A very impressive novel. I was expecting this to be slightly dense given the scientific subject matter but this is not the case - gripping and evocative, stylistically inventive and constantly engaging. Labatut’s prose is insightful, and he handles different voices and perspectives in a very believable and clever way. Highly recommended

An ambitious and challenging book, incredibly well paced and uniquely compelling. This is a difficult read but is well worth the time spent.

After the Booker shortlisted When We Cease to Understand the World, translated into English by Adrian Nathan West, Benjamín Labatut returns with The MANIAC, his first book written directly in English. This is another novel about great scientists of the 20th century, the delicate divide between genius, obsession and madness, and the terrifying beauty (or beautiful terror) of cutting-edge science and technology.

As in his previous novel Labatut blends fact and fiction. The book is divided into three sections. The first, “PAUL: or The Discovery of the Irrational” is a relatively brief introductory segment which consist of an account of the life, and death by suicide, of Austrian physicist Paul Ehrenfest. This section, which appears to be purely factual, introduces some of the concerns of the rest of the book. Ehrenfest falls into a depression when he realizes what the rise of the Nazis will mean for minorities, including his disabled son. During the same period, he also realizes that not only are the logical bases of “established” science being challenged by new discoveries, leading to a terrifying void which also has ethical implications.

The second part of the book, “JOHN or the Mad Dreams of Reason” is a fictionalised biography of John von Neumann, perhaps the leading figure of the group of Hungarian-American émigré scientists referred to as the “Martians”. Neumann and his colleagues were key to the Manhattan Project which led to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and subsequently retained a close collaboration with the military, particularly in connection with the development of the hydrogen bomb and pioneering experiments in “weather warfare”. Neumann however was brilliant in practically all the fields he worked in. His studies in game theory, economics and computing (notably his role in the development of the “Mathematical Analyzer Numerical Integrator and Automatic Computer” – the MANIAC of the title) are at the basis of contemporary developments in AI. Neumann’s story is recounted through the points of view of (historical) individuals who knew him, in the shape of imaginary “interviews” and factual snippets.

The book ends with “LEE or The Delusions of Artificial Intelligence” an account of the success of artificial intelligence machines to challenge and beat the world’s champions of chess and even more complex games such as the Chinese game Go.

I am no science buff, but the way in which Labatut speaks about scientific figures and ideas is captivating. For me, this book was an unexpected page-turner. The approach is also very particular. I suppose the genre might be called biographical fiction – except that it’s strange to describe as “fiction” a book in which most if not all of the facts and events described actually occurred. Possibly “literary non-fiction” might be closer to the mark, but then again the creative way in which the book is put together and, particularly in its second part, the vivid imagination required to present a character through different voices and points of view, make this book very different from your typical work of non-fiction. What’s more important, however, is that this is a formula which works brilliantly.

https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-maniac-by-benjamin-labatut.html

Undoubtedly one of the best books I've read this year.
There's just something about the way that Labatut writes, about the way he weaves together fact and fiction, and leads you towards the unexpected.
I was scared I was not going to enjoy this as much as When We Cease to Understand the World (which I absolutely loved), but The MANIAC was an equally fantastic achievement. I loved the first and last parts - they really felt as sharp and well written as his previous work. The middle part, specifically focused on Von Neumann, really grabbed my attention with the first person shifting perspectives.
Though the book doesn't begin with obvious connections to AI, I love how Labatut builds towards the topic. Also, though I have spent a lot of time thinking about AI (in our current age AI art and deep fakes etc are obviously big topics), I, for some reason have never thought about computers beating humans at chess and Go as being such a comparable turning point, but the author really delves into this aspect so excellently.
Labatut shifts from nuclear bombs to chess games and it somehow remains just as gripping throughout.

Overall, I'm so impressed. I have already bought my physical copy (ready for a reread!), and have talked about it/sold it to a few customers!

Thank you for letting me read this book.

The following paragraphs will be me fangirling over the genious of Benjamin Labatut. I mean, you have to be a genious to turn a book about quantum mechanics and high level mathematics into a page turner. I devoured the novel although I through school struggled to understand basic physics ( I was good at mathematics though).

