Flash Review: When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut

- When We Cease to Understand the World. By Benjamín Labatut. Translated by Adrian Nathan West. Pushkin Press (2020).

- Started reading on 20230615, finished on 20230622.

Flash Review

20230615

Finished the first piece “Prussian Blue”. The story of Fritz Haber reminds me of a thought experiment I’ve read before in an essay by Wang Xiaobo:

A bad guy intentionally tripped a blind man, and as a result, the blind man miraculously regained his sight. Should the blind man be grateful to the bad guy?

20230616

Finished the 2nd story “Schwarzschild’s Singularity”. It’s a story about a real genius ruined, or at least consumed, by his enthusiastic patriotism involuntarily.

20230617

Finished the 3rd piece "The Heart of the Heart". I feel that Grothendick is an enhanced Steve Jobs in light of their spiritual life.

20230622

Finished the eponymous story “When We Cease to Understand the World". Though the existed metaphors seem to not be enough for quantum physics, the explanation about Heisenberg's uncertainty principle in the fourth chapter of this story is the most lucid one I have ever seen.

Finished the final story “the night gardener” and the acknowledgement. I thought the night gardener was the incarnation of the author's muse.

The book as a whole is a mesmerizing work; reading it resembles a great epiphany.

Hailong Hao