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kyallglennie's review against another edition
3.0
I don't think I'm smart enough to have enjoyed this book more.
ameljbost's review against another edition
I didn’t give the Passenger a rating so I don’t think I can do that for this one yet either.
I did enjoy this a lot more than the Passenger.
Cormac, I love you I swear but why did you have to make the brother and sister in love?
I did enjoy this a lot more than the Passenger.
Cormac, I love you I swear but why did you have to make the brother and sister in love?
modestothemouse's review against another edition
5.0
Beautiful. Sad. Mysterious. Erudite. Everything I’ve come to expect from McCarthy. He glimpses at the architecture of the universe in this one. Points to the unintelligible. Digs into the heart of reality. Alicia has seen and felt at the same time. I’ve run out of words for jt. Which I think might be the point.
emclev777's review against another edition
1.0
Oof. Want to read about mathematical theories you don’t understand for 200 pages? Then this is the book for you.
I was hoping this would tie up some loose ends from The Passenger but it absolutely did not.
I was hoping this would tie up some loose ends from The Passenger but it absolutely did not.
ceri1008's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Excellent read, but really understanding it depends some on one's facility with philosophy, mathematics, and quantum theory. It's kind of an Ingmar Bergman style book, with limited characters and setting, and everything depends on the conversations between two people.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness and Toxic relationship
mersatz's review against another edition
3.0
I have to give it a 3 because Cormac is my life, but I'm not smart enough to understand or enjoy most of this book. There was so much math and physics, and I barely made it out of Algebra 2. The passage about language evolving from no known need and possibly being more disruptive and harmful than not was super interesting.
mayatentoni's review against another edition
2.5
I’m pretty sure I did not entirely understand this book. Especially because I found out that it is supposed to be read after “The Passenger”. Nonetheless it is beautifully written, it deals with incredibly complex concepts and ideas without being unnecessarily baroque. It’s only cocky to the extent that Alicia is.
I don’t this the book will stay with me…
I don’t this the book will stay with me…
christine_kushner's review against another edition
3.0
Not what I expected, just picked it up on a whim. A novel entirely made up of conversations, as a woman and her therapist go back and forth about mathematics, philosophy, and life.
The audiobook is wonderfully read, and the performances make it clear how the dialogue flows. The print edition’s lack of structure was challenging, but I think that’s the point. I read this before picking up The Passenger, and I think I’m very glad I did.
The audiobook is wonderfully read, and the performances make it clear how the dialogue flows. The print edition’s lack of structure was challenging, but I think that’s the point. I read this before picking up The Passenger, and I think I’m very glad I did.
dr_henrywatson's review against another edition
4.0
Spoilers for both *Stella Maris* and *The Passenger*
*Stella Maris* consists of 7 sessions between a psychiatrist and Alice Western, a mathematics savant on an inevitable road towards suicide. This coda to *The Passenger* also recontextualizes that book: Alice tells her psychiatrist that her brother, Bobby, is in a coma after a racing crash. She believes he will never wake up, even saying that he is “brain dead” at one point. Did Bobby miraculously wake up? Or is the at-times dreamlike nature of *The Passenger* a reflection of Bobby’s comatose state, drifting towards death?
The book is entirely written in dialogue, and Cormac McCarthy’s dialogue dispenses with quotation marks or “he said” “she said”. Thankfully, Alice Western and Dr. Cohen have vivid voices. You can tell who is talking from a single sentence, which makes the book reasonably easy to follow, but is also a testament to McCarthy’s talent as a writer. This is a book of philosophical musings, some of which went over my head, but I think I got the gist.
Alice’s brilliant understanding of mathematics has not brought her peace or joy, but rather something closer to dread. Her intelligence has led her only deeper into despair, contemplating questions such as “When all trace of our existence is gone, for whom then will this be a tragedy?”
The passages in *Stella Maris* that discuss Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb were very interesting to me. The A-bomb represents a loss of innocence on a global scale, and a catastrophic result of mankind’s growing intelligence. “Anyone who doesn’t understand that the Manhattan Project is one of the most significant events in human history hasn’t been paying attention. It’s up there with fire and language.” This connects to Alice’s grim notion that “there was an ill-contained horror beneath the surface of the world and there always had been…And that to imagine that the grim eruptions of this century were in any way either singular or exhaustive was simply a folly.” When Alice dives deep into her subconscious, her deep thinking only leads her to a similar horrific presence, locked behind a gate: “The Archatron”. This hammers home something that McCarthy himself seems to be struggling with: there’s little joy to be found in a scientific/mathematical understanding of the world.
While all this is pretty bleak, I’m brought back to a line I marked in *The Passenger*: “Suffering is a part of the human condition and must be borne. But misery is a choice.” We can’t think our way out of despair — and indeed intelligence may lead us deeper into that hole — but we can still choose a different path.
*Stella Maris* consists of 7 sessions between a psychiatrist and Alice Western, a mathematics savant on an inevitable road towards suicide. This coda to *The Passenger* also recontextualizes that book: Alice tells her psychiatrist that her brother, Bobby, is in a coma after a racing crash. She believes he will never wake up, even saying that he is “brain dead” at one point. Did Bobby miraculously wake up? Or is the at-times dreamlike nature of *The Passenger* a reflection of Bobby’s comatose state, drifting towards death?
The book is entirely written in dialogue, and Cormac McCarthy’s dialogue dispenses with quotation marks or “he said” “she said”. Thankfully, Alice Western and Dr. Cohen have vivid voices. You can tell who is talking from a single sentence, which makes the book reasonably easy to follow, but is also a testament to McCarthy’s talent as a writer. This is a book of philosophical musings, some of which went over my head, but I think I got the gist.
Alice’s brilliant understanding of mathematics has not brought her peace or joy, but rather something closer to dread. Her intelligence has led her only deeper into despair, contemplating questions such as “When all trace of our existence is gone, for whom then will this be a tragedy?”
The passages in *Stella Maris* that discuss Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb were very interesting to me. The A-bomb represents a loss of innocence on a global scale, and a catastrophic result of mankind’s growing intelligence. “Anyone who doesn’t understand that the Manhattan Project is one of the most significant events in human history hasn’t been paying attention. It’s up there with fire and language.” This connects to Alice’s grim notion that “there was an ill-contained horror beneath the surface of the world and there always had been…And that to imagine that the grim eruptions of this century were in any way either singular or exhaustive was simply a folly.” When Alice dives deep into her subconscious, her deep thinking only leads her to a similar horrific presence, locked behind a gate: “The Archatron”. This hammers home something that McCarthy himself seems to be struggling with: there’s little joy to be found in a scientific/mathematical understanding of the world.
While all this is pretty bleak, I’m brought back to a line I marked in *The Passenger*: “Suffering is a part of the human condition and must be borne. But misery is a choice.” We can’t think our way out of despair — and indeed intelligence may lead us deeper into that hole — but we can still choose a different path.