Mendelův trpaslík

by Simon Mawer, Lukáš Novák (Translator)

Jedna z nejúspěšnějších a nejoceňovanějších knih Simova Mawera, autora bestselleru Skleněný pokoj . List New York Times knihu zařadil mezi nejpozoruhodnější díla vydaná v roce 1997, zájem o něj projevili také filmaři (práva ke zfilmování drží Barbra Streisand). Kniha líčí příběh vědce, který zasvětil svůj život studování genetické poruchy, jež těžce poznamenala jeho samotného. Benedict Lambert je nejen trpaslík, ale také vzdálený příbuzný slavného genetika Gregora Mendela, v románu se tedy - podobně jako v již zmíněném Skleněném pokoji - objevuje i řada českých, respektive moravských reálií.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Book Club, British Literature, Novels, Genetics, Disability

278 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Simon Mawer was a British author who lived in Italy.

Reviews

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

“...an extraordinary thing about fiction is that it may reveal truths that a pursuit of facts can never unearth.” ~Simon Mawer, 1998

A witty, philosophical panegyric to the genius of Gregor Mendel. This is ‘Beauty and the Beast’ for the rest of us: we of the royal order of rationalists and science geeks. Mawer writes with the heart of a novelist and the mind of a geneticist. His detailed accounting of Mendel’s experiments will no doubt dissuade some potential readers, but there’s nothing here that an inquisitive layperson cannot comprehend - and learning, after all, is half the fun!

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My husband is a Dwarf...so when I saw this book, I just had to read it! The man in the book is an Achondoplasia Dwarf, which is about 80% of the dwarf population. My husband is an Acromesomelic Dwarf which is very rare. 80% of Dwarf Babies are born to 2 average size parents. Yes, 2 dwarf parents up the odds to 50% dwarf baby/50% average size baby. My husband and his 1st wife(she died 17 yrs ago& she was an Achondoplasia dwarf) have an average size daughter(she is 20 yrs old)!

This is a BEAUTIFUL book about the life and loves of this young man! It made me Laugh, Cry, and understand my husband better!

[Bandit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone with even a passing interest in eugenics and genetics would find this book of interest. It stands firmly on its own two feet as a dramatic novel, clever, sad, thought provoking story of Gregor Mendel (the father of modern genetics) and his distant heir, intellectually and genetically, Benedict Lambert. The two timelines weave together seamlessly, but it is Benedict who is the main character and this is very much his story since he is the eponymous Mendel's dwarf and a genius scientist obsessed with finding out exactly what quirk of DNA is responsible for his diminutive stature. Certainly the most compelling dwarf protagonist since Tyrion Lannister, tragic romantic entanglements included. Very emotionally astute, intelligent portrayal of what it must be like for someone who differs from the norm, the socially accept standards. This isn't an easy (light) book and in parts it can be downright overwhelmingly viscerally anatomic and/or biological and yet it's an utterly engaging, fascinating and moving read right down to its tragically ironic or ironically tragic end. Very strong writing, certainly a most auspicious introduction to a new (to me) author. Impressive start to the 2016 reading year. Recommended.

[El · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Benjamin Lambert is the great-great-great-nephew of the geneticist Gregor Mendel. Ben is also a geneticist but has a bigger challenge between him and the world - he is a dwarf. The real story starts when he expresses his love for the librarian, Jean, and the complications that arise from their relationship.

The author uses science throughout the story but manages to make it easy to grasp; Mawer himself is a scientist and it shows with his knowledge of genetics, biology, evolution, and research papers (as evidenced by his use of footnotes throughout). But the science here is really a secondary character to the greater story. Ben is wicked analytical and uses his knowledge of genetics as a way to justify and explain his existence. As his relationship with Jean progresses Ben finds himself in a position similar to that of playing God, creating an interesting science versus religion dynamic.

Sadly - and the main reason for giving it the stars I did - while the majority of the book was almost perfect, the ending was sudden and anticlimactic. It was like Mawer slammed the door in my face, denying me the rest of the story. Maybe he was on a deadline.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

London geneticist Benedict Lambert is the great-great-great-nephew of Gregor Mendel, the priest who discovered the laws of heredity and whose work, lost from view until decades after his death, finally offered a mechanism for natural selection. But this isn't Ben's only distinction. He has the disadvantage of being an achondroplasic dwarf, which means he finds difficulty in being taken seriously in both his professional and his social life -- specifically, his sexual life.