I knew the novel was going to be a five stars from the beginning. Who would not be curious to read a novel which starts like this: „On the morning of the twenty-fifth of September 1933, the Austrian physicist Paul Ehrenfest walked into Professor Jan Waterink’s Pedagogical Institute for Afflicted Children in Amsterdam, shot his fifteen-year-old son Vassily in the head, then turned the gun on himself” He then starts to present the story of this physicist who realizes the potential destructive power of quantum mechanics and slowly goes mad from the struggle with his brilliant intellect

The Maniac is a novel “based on fact”, as Labatut puts it. It follows the same themes as his first magical novel “When We Cease to Understand the World” (my review here). Science can be dangerous, it can destroy as much as it creates, it can lead to madness for the most brilliant minds, who cannot deal with all the pressure and possibility. From a stylist point of view, it is probably less experimental, however equally brilliant. I also have to mention that Benjamin Labatut, is a Chilean who lives in the Netherlands and who wrote the novel in English, his 3rd language. I could not detect any sign was not written in his native tongue.

The novel is structured in three parts. I already talked about the 1st chapter so I would not say more about it. The 2nd and most important part presents the life and work of John von Neumann, a genious mathematician who revolutionized most of the fields he explored, which were many. He wrote the most important piece on game theory, helped with the building of the atomic bomb and pioneering the Artificial intelligence field. His portrait is sketched by different people who were part of his life, his friends, teacher, wives, colleagues. Von Neumann was one of the smartest people who ever lived, charismatic but also scary. His sense of morality was questionable though, which fits with Labatut main theme.

The writing is urgent, feverish, poetic, it makes you turn page after page: “He once told me that, just as wild animals play when they are young in preparation for lethal circumstances arising later in their lives, mathematics may be, to a large extent, nothing but a strange and wonderful collection of games, an enterprise whose real purpose, beyond any one stated outright, is to slowly work changes in the individual and collective human psyche, as a way to prepare us for a future that nobody can imagine. The problem with those games, the many terrible games that spring forth from humanity’s unbridled imagination, is that when they are played in the real world—whose rules and true purpose 0are known only to God—we come face- to-face with dangers that we may not have the knowledge or the wisdom to overcome. I know this because my darling husband thought up one of the most dangerous ideas in human history, one so devilish and cynical that it is a miracle that we have so far managed to survive it.”


IMPORTANT: It is mandatory for this novel to be read together with the fantastic movie Oppenheimer. If you haven’t seen that movie you MUST. It is a masterpiece. Many of the characters and events from the 2nd part of this book are also present in the movie. For example, I got to revisit the famous words from Oppenheimer: „We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita: Vishnu is trying to persuade the prince that he should do his duty, and to impress him takes on his multiarmed form and says, “Now I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds.””


The 3rd part tells the story of the first Artificial Intelligence program which Beat the best GO player in the world. It starts with the life of the South Korean Go Master Lee Sedol, continues with the creation of AI program AlphaGo and explores the defeat of the human player by the AI with 4-1. As expected, it explores both the fantastic opportunities this creation represents but also its perils. „For progress there is no cure”, it is written somewhere earlier in the novel.

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant! End of the eulogy!

In the realm of science, few names evoke as much intrigue and admiration as John von Neumann. A polymath of unparalleled brilliance, his significant contributions to mathematics, physics, and computer science have left an indelible mark on the world. In The Maniac, Benjamín Labatut takes the reader on a captivating journey through the evolution of von Neumann’s mind and his groundbreaking body of work that has reshaped the very foundations of science. Von Neumann’s mathematical powers were so exceptional that Hans Bethe, a Nobel laureate and a friend of his, once said: “I have sometimes wondered whether a brain like von Neumann’s does not indicate a species superior to that of man”.

