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I was recommended this book by a dear friend of mine, who thought she saw a lot of the protagonist, Eleanor in me, and perhaps I could find a friend in her.

Gawd, was she too right.

I am merely less than a third into this book, yet I found Eleanor's story laced with bittersweet humour and sadness.
A vivid tale of loneliness and trauma.

As I soaked in line by line, I couldn't help, but weep, and weep, and weep...

Enthralling...

I have some minimal background knowledge of how this book came about and am in awe about the prodigy and ingenuity of Shelley — although we all know that corpses cannot come to life, it was a different world back then with the advent of electricity — I'd suspend my disbelief while reading this pioneering work, considerably known as the world's first true sci-fi book, which has set the bar for horror.

Gripping, mind-bending...
Many a time, admittedly beyond my intellectual comprehension, but deeply captivating, brimming with Clarke's formidable scientific imagination.

A fairly tough but engrossing read, so far.

To write a symphony, to me, is to construct a world. - Mahler

Mahler is a name I had only vaguely and cursorily heard of in the history of music, so I was curious to know more about his works and his life, particularly about the Titan Symphony, of which it was claimed that he declared: "Like a voice of nature!"

Unfortunately, no such work of his is mentioned here - much to my disappointment.

The same ingenuity that allows man to be assured as the most powerful species on Earth, as well as to live longer and more comfortably than before is transforming Earth beyond anything our species has experienced before.

It is a thrilling but uncertain time to be alive - Welcome to the Anthropocene: The Age of Man.

We are worried that an intellectually interesting and highly technical discussion about conservation... is being exploited by certain land users... as a political tool to get their damaging objectives implemented. - Hubert Weiger, president of BUND (Friends of the Earth Germany), pp. 198

"There are patients suffering from a serious form of mania, who after an illness become insensitive; their intelligence degrades, they forget themselves and spend the rest of their lives like brutes." - Aretaeus

Some creatives.. of predominantly schizoid or depressive temperaments.. use their creative capacities in a defensive way. If creative work protects one from mental illness, it is no wonder he pursues it avidly. The schizoid state... is characterised by meaninglessness, futility. For most, interaction with others provides what they require to find significance in life. For the schizoid, however, this isn't the case.

1 page into the book, it becomes obvious J Nash, mathematical genius, inventor of a rational behavior theory, visionary of the thinking machine, isn't a likeable character due to his cockiness and immaturity. Yet, lessons drawn were his sheer willpower, tunnel vision towards his goals, staying true to his ferociously solitary self: He joined no school, was no one's disciple, coped greatly without guides or followers.