Scan barcode
katie_welcometomyescape's review
5.0
This book is completely out of my wheel house and I had no idea what I was in for when I picked it up randomly for an English project (not the best book for said project, I will say that). I constantly think back to this book and it was just so cool and original and I've never read anything like it.
One of my favourite quotes ever - "The philosophers sit with half-opened eyes and compare the aestetics of time."
One of my favourite quotes ever - "The philosophers sit with half-opened eyes and compare the aestetics of time."
elemomi's review
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
a11eycat's review
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.75
A series of vignettes imagining time in different ways, with occasional interludes in which Einstein does very little. It gives the impression of being gently profound; I'll allow that it is gentle, at least.
teresatumminello's review against another edition
4.0
Lightman -- interesting that his surname evokes Einstein -- has written a seemingly innocuous but profound little book. As I went through my daily chores today, any words rising to the surface of my consciousness as I thought of the review I would be writing later (which is now; though that 'now' exists no longer) sounded like cliches, easy to speak of Time in that way, as everything we say, think and do is full of references to Time and can be done only in Time.
Lightman's dream about the world (every 'world' is a version of Einstein's Berne) in which everyone is immortal immediately reminded me of the movie Zardoz. I saw it when I was in college in the early 80s and it made an immediate impact on the way I've thought about death since I was 10 years old.
I had trouble sleeping last night, my jaw tensing, and didn't feel like trying to put myself to sleep by writing this review in my head, so I turned the light back on for the third (or was it the fourth?) time to again pick up my next read; and the very next sentence was about Time:
Lightman's dream about the world (every 'world' is a version of Einstein's Berne) in which everyone is immortal immediately reminded me of the movie Zardoz. I saw it when I was in college in the early 80s and it made an immediate impact on the way I've thought about death since I was 10 years old.
I had trouble sleeping last night, my jaw tensing, and didn't feel like trying to put myself to sleep by writing this review in my head, so I turned the light back on for the third (or was it the fourth?) time to again pick up my next read; and the very next sentence was about Time:
In History Beyond Trauma ... two psychoanalysts who have done extensive work in the field, address this curious alteration of time among those who have been traumatized. "'Once upon a time,'" they write, "becomes Once upon not time.'" Trauma memory has no narration. Stories always take place in time. They have a sequence, and they are always behind us. ...
(from [a:Siri Hustvedt|40851|Siri Hustvedt|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1262566327p2/40851.jpg]'s [b:The Shaking Woman, or A History of My Nerves|7055093|The Shaking Woman, or A History of My Nerves|Siri Hustvedt|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1312052466s/7055093.jpg|7306302])
As I was gathering up the household garbage a little while ago (as I revise this, not such "a little while ago") for tomorrow's pick-up and thinking of this book and how Time is essential to any writing, I remembered once hearing that there can be no such thing as a true Zen Buddhist novel, which brought to mind Lightman's story of a world in which Time is composed only of images. The 'story' becomes a mere list and, though it's a pretty list, it would've quickly turned boring if it had gone on much longer. And though it may no longer have been a story, the list couldn't have been written without Time.
m_h_'s review
challenging
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This book reminds me of a road trip that my family took a few years ago. To fight the boredom of the central California interstate corridor, we played Would You Rather? for an hour or so.
Our questions were taking a philosophical turn, so I asked, "Would you rather never know where you are or never know what time it is?" My parents asked for more specifics (eg, "What if you ask for directions?" and "Do you at least know day versus night?"). They both finally chose not knowing what time it is. We turned to my sister. She had been sobbing silently because both options seemed equally horrible and stressful to her. I was told we were no longer allowed to play that game.
Anyway, I think I'll recommend this book to her!
Our questions were taking a philosophical turn, so I asked, "Would you rather never know where you are or never know what time it is?" My parents asked for more specifics (eg, "What if you ask for directions?" and "Do you at least know day versus night?"). They both finally chose not knowing what time it is. We turned to my sister. She had been sobbing silently because both options seemed equally horrible and stressful to her. I was told we were no longer allowed to play that game.
Anyway, I think I'll recommend this book to her!
sydneyrp143's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
fionnualalirsdottir's review
How do you check the time?
If you spend a lot of time on your computer, you may simply swivel your eyes to the top right-hand corner of the screen. Or perhaps you wear a wrist watch so all you have to do is move your head slightly to check the time. Maybe you rely on your phone and then you have to make more of an effort, you have to put your hand in your pocket, pull out the phone and switch it on. No? You carry your phone in your hand at all times? Then checking the time has never been easier.
In the spring of 1905, the people of Berne had to make a bigger effort to check the time. Those were the days when mobile phones didn’t exist and clocks were less reliable. You’ve forgotten that, haven’t you? That clocks used to run at different speeds, that your clock might lose several minutes a day while your neighbour's was always fast, or vice-versa. And if you forgot to wind your clock, or mislaid the key, you lost track of the time completely, unless, of course, there was a friendly German clock-winder in the vicinity, but that’s another story which I won't waste time on right now.
Back to the people of Berne and the efforts they made to check the time. Berne has a famous clock tower dating back to the thirteenth century, the Zytgloggeturm (take your time).
Every afternoon, the townspeople of Berne convene at the west end of Kramgasse. There, at four minutes to three, the Zytgloggeturm pays tribute to time. High on the turret of the tower clowns dance, roosters crow, bears play fife and drum, their mechanical movements and sounds synchronised exactly by the turning of gears, which, in turn, are inspired by the perfection of time. At three o’clock precisely, a massive bell chimes three times, people verify their watches and then return to their offices on Speichergasse, their shops on Marktgasse, their farms beyond the bridges of the Aare.
