This book really walks the literary high wire, and Roberts not only keeps his balance, he makes the spectacle compelling. I can’t think of another such ostentatiously clever novel that is so dramatically successful, as rigorous psychologically as it is logically. Like Kant’s thing in itself, Roberts’s eponymous novel does not fit into any standard categories.
ReadTo be truly empowered we need both to better understand the information we are given, and to realise that the biggest abuses of information concern how it is used, not how it is gathered.
ReadOliver Sacks had the expertise of a neuroscientist, the mind of a philosopher and the voice of a poet. Excelling in all three domains, he was one of those rare writers and thinkers who was able to to make us see ourselves differently.
ReadToo many guides for novices are pedestrian trudges through the key names and topics in a subject. Like the best introductions, this is more manifesto than textbook, making a convincing case for its subject by explaining why it is both important and interesting. There is no better, clearer case for why both science and philosophy matter and why neither can replace the other.
ReadEmotional suffering is real and that there should be no shame in seeking the help of others to diminish it. Whether it has an agreed name and a scientific definition is secondary.
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