One of the central themes explored in “The Maniac” is the very limit of human understanding. Through the experiences and narratives of family members, friends, colleagues, and adversaries, Labatut, explores von Neumann’s life and work, and how his voracious thirst for knowledge, driven by his desire to understand the world around him, pushed the boundaries of what was thought to be achievable. However, this relentless pursuit also exposes the inherent dangers of technology and the potential for it to outpace human comprehension. The book’s unique and challenging writing style, blending fact and fiction, serves as a poignant reminder that the line between genius and madness can often be blurred.

Another theme explored in the book is how closely science and politics were intertwined during the Cold War. Von Neumann’s involvement in accelerating American investment in nuclear weapons highlights the complex ethical implications that arise when scientific progress becomes intertwined with political interests.
Within the context of “The Maniac,” the title itself refers to MANIAC (Mathematical Analyzer Numerical Integrator and Computer), an early computer and successor to the groundbreaking ENIAC. MANIAC represents a significant milestone in the history of computing. It was developed by John von Neumann and built under the direction of the Greek-American physicist and mathematician, Nicholas Metropolis, at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. This technological marvel not only showcases von Neumann’s contributions but also illustrates the ever-evolving relationship between science, technology, and human progress.

While not directly connected to John von Neumann, the story of AlphaGo can be seen as a reflection of his work and the broader themes explored in “The Maniac.” AlphaGo, an artificial intelligence program, exemplifies the potential of human intelligence and its ability to push the boundaries of knowledge and understanding. However, it also raises profound questions concerning the ethical implications of such advancements and the extent to which technology may surpass human control.

The Maniac paints a vivid portrait of the human cost associated with scientific progress. Through a masterful blend of fact and fiction, Labatut enlightens us on the limits of knowledge, the dangers of technology, and the human cost of scientific progress. But as we turn the final page, we are also left with a profound appreciation for the complexities of genius and a renewed sense of awe for the transformative power of the human mind.

Sorry, this E-ARC (as others have noted) is virtually unreadable. From numbers being on every line, to half sentences (and half words!!). You are Pushkin press, you are a substantial well known publishing house but right now, there are tiny publishing houses outperforming you in terms of making quality, readable E-arcs in order for people like me to be able to review a copy for the author. You have done Labatut a disservice by having his e-arc go out in such a poor, unfit state. What a shame, as when I get round to actually reading The Maniac, I'm sure it will be brilliant. Be better Pushkin, you're letting your authors down.

“What he could do. It was so rare and beautiful that to watch him was to weep.”

Just like his first book “When we cease to understand the world”, this is a fictionalization of real events, more specifically a real life, the life of the brilliant and troubled Neumann János Lajos, or John Von Neumann as he was later known as.

His story is told through the people in his life, both family members, first wives, colleagues and schools piers get to share their takes on, and interactions with, a genius but complicated man.
A lot of the names that pop up in this book are well known from history, but also from his first book, and most recently from the blockbuster movie “Oppenheimer”.

Von Neumann’s name will forever be linked with Los Alamos and the Manhattan project, but this book covers so much more. It depicts a person with strengths and weaknesses, gifts and flaws, and it shows that some of the brightest minds are sadly also the most troubled.

What truly makes Labatut stand out as an author is his extraordinary ability to show the complexities of being a human. He shows the delicate balance between genius and madness with such tenderness and so vividly that it is impossible not to be utterly taken by the story.
He shows the destructive powers that can lie within new discoveries, and paints a devastating but frighteningly realistic picture of how some our greatest discoveries might also be what most threatens our existence. He balances highly technical terms and concepts with the most relatable of human emotions, and it makes it such an intimate and impactful read.

Just like the genius’s he so often features in his work, Labatut too is gifted. It takes a writer of immense talent to tell the stories he does, in the way that he does. And I’m in awe!

The book is divided into three parts, a sort of prologue and an epilogue. The first part focuses on Neumann’s early life, the second follows him from his time workin on the Manhattan project at Los Alamos until the creation of MANIAC I, a computer based on Neumann’s own IAS architecture. It was a computer designed to perform calculations on the thermonuclear process. The third and last part of this book focuses on the later parts of Neumann’s life.

There are many people involved in telling his story and through their point of view, we also get to know more about the often tragic and troubled fates that awaited the dazzlingly brilliant circle around him.

