cvbazley's review against another edition
While thorough and well-researched, it is not a very captivating read (unless perhaps you are a mathematician). Much of it went over my head. The pieces about Alan’s life and discoveries are quite compelling, but the vast quantity of mathematical history is rather dry. I do not fault the author for this, as he is a mathematician, and I commend him for taking on this significant project. However, I must honestly say this book fell short of my expectations and became more of a chore than a pleasure to read. Nearly three years in, I abandoned it with 200 pages left.
sfletcher26's review against another edition
2.0
One of the most disappointing books I think I've ever read.
Its not that the person of Turing is uninteresting or his story anything other than fascinating it's just that Hodges telling of the story is mind numbingly overcomplicated and borders of Hagiography.
This book so needed a better editor, one strong enough to stop Hodges tendency to flights of fancy and help him simplify the text.
Its not that the person of Turing is uninteresting or his story anything other than fascinating it's just that Hodges telling of the story is mind numbingly overcomplicated and borders of Hagiography.
This book so needed a better editor, one strong enough to stop Hodges tendency to flights of fancy and help him simplify the text.
nicolemhill's review against another edition
2.0
Alan Turing was fascinating. So fascinating that I picked up this tome after seeing "The Imitation Game."
Alan Turing was fascinating, but this biography, exceedingly thorough to a fault, is not. It has all you could ever want to know, but loses some of Turing's personal richness in its effort to be exhaustive.
Alan Turing was fascinating, but this biography, exceedingly thorough to a fault, is not. It has all you could ever want to know, but loses some of Turing's personal richness in its effort to be exhaustive.
snippie99's review against another edition
3.0
I loved reading about Alan turings life and how brilliant of a man he was.
michael_k's review against another edition
3.0
It is the biography of A. Turing so it centers on his person and his work which is of course of great importance. However if one is more interested in Bletchley Park or the birth of computer age one would be best served by some other of the numerous books available on those subjects. The biography is exhaustive and well researched and manages to shed some light to his life and way of thinking but it is rather tiresome to read as the reader sometimes is lost on details.
draeprice's review against another edition
3.0
I would give this book 5 stars for historical textbook, but for the average reader, it's just too hard to understand. The history of computer science was interesting, but all the literary, political, philosophical and whatever-else-they-were references were too much. And switching between the Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland metaphors just made it harder to figure out. For the super-academic, this would be an awesome book. I'm still glad I read it.