But then, at last, he finds love in the arms of a mousy colleague, Jean Miller, estranged from her dimwit husband Hugo. Even after she and Hugo are reconciled, the bond between her and Ben remains strong. And when, because of Hugo's sterility, she decides to opt for IVF, she asks Ben if the seed could be his and if he could use his skill as a geneticist to ensure, through selection, that the ensuing child be "normal" rather than achondroplasic . . .

Ben narrates this love story often quite caustically, so that we can feel his bitterness even while we're laughing at his jokes. He also interweaves into the narrative quite a lot of fascinating biographical information about Mendel and a good deal of very clear explication of heredity. I found the result to be completely absorbing, even though I was sure the relationship/affair between Ben and Jean was headed for tragedy. The climax of the tale is, indeed, heartwrenching, both in the way I'd expected but also, more profoundly, in a way that I hadn't expected.

This is a novel that I won't forget in a hurry. Thoroughly recommended.

[Tweedledum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part science history, part recent history, part treatise on eugenics, part powerful reflection on our attitudes to disability and our growing ability to play God through genetic manipulation, part a brilliant and clever work of fiction : this book defies attempts to put it into a single neat bookshelf category. Indeed it probably needs a shelf all of it's own.

Dr Benedict Lambert the eponymous achondoplastic descendent of Gregor Mendel, is a professor of genetics whose personal challenges in life have led directly to his interest in gene therapy. Benedict Lambert daily challenges the prejudices of colleagues and those he lectures to but his ability to speak with confidence and wit belie the paucity of his lonely home life. Is it possible for Benedict Lambert himself ever to find love or father a child? This question haunts Benedict in his quest to find the genetic twist in DNA that leads to achondroplasia. But, and here is the hideous choice, if Benedict were to be able to separate out his own sperm into normal and abnormal, before impregnating a woman...... which would he choose?

As Simon Mawer takes us into the mind and heart of Benedict so that we grow to respect, love and pity him in that order the reader is challenged to ask "what would I say/do?" "What are my true thoughts on this?" "What are my hidden prejudices?"

As Benedict delivers a powerful lecture on genetic screening in historic Brno while the woman he loves is giving birth to his son back in England, he reminds his audience "Hitler would have loved this."

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hesitated before buying this book, unsure that I would engage with the topic. There is a lot of scientific data in it and that's not something that would ordinarily interest me but, typically, Mawer managed to relate it in such a way that it was understandable, even to me, which is just as well as understanding the genetics is intrinsic to understanding the premise of the novel. The main character is not particularly likeable but it is possible to empathise with his view of the world. I'm unsure how successful the ending is really. It left rather a bad aftertaste and was weak in comparison with the rest of the book.

[jaroiva · Rating 5 out of 5]

První kniha tohoto autora, která se mi bezvýhradně líbí. A to jsem to s ním už chtěla vzdát :).
Není to jen Brnem, protože Skleněný pokoj je taky odsud, a přitom mě až tak nenachnul.
Mendelův trpaslík má hlavu i patu, i přes střídání časů v současnosti a za časů Mendela jsem se v ději dobře orientovala. Je tu něco genetiky (což je pro mě v podstatě oblíbená matematika), trochu romantiky, samozřejmě to Brno a s ním spojený Janáček, Masarykova univerzita apod.
Kombinace všech zmiňovaných témat mě prostě oslovila.
Mawer nepotřebuje desítky postav a přitom rozehraje dostatečně zajímavou zápletku, u které mě prostě zajímalo, co z toho bude.

[robin friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

How Passion Dwarfs Intelligence

This novel tells the story of Benedict Lambert, a distant relative of Gregor Mendel, the founder of scientific genetics. Like Mendel, Lambert is a brilliant geneticist. Unlike Mendel, Lambert is a dwarf.

The story is a mix of humor and philosophy. Lambert's stature as a dwarf does not effect his high intelligence. Nor does it dwarf his sexual needs and sexual appetite. His stature does make it difficult for Lambert to form a lasting sexual attachment, (or any sexual attachment) to a woman. The frustration and loneliness that human beings are heir to are magnified. Lambert uses his short stature to stare up women's skirts (with many predictable gags in the book). He frequents prostitutes and his home is cluttered with the latest x-rated magazines as well as with erudite scientific journals.

