gives birth to their son, Hans. Einstein dives into his work and comes up with some of his best-known theories.
“When I am doing something with complete enjoyment I don’t notice that the time passes.”
The book poses the disappearance of Lieserl as a mystery. Did she die of scarlet fever or is she still alive? Albert begins to lecture at the University of Zurich, a post he almost did not get due to growing anti-Semitism. Mileva gives birth to their third child, Eduard. She, too, suffers from depression and their marriage is not always an easy one. While he is in Warburg, Albert meets up with his second cousin, Elsa, and they fall in love. Albert tries to ignore this longing for Elsa, but to no avail. Thus, when Albert takes a position in Berlin it is not the only reason his marriage falls apart. Elsa and Albert get together just as the country enters World War I. Albert becomes estranged from his children, who are living in Zurich with their mother. He offers Mileva increasing sums of money to grant him a divorce so that he can marry Elsa. Finally, the divorce is finalized and he and Elsa get married.
“Sometimes one pays the most for the things one gets for nothing.”
Elsa and Albert head to America where Einstein gives numerous lectures. Soon after, Albert is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. As anti-Semitism grows in Germany, Einstein is at first incensed by the idea that he will leave.
“Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities.”
Ultimately, Albert and Elsa are forced to leave Germany for America. The threat of violence is just too great. Their departure takes place not a moment too soon as Hitler comes to power and the Nazi party takes over Germany. Einstein is vilified by many as a communist, because he is a pacifist, but celebrated by others for this very same quality. Albert leads a quiet life in Princeton: working constantly and taking frequent walks. Elsa becomes ill and dies in Princeton. Albert is grief-stricken.
“The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking and thus we drift towards unparalleled catastrophe.”
Albert is convinced to write a letter to FDR about the invention of the atomic bomb. After the bombs are deployed, the perception grows that Einstein played a greater role in their development than he did.
“Albert struggles to his feet and performs a boogie-woogie of his own devising.”
The last chapter of the novel begins by describing the world that Mimi Beaufort comes from. Her family is wealthy, but the money is running out fast. Mimi tells her sister about her accidental call to Albert Einstein.
“I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.”
After securing Mimi’s telephone number, Albert calls her to wish her happy birthday. He invites her to come visit him. A beautiful friendship develops from there that lasts until his death. But why have the FBI arrived on Einstein’s doorstep? What do they want to ask his secretary? You’ll have to read it to find out.
“The fear of death is the most unjustified of all fears.”
I have included so much of the plot because a) it is common knowledge and b) the story of Einstein’s life is not really the point of this novel. The beauty of this book is in the writing. The author has an incredible way with words that transforms what might otherwise be a simple biography into a work of literary historical fiction.
“Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.”
This book is filled with lavish descriptions. It humanizes the great man in a way that nothing I have ever read about him before has ever done. The science is explained in layman’s terms throughout and becomes amazingly accessible. Einstein’s love of Mozart comes up frequently, as does he constant pipe smoking. Albert’s many famous acquaintances are mentioned in this book from Marie Curie to Freud to Winston Churchill to Charlie Chaplin. The book is also filled with pictures of the people who are mentioned in the text. It helps the reader imagine that they are a fly on the wall watching Albert Einstein’s life unfold.
“All of us are together on this small Earth, yet each person thinks that he’s at the centre of it.”
If I had one complaint to make about this book it is the fact that it contains almost too much detail. It is certainly well-researched, but it felt at times like certain things could have been edited out. Despite the fact that the book is quite short, and can be easily read in a day, there are parts that feel longer than they needed to be.
Thank you to Net Galley and Canongate for providing me with an Advanced Reader Copy of this book.
Grade: A
https://kendallsbookreviews.wordpress...
https://kendallmorganhall.com
June 17, 2019
Mimi Beaufort dials the telephone and accidentally reaches a man on his 75th birthday. This day and until the day this famous man dies Mimi Beaufort and her sister engage in a lovely friendship with the world renown physicist Albert Einstein. This is their story and Mimi's high school project about Mr. Einstein, Jewish scientist, immigrated German to the States, and for a while the most famous and hated man on the planet.
The late R.J. Gadney, died May 1, 2018, has written an endearing book about Albert Einstein that blew my socks off. Who knew that Albert Einstein was so personable? As an Icon in history, we tend to write our icons as geniuses, with dry wit and larger than life unattainable characteristics, or the opposite with low-level characteristics which makes them seem mad. This book humanized Mr. Einstein. His humor was not dry, his personality, although quirky, reminded me more of Samuel Clemens than say, what has been portrayed of Einstein in the past. This book is pure historical fiction and yet, reads like an autobiography. I enjoyed R.J. Gadney's writing style. It is what makes the book fun to read.
The history of the Atomic Bomb and Albert Einstein's role in its use on Japan; the people Albert was friends with; the acquaintances he had and the women who kept him in line, mostly his wife; his live-in secretary and housekeeper, Helen Dukas. All these people weren't read as if they were just background characters in Albert's life but as flesh and bone, people who mattered. This story approaches a brief history of Albert's early life however the main telling is based on a few years at the tail end of his physical existence. This is a brilliant Fictionalized Biography which uses many of Einstein's own words to round out Albert Einstein Speaking.
