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Title: Gold Bug Variations by Richard Powers ISBN: 0060975008 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: January, 1994 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.19
Rating: 2
Summary: "Godel, Escher, Bach", anyone?
Comment: Let me start out by saying I am not a big fan of Richard Powers writing -- I don't dig the exceedingly self-conscious stories he crafts. But I had a much bigger problem with Gold Bug Variations than just the style. Did anyone else seem to think that the "brilliant" revelations in this book were lifted from the classic text on Artifical Intelligence (and Intelligence and a whole lot of other things) by Douglas Hofstadter "Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid"? The connection between coding and the interplay between molecular genetics and Bach and life in general was made long before (and far better and more wide-ranging) by Hofstadter. I could not get beyond the similarities between the two books, and feel that Powers diminished the power of Hofstadter's arguments.
So if any of you enjoyed that aspect of Gold Bug Variations (which I found to still be the most interesting part) then definitely read "Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid". It is a much more challenging, but also much more rewarding book.
Rating: 5
Summary: Powers is worth the intellectual effort involved.
Comment: This is one of my favorite novels, by one of my favorite authors. It reminded me of the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which had a great deal of influence on me in my adolescence. Both were "about" so many different subjects that one was inspired to explore further afterwards. Powers consistently whets my appetite for new subjects. Gold Bug Variations is the perfect example. How extaordinary to read a novel that compells one to run off and gather research material quite joyfully. I dug out my collection of Edgar Allan Poe, for Tale of the Gold Bug and borrowed a friend's Gould version of the Goldberg Variations. I dug out an encyclopedia to read about the days of early DNA research. I didn't have time last year to do the Art History reseach, but hope to reread the novel soon with that material at hand. And, a thousand blessings on Powers' head for allowing his wonderful heroine librarian to be so sexy, headstrong and brilliant. In other words, for portraying us just as we are. "Gas station attendant of the mind" indeed.
Rating: 5
Summary: Brilliant - and profoundly funny as well
Comment: A combination of stimulating scientific insight and breath-taking emotional turmoil, this book dissects the triangular relationship between a terminally inquisitive librarian, a genetics professor with a past and their initial go-between, a young computer operator at odds with the world.
Once more, Powers has written an omnidimensional and witty masterpiece that will leave the reader craving for more. I read the Dutch translation, which is, although not flawless, very true to the original in its depth, brilliance and humour.
Take a couple of days off and take your time to read this book - it's like an endless supply of vitamins for the mind and soul.
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Title: Galatea 2.2: A Novel by Richard Powers ISBN: 0060976926 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: May, 1996 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Prisoner's Dilemma by Richard Powers ISBN: 0060977086 Publisher: HarperCollins (paper) Pub. Date: April, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance by Richard Powers ISBN: 0060975091 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: May, 2001 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: The Time of Our Singing by Richard Powers ISBN: 0374277826 Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux Pub. Date: 22 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $28.00 |
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Title: Gain by Richard Powers ISBN: 0312204094 Publisher: Picador Pub. Date: 26 May, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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