The story tells of Lambert's efforts to form a relationship with a mousy but leggy librarian, Ms Janet Piercey. When they meet, Ms. Piercey is single but when the two become involved, she has married. The relationship is adulterous, and the attendant triangle has a complicated and violent denouement.

The characters of Lambert and Piercey are well-developed and interesting. In addition, the book draws parallels between Lambert's life and that of his distant cousin Mendel, whose personal life was little known to me. There are also interesting discussions in the book of the classical composer Janacek, who was acquainted with Mendel and whose music is not as well-known in the United States as it might be. The philosophical discussion in the book is provocative but off-the-cuff. I found some of it got in the way of the story and the characters. Still, the book will make the reader think.

The book discusses, of course, the nature of human "normality" (what is the consequence of being a dwarf?), and the power of human sexuality. For me, the most fascinating questions the book raises are religious in character. The first half of the book seems to present a philosophy of naturalism which suggests that dwarfism, or the human condition, is not caused or fruitfully understood by the actions and will of a revealed God but is a function itself solely of the chance actions of genes with each other. In some sense this is a liberating philosophy because it frees Lambert from a sense of guilt and of anger with an allegedly all-powerful being at his condition.

As the book progresses, a shift takes place. There is a discussion of the ethical dilemmas posed by abortion and by eugenics (human genetic engineering) that advances in science have made possible. There is some suggestion that human beings do not know everything and are not the measure of everything and that scientific-technological advancement and hubris have outstripped wisdom. I think the tone of the book as a whole is conservative and may tend to qualify, if it doesn't undermine, the sense of secularism conveyed in the opening chapters.

"Mendel's Dwarf" is a fascinating thoughtful novel. It reads well and will make the reader both laugh and think.

Robin Friedman

[Sophie Rayton · Rating 1 out of 5]

How do I hate thee? Let me count the ways.

The dwarf is a selfish dirty pervert rapist and the quick ascerbic wit he was supposed to have did not find its way to this reader.
The tandem story of Mendel did not work and only added to making it longer.

"The whims of women. Like racial stereotypes, you desperately deny their existence, and yet there they are. One cannot deny them. Like the violence of men, the whims of women exist."

What?!?!?!

Hated it from start to end. Would have put it down after the first 50 pages but had to plod along for the sake of a book club discussion, which with my strong opinions, is bound to be a good one.

[Michal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Skleněný pokoj byla čistá funkcionalistická nádhera, Mendelův trpaslík více tahá za srdce. Během prvních dvaceti stránek jsem měl v očích několikrát slzy a vůbec mě v tu chvíli nezajímala syrská poušť za okny autobusu. Téma Mendel mě díky studiu na stejném gymnáziu jako slavný genetik provází už delší dobu, nehledě na původ ze stejného kraje. Mawer se opět dokázal dotknout české-německého vztahu tak, jak to nikdo z Čechů nedokáže. A k tomu dva strhující paralelní příběhy o tom, co dělat, když k naplnění vašich životních přání dojde jen na bolestně krátké okamžiky.

[Always Pink · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cleverly constructed novel, combining two biographies with quite a bit of scientific background. The two portrayed characters are Gregor Mendel and his fictious great-nephew, who suffers from achondroplasia, an autosomal dominant disorder. Mawer's novel is a finely tuned psychological study, illustrating Mendel's laws of inheritance, not shrinking from issues of eugenics. Well written, solidly researched, very enlightening on genetical matters as well as entertaining - recommended.

[Kateřina Kopecká · Rating 2 out of 5]

První knížka, která mě opravdu znechutila. Musí se nechat, že je propracovaná do detailu, co se týče vědeckých fakt. I když s tématem nemáte předchozí zkušenosti, tak tomu po chvíli porozumíte a popisování detailních procesů s DNA a dědičností nepůsobí otravně. Bohužel hlavní postava pro mě byla naprosto nepochopitelná, co se týče myšlenkových pochodů a vztahu k ženám. Nevzdat to po prvních 4 kapitolách bylo špatné rozhodnutí.