This book is absolutely perfect for those who loved Labatut’s first book and for those who enjoyed the movie “Oppenheimer”.

Review contains spoilers.

Labatut's first novel, When we Cease to Understand the World*, absolutely knocked me sideways. I'd never read anything like it - a heady, manic mash up of truth, fiction, and something almost in between the two. It's a book that's stayed in my mind ever since I first read it, and now, with The Maniac, Labatut is back and I'm glad to report it absolutely doesn't disappoint.

The Maniac tells the story of mathematical genius Janus (John) von Neumann, from the points of view of those surrounding him, following his journey from precocious childhood, his achievements in physics and mathematics, and his work on the atomic bomb. The Maniac is hard reading in places, with Labatut's skilful weaving of fact and fiction painting a devastating picture of the interplay between genius and callousness. Particularly hard hitting is von Neumann's calculations of the exact height from which to drop the bombs for maximum devastation and his abstinence in signing a joint letter to President Eisenhower, in which a group of nuclear physicists hope that the bombs they developed are never used. 

The main section of the book, concerning von Neumann, is told by those who work and live alongside him - school friends, colleagues, spouses. The overall picture is chilling, detailed and ultimately devastating. I found Labatut's writing to show a sort of ease with which horrific weapons can be developed in the name of scientific advancement, and an apparent casualness in the work of some of the most intelligent minds employed to work on those weapons. The Maniac differs in tone from Labatut's previous book - although the commentary concerning von Neumann's seeming lack of morality may touch on similar concepts. At what point does genius become madness? The Maniac, however, hints at a darkness present at the limits of knowledge - not madness, individually, but the transmutation of that knowledge into ultimate power and the consequences that follow.

The Maniac begins, and ends, with separate sections which seem to be mostly factual, although there is no indication as to which parts may or may not be fictionalised - and as someone unversed in the intricacies of chess tournaments, I would have no idea! The book begins with an account of Paul Ehrenfest, a physicist, becoming increasingly disillusioned by developments in the field and overwhelmed by societal implications for his disabled son. Terribly, Ehrenfest kills his son and commits suicide immediately afterwards. For me, this opening chapter has echoes of When We Cease To Understand The World - the tipping point between genius and madness. After von Neumann's death, the book ends with a detailed account of the development of artificial intelligence, specifically relating to chess and the game Go, and the ability to defeat human players. As we enter this new world of AI and unknown power, we need to remember the consequences that may follow when pushing the limits of knowledge. A full 5 stars - I loved this.

The Maniac feels like a spiritual successor of When We Cease to Understand the World, as Labatut continues to blend non-fiction and fiction expertly to draw attention to some of the most profound (and oft forgotten) minds of the 20th century. Disturbing, visceral and thought-provoking.

Labatut has firmly cemented himself as one of my favourite authors. No-one else conveys through such gorgeous language the almost ethereal descriptions of some of our greatest minds, and how genius can transform into madness.

This book is a perfect companion to Oppenheimer, with the vast majority of the book focusing on Johnny von Neumann's discoveries and work on the Manhattan Project and beyond. This section is the greatest piece of writing I have experienced from Labatut, as he weaves through von Neumann's life told from the 1st person perspective of his family, friends, colleagues, and adversaries. I adored how many different individual voices were brought to life in creating such a beautiful and unsettling mosaic of the man.

The von Neumann section is bookended by two short pieces, that whilst extremely well executed, didn't quite live up to the brilliance of the middle.

Truly, you should read Benjamin Labatut! I would recommend reading When We Cease to Understand the World first, but the MANIAC will be on your list after reading it, I promise you!

Benjamin Labatut loves writing about geniuses, he appears endlessly fascinated by great minds and their proclivity to descend into madness.

But more than about big brains, this wholly immersive 'work of fiction based on facts' is about the rise of technology and how computers and artificial intelligence have pushed beyond all human limits.

