White Light

This is the earliest of the Rucker bks I've read & probably my favorite. The simple premise of a math professor who has out-of-body experiences when he naps is expanded to a wild ride that's part hallucinogenic daydream, part semi-serious attempt to address notions of how to demonstrate that there aren't one-to-one mappings of specific infinities. The result was completely engrossing & entertaining for me & is proof 'positive' that Rucker's one heckuva imaginative guy. Thank the holy ceiling light for nerd culture.

spoilers ahead

This was Rucker at his peak, alef-two levels of imagination in this book. I really really enjoyed the thoughts on infinity and especially when the characters were in Cimon. I really don't know another author who can intertwine the math, characters, and humor like Rucker can. Wasn't the biggest fan of the ending, though, while I really enjoyed the twist, I don't really get why Kathy started acting so selfish out of nowhere. At least that's how I feel in my first read (yes I know what Jesus told him, but based on her actions). I feel as though there was potential with having them both inhabiting the same body. Also, April was definitely annoying and usually just portrayed to be the nagging wife (very typical... ) which I did show more not like, and Rucker himself acknowledges this in the afterword. Despite this, this book has really high re readability, I'm really glad I read it. show less

I have to warn you, "White Light" ends weakly. And when it does, with a whimper much less than a bang, it is all the more disappointing, because what led to the finale is so intensely captivating, and even in places, instructional.

The story is of 'infinity,' as told by a mathematician with a poet's heart. Rucker constructs a convincing parallel universe ruled by infinity, populated with characters that deserve as good as Lewis Carroll could give, and more; there is a sense of sadness and loss always, and confusion reigns supreme.

Were it not for the ending, this could have been a true modern classic.

This is a very strange novel that won't be to everyone's taste, but I found it mostly fascinating. It's one of those 1970s-ish (published in 1980, but presumably written prior!) which feel free to picaresquely gambol through plot, characters, etc, in a non-neat-and-tidy way, a la some John Barthes, Jack Vance, and also reminded me (though I liked this much better) of the very strange Autumn Angels, in terms of the extreme powers expressed here.

Also a nice introduction to the concept of multiple infinities, if you weren't aware that's a thing (it's a thing, apparently--there's not infinity, there are infinities, are some are bigger than others).

Fun!

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = show more disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). show less

This book was not a page-turner for me, but was a quick and enjoyable read. I liked the various mathematical analogies and allusions, but I thought other descriptions were a bit over-the-top at times and tiresome.

An adventure with astral bodies and infinity.