[Judith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful. Learn about genetics while getting to know a cranky, intelligent, funny little man - Dr. Benedict Lambert. Lambert is a dwarf. He is also a geneticist, and much of his drive in this field is to find out just what makes a dwarf.

About 90% of "little people" are accidents. They come from normal parents with no history of dwarfism. It's a genetic goof, a mutation. The question is: where does this mutation occur on the incredibly long DNA chain? When offered a seat at a prestigious institution, Lambert says this will be his area of study.

There is hardly an hour that goes by when Lambert is not reminded of the differences between him and "normal" humans. He is also sharply aware of the way many people overcompensate for their discomfort around him, clapping perhaps a little too loudly, smiling a little too broadly, only emphasizing more that they feel he is different from them.

Lambert yearns to know what he might have looked like, if the traits of achondroplasty had not separated him from his mother and father and joined him with others around the world instead. He wonders what a child of his, a normal child, would look like.

As he explains to us various wonders of genetics, complete with footnotes, always at the back of his mind is how it all ended up - in him. Curiously, he is related, by an odd great-uncle, to Gregor Mendel, the little priest who labored over his pea plants for years and years and wrote the definitive explanation of genetics, of dominance and recession and more. We are treated to many imaginary conversations in Mendel's life, filling out the bare bones of what is known of his existence.

This is no dry science book, however. The personality of Ben is far larger than his overlooked body, and it is this character that makes the book so alive. Ben is no long-suffering saint. When told how brave he is, he counters that bravery only counts when you have a choice. His appetites are certainly up to par, and his thoughts might even be considered ...at times...perverted.

And thus we come to his affair. He meets up with a woman who was a young librarian when he was but a callow youth seeking wisdom from the library shelves. He had always felt a little bit of lust about this quiet, retiring librarian with the quirky trait of having one blue eye and one green (a mutation as well!). The two become adult friends, and Ben can hardly keep from thinking about becoming more than friends. I will leave it to you to discover if this happens and what is the result.

While this is a funny, witty, intelligent book, don't be fooled into thinking there is anything particularly lightweight about it, Easy to read, sure, but weighty in implications, and finally, not made for television.

I should mention - the library from which I bought this book classified it as a "romance". tsk tsk. Somebody there should have read it or at least read the inside covers.

[Theresa Leone Davidson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have a friend from whom I have asked permission to write about: when I lived in NYC, in an apartment I had before I was married, he was my neighbor. We still talk on the phone every couple of months and meet up for coffee occasionally. He is blind, completely without sight. He has always had a guide dog, he still maintains his Queens apartment in which he lives alone, he tells the MOST filthy, and often sexist, but VERY funny jokes, he has had a couple of long term relationships over the years but in between them he happily shares with his friends his experiences with prostitutes, he has worked for over 20 years as a clerk at a Queens hospital, and he writes very tender, lovely poetry and is a fan of spoken word events. My point is he is not defined only by the fact that he is blind. It is not even his biggest defining attribute. Yet in Mendel's Dwarf, the central character, Dr. Benedict Lambert, who is a dwarf, has apparently only one attribute that anyone ever, ever notices or cares about: his height. Every single person with whom he comes into contact first looks at him with revulsion, then with pity, and then they try to overcompensate by being too nice. If Simon Mawer were a little person I would have just accepted this as his take on his life, but since he is not, I found the whole premise ridiculous. Anything that puts a person into the "different" category, whether they be in a wheelchair, or autistic, or blind, definitely shapes their life and is something that the rest of us really cannot fully understand. However, it is never the ONLY thing that makes a person who they are, and that was my problem with the novel: the guy is a doctor and eventually in the story has a girlfriend, though she is married, and yet everything he sees, does, or thinks about is in some way related to being a dwarf. Dumb. And if 90% of the novel is DUMB, at least to me (I have to say I am shocked and perplexed by all of the good reviews here - did people really like it or is it in some way a form of being politically correct to say you liked it??), the ending of the novel, without giving anything away, I found appalling. APPALLING. The only reason I give it two stars instead of one was all of the background Mawer writes about Mendel and his study of genetics. While it was the only part of the novel I liked, that was interesting.