In 'the MANIAC' the big star is Hungarian-American mathematician John von Neumann, possibly the smartest person that ever lived but somehow little known today. Von Neumann is a fascinating subject indeed, involved as he was in so many fields, from the foundations of mathematics to the development of the atomic bomb in the Manhattan Project to game theory to the building of the first computers (the MANIAC is the name of the computer he built in the '50s) to theories about spacecraft and artificial intelligence. He is an interesting character as well, which Labatut describes in his brilliant and accessible style we know from his first book When We Cease To Understand the World.

A clear 5 stars, very impressive and very scary as well. And many thanks to Penguin for the ARC - this was my most anticipated book for 2023 and it did not disappoint.

4.5. Right now, I don't think it's quite as good as Labatut's When We Cease to Understand the World that just blew me away. I still think about that novel's opening "Prussian Blue" and his pure skill in executing that chapter. In fact, at work this week I tried to explain it to someone I work with, S., and failed. S. is an incredible listener; he's the quiet sort. He's training as an art teacher. He's taller than me (and I'm tall), wears round tortoise-shell glasses and pastel shirts. I've discovered you could, probably, talk for an infinite amount of time and he would listen. Even when you pause to gather your thoughts, he stands patiently and waits. When it's certainly his time to speak, he proceeds as if playing chess (which he plays, and is topical, in part, to this novel), with great caution. Sometimes whole seconds will pass in the middle of a sentence as he weighs up his next word choice. I told him I was reading Labatut's newest, his English language debut, which is out in September and told him to read it when he came out. He said he would (and I believe him, for I've mentioned things in passing before and he's told me, on seeing him later in the same week, that he read/watched/ate whatever I had recommended. A rare breed).

At the heart of The MANIAC is the Manhattan Project. This book almost felt like an accidental precursor to Nolan's upcoming Oppenheimer. But, instead, focussing on one of the greatest minds to walk the planet: Jon Von Neumann. His programming machine was named Mathematical Analyser, Numerical Integrator and Computer, or, as the full-caps title alludes to, MANIAC for short. Labatut, as he did with his last novel, explores the often married ideas of genius and madness. Neumann was the man who calculated the exact distance to explode the bomb above Hiroshima (rather than at ground level) to cause the maximum amount of destruction. For the scientists, it seemed, the matter of lives meant nothing: the science was too exciting; they were pioneering their field and the results, mass destruction and death, appeared almost inconsequential. It is the largest part of the three in the book, and is constructed with many short chapters, all from a different perspective drawing a wide and sweeping image of Neumann's intellect and cold genius.

I'm reviewing this out of order, but part one is about Paul Ehrenfest. As Labatut tells us in the first sentence: he kills his additional needs son and then himself. This is the result of the Second World War's use and advancement in science and physics as a way of creating mass destruction. Part three accelerates to the 21st century and shows a number of geniuses who created AI systems for playing chess and Go. Demis Hassabis spearheads these creations after seeing the late work of Neumann. So Labatut jumps to here to see how science has progressed even further, away from weaponry, perhaps, but just as terrifyingly, in some ways, to artificial intelligence. The ultimate question in this part is the same old: can it ever replace or outdo human thought? I thought after leaving the madness of Neumann's world and the atomic bombs, reading about a man playing Go against a machine would be dull, but I suppose Labatut is incapable of writing anything in a boring matter. Probably one of my favourite writers working today. This is his field: madness, genius and destruction. A haunting, compulsive book about what human beings do for science.

Cannot express enough thanks to Pushkin Press for sending me this advance copy for review.

