emtees's review
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I spent the first 2/3 of this book wishing it were a novel, or even a series of novels, because the ideas and hints at larger stories within it were so compelling. But by the end I changed my mind. Mandelbrot the Magnificent works because it is a novella; it’s perfectly suited to its short length.
The titular Mandelbrot is a Jewish teenager growing up in France during World War II. While the adults in his life worry about Hitler’s advancement across Europe and the increased danger to Jewish people, Mandelbrot cares about only one thing: mathematics. Inspired by his Uncle Szolem, a talented mathematician, he focuses all his attention on learning how to solve more and more complex equations, advancing beyond his fellow students and probing at secrets beyond the mundane material world. But when his skill gains some unwanted attention, he turns to math again, this time to find a way to save his family from the Nazis.
So first of all, this is a story where magic is math - or rather, math is math and that’s magical, because Mandelbrot, narrating the story in his old age, never talks about magic, only numbers, equations, the patterns of the world. This means that a portion of this short book is taken up with describing different types of math, drawing out equations, discussing the work of different famous mathematicians. I’m not a math person and I have no idea how much the author relied on real mathematic theories, but her writing on the topic is clear and I was mostly able to follow the ideas involved. Late in the book, concepts from the Kabbalah are introduced and the story gets a bit more mystical, but the basic premise of an ordinary, if brilliant, boy figuring out how to do incredible things with numbers holds up. Meanwhile, the setting, characters and themes are all strong. There is a sense of a larger stories going on around Mandelbrot, but this book is narrowly focused and I ended up liking that more than I thought I would.
The titular Mandelbrot is a Jewish teenager growing up in France during World War II. While the adults in his life worry about Hitler’s advancement across Europe and the increased danger to Jewish people, Mandelbrot cares about only one thing: mathematics. Inspired by his Uncle Szolem, a talented mathematician, he focuses all his attention on learning how to solve more and more complex equations, advancing beyond his fellow students and probing at secrets beyond the mundane material world. But when his skill gains some unwanted attention, he turns to math again, this time to find a way to save his family from the Nazis.
So first of all, this is a story where magic is math - or rather, math is math and that’s magical, because Mandelbrot, narrating the story in his old age, never talks about magic, only numbers, equations, the patterns of the world. This means that a portion of this short book is taken up with describing different types of math, drawing out equations, discussing the work of different famous mathematicians. I’m not a math person and I have no idea how much the author relied on real mathematic theories, but her writing on the topic is clear and I was mostly able to follow the ideas involved. Late in the book, concepts from the Kabbalah are introduced and the story gets a bit more mystical, but the basic premise of an ordinary, if brilliant, boy figuring out how to do incredible things with numbers holds up. Meanwhile, the setting, characters and themes are all strong. There is a sense of a larger stories going on around Mandelbrot, but this book is narrowly focused and I ended up liking that more than I thought I would.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Religious bigotry and War
Minor: Genocide
The story takes place during WWII and is mainly about Jewish characters, so the Holocaust is referenced, though only vaguely and in the background of the story. The main character experiences religious bigotry.caramm's review
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
inkdeathinbloom's review
5.0
This book was a little soft and a little heartbreaking. It leans on two factual premises: first, a generally historically accurate background on Benoit Mandelbrot and WWII, and the absolute marvel that is mathematics and scientific innovation- that it can be magical when it's new. Ziemska takes these two premises and combines them to blur the trauma of WWII. It's like an apology or a dream: how did we survive? Perhaps it's been blurred, or the hardest truths don't want to be remembered- but as is often the case when looking back on trauma, sometimes what we have faith in most is what saved us. A certain amount of magical thinking comes into play. And here, trauma is blurred by the magic of mathematics- a hiccuping apology, and it was sad and soft and beautiful and heartbreaking. Absolutely worth the hour it'll take you to read it.
tregina's review
5.0
A combination of biography and fiction, mathematics and magic, this novella is just breathtakingly (and at times heartbreakingly) good.
hanz's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
tambourine's review
4.0
loved the way that this book mixed maths and magic. i wanted more - it felt so short, even for a novella. but in that short space it built a rich, aching world. with cookies and dental equipment and ugly suits. more maths magic, please.
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