[Laura Bowater · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. Simon Mawer's portrayal of Dr. Benedict Lambert the great, great nephew of the early geneticist Gregor Mendel, is poignant and beautifully portrayed. Benedict's absorption and obsessional search to unlock the secrets of heredity is a response to his personal urge to seek out the molecular explanation for his achondroplasia as well as a simple tribute to his famous uncle; the father of genetics. Father Mendel's life is brought to life and his ability to reconcile his sense of God with his sense of science is beautifully portrayed and interwoven with Benedict's own struggle to understand the profound implications of accepting that random chance is responsible for the tiny, almost mundane DNA mutation that causes his disease. Benedict is tough, resilient and a successful researcher. The author's portrayal of the laboratory experiments of a research geneticist is accurate and clear. But he also describes the circuit of the celebrity researcher accurately and sympathetically. This book tells a story of a scientist whose search for an explanation for his own human condition is portrayed in parallel with his search for love and ultimately his search for immortality. His personal journey is poignant and profound.

[Rebecca Altmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I nearly didn't finish the book but the last third upped the rating from one star to two, because of the genetics and historical content.
I was looking forward to reading this but got a rather different book than I was expecting, with a pompous and unlikeable narrator. Benedict Lambert is a creep.
I got well and truly sick of him reminding me that his penis was the only part of his body unaffected by achodroplasia. He spends a considerable portion of the book talking about his penis, thinking about it and imagining what he can do with it. It got annoying fairly early, and it was quite clear that the reason he would never have a rewarding relationship with a women had nothing to do with his appearance.

Edited 5/1/18: Came back to change the star rating to a three. Disliking Benedict as much as I do - to the point where I am still reflecting on the book a week later - is a sign of skilled characterisation and strong storytelling. It probably deserves a four.
And that ending...

Edited Aug 18 - Changed the rating again.
Read it yourself and see if it hangs around in your mind for months and months.
A skilled author.

[Dymbula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rozporuplná hodnocení, ale za mě je to 4* skoro pět. Že to je na efekt? Asi jo, protože Mawer trpaslík není. Jenže on se dokázal podívat na svět i genetiku z pohledu trpaslíka. Trpaslíka, který za to, že trpaslíkem je, nemůže. Může za to genetika. Mendel je v genetice člověk významný, ale... to už by byl spoiler.

[Karen Koenig · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love novels that get science right!

[Monika Bielová · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zábava s poučením.

Poučnou část však oceňuji mnohem víc (např. zjištění, kdo všechno byl Mendelův současník, osvěžení základních genetických principů,…).


Mawer umí velice nenásilně a poutavě fakta propojit s fikcí a zatraktivnit tak  základní děj, který by pro mne sám o sobě byl sotva průměrný.

[Ivo Skopal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ze začátku mě kniha chytla. Brno, množství velmi zajímavých informací o genetice, Mendelovi a k tomu hlavní hrdina, o kterém (alespoň zpočátku) chcete vědět víc. První půlku knihy jsem docela proletěl, chytla mě, text měl spád. V průběhu druhé půlky mi začal hlavní hrdina vadit a neskutečně lézt na nervy. Konec knihy jsem tak četl už jen proto, abych příběh dočetl a dostal ho z hlavy. Celkově jsem rád, že jsem knížku četl - podruhé si ji však nedám. Předala mi vše potřebné. Za mě 3/5 - autor si s knihou dal nesmírné množství práce, to se mu musí nechat. Hlavní hrdina se však změnil v antihrdinu a tak nějak jsem ke konci už neměl chuť číst dál. Kniha stojí za zkoušku - třeba budete mít z knihy jiný požitek, než já.

[Veverka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zase o trochu jiný příběh jinakosti. Výška jako výhra v loterii genů. Taky o genetice, od Mendela po současnost, etické postřehy o čistotě rasy nejen třetí říše ale i experimentů či předsudků US, a jinde po světě. Genetické inženýrství místo boží prozřetelnosti či náhody, k vyváženosti rodin... ale 67% rodičů by raději chlapečka... výška aspoň... a určitě žádného trpaslíka.

[Andrew Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent read!!