Absolutely the best thing I've read this year (even though this comment might work better later in the year), and to put it simply I'm just so blown away but blissfully blown away. I'm in ecstatic little pieces about the book. The writing is spectacular, and the style? Superior to most texts, to say the least. It's just exactly the kind of writing that I love. I love how well-balanced and beautiful yet informative it is. Would highly recommend this to anyone, really. Judging from the accolades Labatut had received for his previous book, I don't think any compliment that I am to give or have given would suffice. It's just self-explanatory; the brilliance of the work speaks for itself. The attention to details, and how neatly the entire thing was organised impresses me to no ends. The first half explores a bunch of scientists and their work, their life, everything in between. Me explaining just that may come across as 'oh just another dull historical fiction', but it's really not. I can't even say what 'genre' it is. Genre-defying, if anything. Mid section reveals early nuclear experimentation with every bizarre element written so incredibly well it challenges one's 'moral stance' to give in to the pleasure of reading the text. The book closes up with what may seem to be the most appropriate homage to the game of 'Go' and how it influenced the progress and technological advancement with relevance to 'AI' or Artificial Intelligence. I have to say I'm kind of obsessed. Remarkably humane, yet shockingly extraordinary.
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The MANIAC is an extraordinary follow-up to Labatut's previous book, Un verdor terrible (When We Cease to Understand the World). When We Cease was itself extraordinary, a brilliant marriage of experimental form and thematic insight. The MANIAC is formally more coherent, perhaps at the expense of some of When We Cease's innovation, but the coherence is important because Labatut has important things to say here. The central section of the book is focused on John von Neumann, a penetrating and haunting exploration of the separation of science from moral concerns. The first and third sections are shorter and read more like narrative nonfiction, appendages that connect backwards and forwards: the first part mirroring the themes of When We Cease and the third part a nod to the nascent rise of artificial intelligence circa a few years ago. Labatut is less concerned with concrete conclusions about AI and more interested in a certain turn of mind endemic to post-Neumann science. The tone of this is at times clinical, a chilling touch that holds characters' inner lives at arm's length. It can feel like an anti-humanist approach to characterization, facts over feelings, that is of a piece with the themes. Many thanks to the US Publisher, Penguin Press, for making a digital ARC available via Netgalley.

With The Maniac Benjamin Labatut confirms himself as one of the most original and relevant writers today. He has a very personal and new way to blend fiction and non-fiction, which is his thing. But there's something more in his writing, something brilliant and visceral, with remembrances of the GOAT, Roberto Bolano. Excellent book, indeed.

The MANIAC by Benjamín Labatut is a remarkable piece of literature that weaves together elements of reality and imagination, creating a narrative that compels us to contemplate the profound existential inquiries that define our human experience. With its beauty and relentless momentum, the novel provokes us to confront the most fundamental questions that shape our existence.

When We Cease to Understand the World instantly became one of my all time favourite books in 2020 and I have been impatiently awaiting this next installment ever since. The MANIAC very lightly fictionalises advances in 20th century physics from the development of the nuclear bomb to the advent of AI, focusing largely on the life of Hungarian polymath Jon Van Neumann. Polyphonic, terrifying and utterly beautiful, the story turns out to be a real page-turner.

Benjamin’s Labatut’s “When We Cease to Understand the World”, as translated by Adrian Nathan West was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize (where it was only beaten by a stable mate from Pushkin Press). A brilliant and intellectually stimulating book it was a clever blend of fact and non-fiction based novel – starting with an almost entirely non-fiction section, then two short stories and a novella (with the fictional content increasing each time) and with a short meta-fictional conclusion.

Its subject was described in the book itself as “what happens when we reach the edges of science; when we come face to face with what we cannot understand. It is about what occurs to the human mind when it pushes past the outer limits of thought, and what lies beyond those limits.” – proceeding via the chemical production of both fertilizers and death camp gases, to the scientist Karl Schwarzcschild (a general relativist), the abstract mathematicians Mochizuki and Alexander Grothendieck to the meat of the book – the two (Schrodinger and Heisenberg/Bohr) rival interpretations of Quantum mechanics and those scientists links to the US and German atomic war programmes.

Now this novel is in many ways a sequel to that book – interestingly though not-translated with the author writing (I believe) his first English language novel.

It is though I would say a less innovative blend of fiction/non-fiction: with two almost (if not) entirely non-fictional sections bookending what is for the large part a relatively conventional fictional retelling of fact – using the not uncommon device of having a range of different first party characters effectively assembling for the reader by their reminiscences, a biography of the central character – the brilliantly and almost unbelievably widely prolific, but seemingly morally vacuous, Hungarian-American mathematician, physicist, scientist, engineer, inventor of Game Theory, the Mutually-Assured-Destruction policy, vital and (in contrast to many of his fellow scientists) enthusiastic participant in the Manhattan Project – János/John/Jonnie von Neumann.

