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A review by sidharthvardhan
A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash by Sylvia Nasar
3.0
‘Omne ignotum pro magnifico” The unknown is great. (Yes I did it. I just started a review with a Greek phrase.) This sums my experience in reading memoirs or biographies of the great people. We are complex creatures and in our daily lives are aware of the fact but the views we form by reading about people in newspapers or over the net are exclusively black or white - we make them caricatures of heroes or villains. Reading in detail about them is way of correcting this hero worship.
‘A Beautiful Mind’ by Sylvia Nasar is enjoyable, well researched, well sourced, well worth reading and overall beautiful. The author is able to write not only about the people but also about Nash’s disorder as well as is able to draw a picture of Nash’s intellectual world that is otherwise so distant from most of us.
About Nash
Nash is not a very likable follow, not someone you would go out to have a pizza with. He has a great ability of irritating people using all sorts of ways - pranks, rude comments etc. The movie was highly biased towards him – hiding all his moron acts and helping us in maintaining an illusion of seeing him as a pure hero. I watched the movie before reading the book before reading the book and had loved it. Now I can’t hate the movie more.
Socially awkward he was, but that in itself is a poor reason to dislike someone. I would have still respected him if it wasn't for his behavior towards Eleanor and their son. I’m not questioning the recognition he got, he deserved much more but he would never get my respect. No one who ruins his child’s childhood can get any sort of respect from me. Understanding – may be yes, but never respect. If you have it that way, this is my prejudice.
About Book
It was overall a great book. For most part I enjoyed it but it is my dislikes (which are so few compared to things I liked) that I will list. The author has this irritating habit of reminding us how handsome Nash and Alicia were and felt a compulsion of quoting people on that. There are long introductions of people who have little role ton play in the book. The introductions of the places, essential in creating the atmosphere as they are, could be a little tamed. These are though minor defects for so good a book. I would have still given it all my stars, was it not this small matter of principle.
In the episode with Eleanor, Nash acts like a jerk. He (and Alicia too) seems to believe that they are somehow of higher breed. Nash ruins a woman’s life and his son’s childhood because of so lame an excuse. Eleanor is probably best person in the book and yet she is the one suffering the most. One of the author’s excuses was Nash’s being a great mathematician but that doesn't justify anything. Think for example what if same sort of thing would have come from a sportsperson. Brilliance in your job doesn't justify crimes in private life. That was the intellectual superiority complex at its worst. Nash tried to make a few very small and mostly poor corrections that weren't enough - too little, too late. Except for this little thing, Alicia comes out as a great woman - is true hero of both book and Nash's life. Still I can't help judging them both.
… But for that you can’t blame the book. George Orwell says something to line of ‘you shouldn't trust a biography that doesn't give you some dirt about its protagonist'. Had the author stopped there giving an objective (as far as possible) account of events, it would had been all more reason to like the book. Then, though she passes a moral judgment which won't still be an issue if it wasn't so poor judgement. With out giving any good reason to support it, she would have us to see Eleanor share the blame of her ruined relationship, that it was partly Eleanor’s fault that Nash was a jerk. It would seem that she supported Nash and Alicia’s notion of class. Whether she was trying to side with hero or actually believed these notions I can’t say. This though was enough for me to take away a star. As an author, you either stay objective or be agreeable - otherwise you can't avoid judgments. She was none for this part. While it may seem a small folly to you, to me it was very important.
Summing up
It almost always feels a bit guilty to read a biography (whether it was written with permission of the person or not.) You read about his or her personal life and form your opinions, we can’t be completely objective - no matter how hard we try. It is much easier to form judgments about a fictional character. With real life people you feel need to smooth-en your opinions. Still there is more in a good biography or memoirs than can be in any piece of fiction. To bring to life so complex person, through words is a great job and this book does that well.
‘A Beautiful Mind’ by Sylvia Nasar is enjoyable, well researched, well sourced, well worth reading and overall beautiful. The author is able to write not only about the people but also about Nash’s disorder as well as is able to draw a picture of Nash’s intellectual world that is otherwise so distant from most of us.
About Nash
Nash is not a very likable follow, not someone you would go out to have a pizza with. He has a great ability of irritating people using all sorts of ways - pranks, rude comments etc. The movie was highly biased towards him – hiding all his moron acts and helping us in maintaining an illusion of seeing him as a pure hero. I watched the movie before reading the book before reading the book and had loved it. Now I can’t hate the movie more.
Socially awkward he was, but that in itself is a poor reason to dislike someone. I would have still respected him if it wasn't for his behavior towards Eleanor and their son. I’m not questioning the recognition he got, he deserved much more but he would never get my respect. No one who ruins his child’s childhood can get any sort of respect from me. Understanding – may be yes, but never respect. If you have it that way, this is my prejudice.
About Book
It was overall a great book. For most part I enjoyed it but it is my dislikes (which are so few compared to things I liked) that I will list. The author has this irritating habit of reminding us how handsome Nash and Alicia were and felt a compulsion of quoting people on that. There are long introductions of people who have little role ton play in the book. The introductions of the places, essential in creating the atmosphere as they are, could be a little tamed. These are though minor defects for so good a book. I would have still given it all my stars, was it not this small matter of principle.
In the episode with Eleanor, Nash acts like a jerk. He (and Alicia too) seems to believe that they are somehow of higher breed. Nash ruins a woman’s life and his son’s childhood because of so lame an excuse. Eleanor is probably best person in the book and yet she is the one suffering the most. One of the author’s excuses was Nash’s being a great mathematician but that doesn't justify anything. Think for example what if same sort of thing would have come from a sportsperson. Brilliance in your job doesn't justify crimes in private life. That was the intellectual superiority complex at its worst. Nash tried to make a few very small and mostly poor corrections that weren't enough - too little, too late. Except for this little thing, Alicia comes out as a great woman - is true hero of both book and Nash's life. Still I can't help judging them both.
… But for that you can’t blame the book. George Orwell says something to line of ‘you shouldn't trust a biography that doesn't give you some dirt about its protagonist'. Had the author stopped there giving an objective (as far as possible) account of events, it would had been all more reason to like the book. Then, though she passes a moral judgment which won't still be an issue if it wasn't so poor judgement. With out giving any good reason to support it, she would have us to see Eleanor share the blame of her ruined relationship, that it was partly Eleanor’s fault that Nash was a jerk. It would seem that she supported Nash and Alicia’s notion of class. Whether she was trying to side with hero or actually believed these notions I can’t say. This though was enough for me to take away a star. As an author, you either stay objective or be agreeable - otherwise you can't avoid judgments. She was none for this part. While it may seem a small folly to you, to me it was very important.
Summing up
It almost always feels a bit guilty to read a biography (whether it was written with permission of the person or not.) You read about his or her personal life and form your opinions, we can’t be completely objective - no matter how hard we try. It is much easier to form judgments about a fictional character. With real life people you feel need to smooth-en your opinions. Still there is more in a good biography or memoirs than can be in any piece of fiction. To bring to life so complex person, through words is a great job and this book does that well.