[RB Love · Rating 3 out of 5]

Masterful. Ingenius. Brilliant. Also, a little technical and biology specific. So, you know, I highly recommend this book to my friends who are teaching second semester high school biology, or are taking biology right now or have an acute interest or fetish with biology and genetics. The science of genetics, frankly and unfortunately, has left this book, published in 1998, far behind, but it is a beautiful story of the way things were way back in the late nineties.
This would be a decent movie. The history of Gregor Mendel, the friar who first discovered the science of genetics through his pea experiments in the gardens of his monastery in Brno, Austria-Hungary, is presented well enough that I don't know, now, if I'll get around to reading Robin Marantz Henig's, The Monk in the Garden. And you can not read a single page of the narrative that follows the devious mind of Dr. Benedict Lambert, the book's achondroplastic protagonist, without picturing actor Peter Dinklage in the role.
The story is excellent and the information you absorb during the course of Dr. Lambert's affair with Miss Jean Piercey, is magnificent. There are great meditations on the true discoveries that Mendel made during his lifetime that were 35 years ahead of their time, (and recognition) and on the implications and ramifications and ultimate ironies of his making these discoveries as a monk at a monastery. Further, there are very revealing and enlightening passages about the inaccuracies and smudgey work of Darwin and his followers and processors. I may well read this book again.

[Knižný (Valéria Scholtzová) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Som zamilovaná. Ako biológa genetika ma chytili už prvé dve strany. Hlavná postava Benedict mi pripomína Tyriona z GOT (knižného Tyriona, nie serialoveho). Postihnutý trpaslík s prenikavým dôvtipom a inteligenciou. Aj humor mi príde podobný, čo si pamätám.
Mawer sa výborne popasoval s témou genetiky a molekulárnej biológie. Dej je popretkávaný podrobnosťami a opismi laboratórnej práce, čo nemusí každého baviť a nie každý to vie naozaj pochopiť. Nečudo, keďže sám študoval a učil biológiu.
Benedictov život trpaslíka a vedca snažiaceho sa odhaliť pôvod svojej choroby je zložitý a ťažký a ostane taký až do konca. Kniha je miestami vtipná, no na pozadí sa nesie smútok, ktorý veľmi často prechádza na povrch a ostáva tam.
Podobným duchom nepochopenia a úpornej snahy je príbeh Benedictovho predka Gregora Mendela, zakladateľa genetiky. Dej mi bol blízky aj z toho hľadiska, že Mendel žil a pracoval v Brnenskom kláštore, čo nie je až tak ďaleko. Niektoré historické súvislosti som brala s rezervou, keďže na univerzite nám hovorili niečo iné, no na poli fikcie tam boli zaujímavé myšlienky.

[George Crowder · Rating 2 out of 5]

While there are two story lines to follow--the chronicle of Gregor Mendel's groundbreaking work in genetics juxtaposed against the narrative of Benedict Lambert, Mendel's distant dwarf relative--it is Lambert's story which carries the emotional weight of the novel. Benedict most reminds me of Lolita's Humbert Humbert, hardly the most appealing of protagonists. While Humbert's deformity is his sexual obsession with prepubescent youth, Benedict's is his grotesque moral character and the emormous chip on his shoulder from his physical disability. Is it harsh not to cut him more slack under the circumstances? By the end of the book, I really couldn't.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really thought I would like this book but the narrator was so narcisistic and unbelievably needy at the same time that I felt like I was being too much of a voyeur. Most times the reader is a bit of a peeper when reading a fittest person narrative but it feels okay when you like the character. I couldn't feel any sympathy for Ben, I just wanted him to go away and leave me alone. Also for him to be Gregor Lender's descendent was heavy handed.

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unusual but fascinating novel, combining the science of genetics with history, philosophy and a nice touch of humor thrown in when things get too intense. Mawer is a very skilled writer and a master of the double entendre. Like all of his books, lots to assimilate, and in this case, questions of bioethics.

[Renee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have loved all Simon Mawer’s other novels, but this one is far too technical for me. I skimmed over half the book and really only continued to the end as I was interested to see what the outcome would be of his one particular relationship. So, if you like technical stuff and are particularly interested in genetics, this is for you. Otherwise, I would give it a miss.

[Andrea Rothman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Benedict Lambert's scientific inquiry into achondroplasia is deeply personal, for he is a dwarf: a beautiful and harrowing account of heredity and a man's quest for love against all odds. The voice is sharp and deft, the scientific details adroit and symbolic of Benedict's plight.