Lagercrantz excellently captures the fearful thinking, homophobic culture and larger than life personalities of England during WWII

His brilliant descriptions of Alan Turing made me feel I was there seeing and hearing Turing. Amazing!

But reading endlessly about Leonard Corell's every thought or feeling; large or small, was irritating and tedious.

Fascinating novel about Alan Turing and his work, made into a journey of investigation by a detective who goes where he shouldn't really have. Contacts (fictional) former colleagues of Turing and learns about higher mathematics. And comes to modify his views about homosexuality. Insights into gay life which make it so surprising that it is a translation from Swedish. Found the end a bit disappointing, it wasn't what I was expecting.

I came to this after reading several other recent novels which feature/discuss Alan Turing (Murmurs, Machines Like Me, Frankissstein, for example). But actually this really isn't about Turing at all. OK, it starts with his suicide and towards the end of the book there are a couple of scenes set in Bletchley during the war, but otherwise this is a quiet, introspective novel which centres on the fictional character of Leonard Corell, the first policeman to arrive at the scene of Turing's suicide.

Corell, a young and disillusioned policeman, finds himself digging into Turing's past and seems to understand his character. Corell himself becomes the focus of investigations as his research takes him deeper and deeper into the murky world of coding and espionage.

An enjoyable, if slow, read, this is definitely *not* an 'electrifying thriller'. The figure of Alan Turing haunts the book, but from the shadows, at the margins. It's more of a character study of the young Corell, but also about how one man's legacy has been shaped and reshaped over time. A worthy read, for sure, but perhaps a little too slow for some. ( )

I enjoyed this book. It wasn't meant to be realistic. It was a book of popular science disguised as a novel of postwar England. The realism lay all in the post-war setting. Besides that, there was an almost Virginia Woolf-like focus on the internal life of the main character, and numerous entirely unlikely discussions of Turing's work and thoughts, and when that was too preposterous even for this book, flashbacks. I am eager to read a serious biography of Turing, though. ( )

This book is fantastic. Historical-Fiction is one of the best genres! Making history colorful fun and more accessible to the masses. I always feel I lose something with translations, but this one is worth the read. A tortured detective, a dead-too-soon maligned and lost hero. We don't need much more for a well written book.

The main events (with few appropriately placed flashbacks) take place immediately following Alan Turing's suicide on June 7, 1954. A genius, who won WWI for the West (fuck Churchill he sunk the Lusitania – go read 'Dead Wake'. Erik Larson might not have the balls to 'speculate' but it's not a big leap to make. Churchill was a dick.), dead at 41 from suicide. Pure unadulterated tragedy. Mostly/probably because he was gay? At any rate, a tragedy for the ages. I wish we could have known him longer. I wish humanity could have benefited from his beneficent genius longer. I wish, I wish.

Honestly! I could barely get thru the first few chapters. The amount of pathetic subservient moronic derision that Detective Constable Leonard Corell must deal with from his colleagues, simply regarding the sexual preferences of his current case, the suicide of Alan Turing, will be unbearable for some. But! It's historical fiction. Remember, it's 1954. It's not 2016 in the book. Suck it up. Alan deserves your attention. Good writing deserves your attention. And your respect.

To get thru the first few brutalizing chapters I had to take a breath and re-realize that people change, society changes, cultures change (AND THAT'S OKAY - Hopefully for the better. Like when Alan basically won WWII for us ingrates). I was reminded of Mark Twain's most famous works. We aren't in the world of those characters, of any characters we read. We are simply observing them. We cannot judge. We can only experience the view. Their experiences are their own, they are not ours. Judge not... and all that.

The epilogue is cathartic. It spoke to all of us. Who hasn't at some point thought about time travel, about alternate endings, mostly to make the world a better place? Well, Alan did. In real life. For all of us.

Before I wrap up, whose business is it how each of us prefers to achieve orgasm? Orgasm's are great. Whatever position or preference you choose, great. None, of, my, business. Live your life. Be a good person. Win WWII for humanity. Etc.

If Alan Turing was still alive. I'd like to think he'd be in a nursing home in Missouri, somewhere near Hannibal, MO (because Twain, and because accessible to the masses via centralized location in the Midwest). Alan would have an intermittent group of Sci-Fi writers, mathematicians, chess masters, physicists, astronomers and the like all visiting him. Sharing celestial observations and various new theories. Some sharing current breakthroughs based on modern computers. Most of them coming to Alan for advice, for guidance. For the unique view he had to the world. I might cry. I might ask for a hug. More likely I would have nothing to say, shy my way out, and pass by his room having not deigned to enter. As his door is shut to the world.

We, in 1954 post-war England chose to turn our backs on him. We will never know what we lost. At least we may console ourselves with our laptops and cellphones and English speaking fascist-free nations in the meantime. Thank you Alan. We'll all see you soon.


*I received this book free for an unbiased review* ( )