The first section “PAUL: or The Discovery of the Irrational” is the most obvious follow on from the earlier novel. A short and very factual section (around 10% of the book), it tells of the life (and death by suicide) of the Austrian Physicist Paul Ehrenfest. A contemporary of Bohr, Dirac, Pauli and Einstein and seen by all as a peer for his ability to synthesise, teach and his insistence on getting to “the leaping point, the heart of the matter” and seeking for a deep understanding of Physics – acting as something of a Conscience for the subject. Ehrenfest though became increasingly depressed by a combination of the rising Nazification of Germany and the implications for his institutionalised and handicapped son (who he murdered immediately before his suicide) and by the (for him) descent of Physics into illogical results justified by tricks, “brute-force artillery and mathematical formulae” – thus rendering him unable to bring his usual insights to bear.

The middle section “JOHN or The Mad Dreams of Reason” forms not just the bulk (around 65%) but the heart of the novel from which it draws its real impact – a section that is in many ways chilling to read. As per the above it tells the life of John von Neumann through a series of first party accounts by a those who encounter him both in Hungary and later America – from birth family, to early tutors, to wife and daughter, friends and particularly colleagues across the disciplines of Physics, Mathematical Economics, IT and Biology, including: Richard Fenyman (who recounts the story of Von Neumann’s involvement with the Manhattan Project), Eugene Wigner (another Hungarian Physicist) , Oskar Morgenstern (who developed Game Theory with von Neumann), Julian Bigelow (who worked with von Neumann on his first computer) and the eccentric Artificial Life researcher Nils Aall Barricelli. The accounts are mainly conventional in nature (effectively like the edited scripts of talking head documentaries) and factual in content (with perhaps only Barricelli’s account really having an imaginative leap). The section has a huge breadth of linked ideas ,and while the breadth and links are perhaps owed much more to the subject than the author, nevertheless this is an impressive piece of synopsis. Von Neumann is seen by those around him as almost unhuman in his incredible ability not just to range across subjects and disciplines but to practically invent and develop them from nothing; but he also comes across as unfeeling and amoral – for example not signing the letter from his fellow Manhattan Project scientists asking for the bomb not to be dropped but instead working out the height at which it should detonate to cause maximum deaths, later developing much of modern computing (and the titular computer) with the aim of developing a post War Hydrogen Bomb.

The final section “LEE or The Delusions of Artificial Intelligence” is in my view overly long (some 25%) and a missed opportunity. It tells the development of computers to take on and beat the world’s best players in Chess, and the main focus, Go – including the pivotal defeat of Sodol Lee by the Alpha Go machine. The content, again as far as I can see, is not just entirely factual but also I think well rehearsed . The style reminded me as a I read of a series of WIRED articles.

And while I understand that the idea of Games is one that holds the novel together and that the author makes explicit links between von Neumann and Chess/Go (references to Go tournaments at the Manhattan Project, the MANIAC computer being the first that could defeat a human opponent at chess (admittedly an unskilled human and a rudimentary version of the game) – I felt that there were opportunities missed: for example the second section ends with a discussion of the technological singularity and particularly for a late 2022 publication the lack of any reference to large language model chatbots is glaring; further I was surprised not to see a reference to Quantum computing which would have been an opportunity not just perhaps to add a more fictional / dream like aspect to this section (rather than a complete reversal to straight, if engagingly written, non-fiction) but also a chance to link to the ideas of both the first part of this novel and to the core of its predecessor.

So a very good book but which I feel missed the opportunity to be excellent and feels a slight regression from “When We Cease to Understand the World”. (although so are most books!)

As a descendant of a nuclear test veteran, the second I saw the cover of this one, I knew I had to read it.

This did feel to me that it was written like it was fact rather than fiction, and I know that there are blurred lines with what is fact and fiction here, but I wasn't sure about this.

The subject matters are eerie, and dark, but important.

Thought provoking, if not a little stressful!