The bears mentioned in that quote don’t all appear every day. No, every bear has six days off so the townspeople always know which day of the week it is from the attributes of the bear which appears just before the clock strikes the hour; the Sunday bear is white, for example.
So the clock also served as a calendar and its giant face showed the position of the sun, the phases of the moon, the date and the seasons. Anyone living and working within sight of that clock had their very own giant app full of time related information available at the merest swivel of the eye. And there you were thinking those must have been such primitive times.
Far from it.
This book opens at six o’clock in the morning in an office on Speichergasse where a young man, who would later become the most famous man of his century, perhaps of all time, has just spent many hours putting the finishing touches to his new Theory of Time. He has been working on the theory for months, and his dreams as well as his waking life have been preoccupied with examining all the possible variations of time that may exist and the relative consequences for the world and those who live in it.
The rest of the book recounts Alan Lightman’s version of those dreams: the people of Berne living their lives, working and sleeping but not necessarily in the world of time as we know it, so that a husband might be rich and successful in one time world, poor in another, a wife might be faithful when time runs rapidly on, unfaithful when it slows down.
Lightman’s language is simple, his ideas are accessible and by the time you finish this book, you will be convinced that you yourself actually lived in Berne in the spring of 1905, perhaps on Speichergasse, or maybe on Marktgasse or preferably along the leafy, sunny banks of the river Aare.
And now you are four minutes older than you were before you started reading this review.
And if you want to be another four minutes older but not necessarily unhappy about it, have a listen to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDpT4U2np74
If you spend a lot of time on your computer, you may simply swivel your eyes to the top right-hand corner of the screen. Or perhaps you wear a wrist watch so all you have to do is move your head slightly to check the time. Maybe you rely on your phone and then you have to make more of an effort, you have to put your hand in your pocket, pull out the phone and switch it on. No? You carry your phone in your hand at all times? Then checking the time has never been easier.
In the spring of 1905, the people of Berne had to make a bigger effort to check the time. Those were the days when mobile phones didn’t exist and clocks were less reliable. You’ve forgotten that, haven’t you? That clocks used to run at different speeds, that your clock might lose several minutes a day while your neighbour's was always fast, or vice-versa. And if you forgot to wind your clock, or mislaid the key, you lost track of the time completely, unless, of course, there was a friendly German clock-winder in the vicinity, but that’s another story which I won't waste time on right now.
Back to the people of Berne and the efforts they made to check the time. Berne has a famous clock tower dating back to the thirteenth century, the Zytgloggeturm (take your time).
Every afternoon, the townspeople of Berne convene at the west end of Kramgasse. There, at four minutes to three, the Zytgloggeturm pays tribute to time. High on the turret of the tower clowns dance, roosters crow, bears play fife and drum, their mechanical movements and sounds synchronised exactly by the turning of gears, which, in turn, are inspired by the perfection of time. At three o’clock precisely, a massive bell chimes three times, people verify their watches and then return to their offices on Speichergasse, their shops on Marktgasse, their farms beyond the bridges of the Aare.
The bears mentioned in that quote don’t all appear every day. No, every bear has six days off so the townspeople always know which day of the week it is from the attributes of the bear which appears just before the clock strikes the hour; the Sunday bear is white, for example.
So the clock also served as a calendar and its giant face showed the position of the sun, the phases of the moon, the date and the seasons. Anyone living and working within sight of that clock had their very own giant app full of time related information available at the merest swivel of the eye. And there you were thinking those must have been such primitive times.
Far from it.
This book opens at six o’clock in the morning in an office on Speichergasse where a young man, who would later become the most famous man of his century, perhaps of all time, has just spent many hours putting the finishing touches to his new Theory of Time. He has been working on the theory for months, and his dreams as well as his waking life have been preoccupied with examining all the possible variations of time that may exist and the relative consequences for the world and those who live in it.
The rest of the book recounts Alan Lightman’s version of those dreams: the people of Berne living their lives, working and sleeping but not necessarily in the world of time as we know it, so that a husband might be rich and successful in one time world, poor in another, a wife might be faithful when time runs rapidly on, unfaithful when it slows down.
Lightman’s language is simple, his ideas are accessible and by the time you finish this book, you will be convinced that you yourself actually lived in Berne in the spring of 1905, perhaps on Speichergasse, or maybe on Marktgasse or preferably along the leafy, sunny banks of the river Aare.
And now you are four minutes older than you were before you started reading this review.
And if you want to be another four minutes older but not necessarily unhappy about it, have a listen to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDpT4U2np74
marc129's review
3.0
I can imagine that unprepared readers will initially be surprised by this book: despite the title, Einstein is not immediately in view. The author jumps from one vignette to another – 30 in total, short stories that seem to vaguely philosophize about the phenomenon of time, a strange collection of thoughts and ideas, seemingly without meaning. But nothing could be further from the truth. Most pieces are situated in Bern and the surrounding area, the place where Einstein developed his theory of relativity, and the grandmaster himself also appears in the interludes. So maybe, yes. And then you realize that Lightman has moved into Einstein's head, following his thoughts on how strange the phenomenon of time is. And so this becomes a thorough exploration of the theme of time, in the form of thought experiments: what if life only lasted 1 day, or on the contrary, lasted forever? What if there were no future, or time were discontinuous? Would it impact our experience of time? Lightman makes it clear that it would all make a serious difference. The vignettes may be light-hearted fantasies that occasionally remind us of the games of Jorge Borges. But there is a system and a message behind it: time is elusive, but it does make a difference to a real-life person.