mlovesbooks's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
gprell23's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
I need to reread it but... it has firmly shaped my worldview. it is incredible
lautir's review against another edition
4.0
Levin does a great job of approaching large theories and ideas in this book while making them understandable to someone with limited knowledge about physics (not that I can claim to understand all of the ones that were discussed).
I think she chose a smart sequence of ideas while tying them into the history of the field.
The only thing I didn't really care for was kind of how everything came back to her ex in the end. This is a guy who gets a few pages here and there but then his name ends up being the last word in the book. There wasn't enough about their relationship in the book to give him meaning to anyone other than the author so it took away from the bigger concepts that were being explored. I'm not sure why she decided to end the book that way and I'm a little bothered by it because I feel like no male writer would have (I do wonder what role publishers/editor may have had in this choice).
I think she chose a smart sequence of ideas while tying them into the history of the field.
The only thing I didn't really care for was kind of how everything came back to her ex in the end. This is a guy who gets a few pages here and there but then his name ends up being the last word in the book. There wasn't enough about their relationship in the book to give him meaning to anyone other than the author so it took away from the bigger concepts that were being explored. I'm not sure why she decided to end the book that way and I'm a little bothered by it because I feel like no male writer would have (I do wonder what role publishers/editor may have had in this choice).
miguelf's review against another edition
3.0
Sean Carrol recently gave this book as a recommendation in an interview on the Ezra Klein podcast as a tip for good books on physics. Though not overly technical, this seemed more of a physics book for physicists rather than one completely enjoyable for the layperson unfamiliar at all with the topics of geometric space time. The various descriptions of shapes and how those describe the fabric of the universe was a bit arcane, and then on top the style was very jagged going from one topic to another, as if the author suffered from ADHD. Then there was a lot of personal detail, as apparently it was originally written as letters to a family member. The various boyfriend issues didn’t exactly liven up the book. In sum, so many other more focused and mind expanding books on physics are available.
lexi_ja's review against another edition
wasn’t really enjoying it. the format is disjointed and makes for a difficult read. you alternate between hearing about the most mundane bits of everyday life in diary format to long explanations of abstract scientific concepts which makes for a weird flow. for me personally it didn’t work but i can see how some might enjoy it.
roseandfell's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Very possibly the best memoir I've ever read.