I laughed while reading this book, I cried at the tenderness that is shown by Albert Einstein towards those he was leaving behind in Germany. I cried at the life his children had without him and with him. I felt as if I was sitting in his living room listening to his great stories while the classical music he loved played in the background. This book is a doozy. It is a must read. It will help you see a side of a man who is so well known that he has been glossed over in the here and now. Today's antidotes are about how he was not a smart child but was a brilliant genius adult. We don't tell the stories of what he created, besides E=MC2, we forget his talent for playing the violin and we forget what a great storyteller he was. This book is a reminder of all that he was and all that he did and I for one am grateful for this gift that R.J. Gadney gave to us before he passed away and that I was able to read it.
Thank you, Canongate Book via Netgalley for allowing me to read in lieu of my honest review.
The late R.J. Gadney, died May 1, 2018, has written an endearing book about Albert Einstein that blew my socks off. Who knew that Albert Einstein was so personable? As an Icon in history, we tend to write our icons as geniuses, with dry wit and larger than life unattainable characteristics, or the opposite with low-level characteristics which makes them seem mad. This book humanized Mr. Einstein. His humor was not dry, his personality, although quirky, reminded me more of Samuel Clemens than say, what has been portrayed of Einstein in the past. This book is pure historical fiction and yet, reads like an autobiography. I enjoyed R.J. Gadney's writing style. It is what makes the book fun to read.
The history of the Atomic Bomb and Albert Einstein's role in its use on Japan; the people Albert was friends with; the acquaintances he had and the women who kept him in line, mostly his wife; his live-in secretary and housekeeper, Helen Dukas. All these people weren't read as if they were just background characters in Albert's life but as flesh and bone, people who mattered. This story approaches a brief history of Albert's early life however the main telling is based on a few years at the tail end of his physical existence. This is a brilliant Fictionalized Biography which uses many of Einstein's own words to round out Albert Einstein Speaking.
I laughed while reading this book, I cried at the tenderness that is shown by Albert Einstein towards those he was leaving behind in Germany. I cried at the life his children had without him and with him. I felt as if I was sitting in his living room listening to his great stories while the classical music he loved played in the background. This book is a doozy. It is a must read. It will help you see a side of a man who is so well known that he has been glossed over in the here and now. Today's antidotes are about how he was not a smart child but was a brilliant genius adult. We don't tell the stories of what he created, besides E=MC2, we forget his talent for playing the violin and we forget what a great storyteller he was. This book is a reminder of all that he was and all that he did and I for one am grateful for this gift that R.J. Gadney gave to us before he passed away and that I was able to read it.
Thank you, Canongate Book via Netgalley for allowing me to read in lieu of my honest review.
July 4, 2019
For more reviews and bookish posts please visit:: http://www.ManOfLaBook.com
Albert Einstein Speaking by R. J. Gadney is a part biography / part historical fiction about the most famous scientist of our time. Mr. Gadney was a teacher, television producer, and an award winning scriptwriter who unfortunately passed away in May, 2018.
I found this strange book to be a charming, light read but a bit strange and difficult to get into. The format of Albert Einstein Speaking by R. J. Gadney is partly journalistic fact reporting, mixed with fictional dialogue in between.
Even though the book is separated into five long chapters, each one is made up of very short sections, quick to read and comprehend. Unlike the excellent biography Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson, the author does not try to explain the theory of relativity or any other of Prof. Einstein’s ideas in any great length.
The book starts off in a manner which really throws the reader off, a phone call between a young Bostonian student in Princeton, how mistakenly called the famous physicist. An interesting beginning, but unfortunately we don’t hear any more about the young lady or her relationship with the Einstein (who loved young people) until the end of the book. That was very strange to me, leading the reader onto a promised story only to have 80% of the book ignore the promised narrative.
If I had to categorize this book, I would say it is a biography of Albert Einstein geared to the young adult crowd, with a mix of fictional dialogue and short bookend novel on the elder protagonist and a young woman.
I don’t know what the author was going for in this puzzling book. did he want to write a biography? A fictionalized biography? While this was an easy to read book, entertaining and interesting in most of the parts, I thought it was disjointed but yet, somehow, straightforward.
Albert Einstein Speaking by R. J. Gadney is a part biography / part historical fiction about the most famous scientist of our time. Mr. Gadney was a teacher, television producer, and an award winning scriptwriter who unfortunately passed away in May, 2018.
I found this strange book to be a charming, light read but a bit strange and difficult to get into. The format of Albert Einstein Speaking by R. J. Gadney is partly journalistic fact reporting, mixed with fictional dialogue in between.
Even though the book is separated into five long chapters, each one is made up of very short sections, quick to read and comprehend. Unlike the excellent biography Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson, the author does not try to explain the theory of relativity or any other of Prof. Einstein’s ideas in any great length.
The book starts off in a manner which really throws the reader off, a phone call between a young Bostonian student in Princeton, how mistakenly called the famous physicist. An interesting beginning, but unfortunately we don’t hear any more about the young lady or her relationship with the Einstein (who loved young people) until the end of the book. That was very strange to me, leading the reader onto a promised story only to have 80% of the book ignore the promised narrative.
If I had to categorize this book, I would say it is a biography of Albert Einstein geared to the young adult crowd, with a mix of fictional dialogue and short bookend novel on the elder protagonist and a young woman.
I don’t know what the author was going for in this puzzling book. did he want to write a biography? A fictionalized biography? While this was an easy to read book, entertaining and interesting in most of the parts, I thought it was disjointed but yet, somehow, straightforward.
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