Strange Attractors: Stories
by Rebecca Goldstein
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Description
"Rebecca Goldstein's first novel. The Mind-Body Problem, established her as a writer of uncommon talent and versatility. Her most recent, The Dark Sister, caused one reviewer to comment that, "with this book, one has the exhilarating sense of reading a writer who has discovered the full possibilities of her talent." And, as you might expect from a writer trained as a philosopher, Rebecca Goldstein turns the full force of her dazzling energy and intelligence to this, her first collection of show more stories. These are stories that carry the weight and complexity of novels, whose characters are so beautifully developed that they come to haunt the reader long after the last page has been turned. Only Rebecca Goldstein could give us a heroine who studies the mathematics of soap bubbles - and responds to the rapture of infatuation by reciting Shakespeare in Yiddish. And only Rebecca Goldstein could depict with unswerving accuracy a group of Olympian intellects made childlike by the appearance of a double rainbow in a French sky." "These are just some of the marvelous, magical, and unlikely things that happen in Strange Attractors - a collection of stories that reveals the deep, mysterious ties between seemingly unrelated lives. Goldstein is both an immensely gifted writer and erudite philosopher, and her characters think as intensely as they feel. Out of the interaction of thought and feeling, mind and heart, come these seven ambitious and splendidly witty explorations of the labyrinths of consciousness, the fragile mysteries of love, and the forces that - like the mathematical notion of "strange attractors" - bring a secret order to the chaotic randomness of life."--BOOK JACKET. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
I loved this short story collection. Just loved it. The stories were strange, eerie, delightful, fascinating, empowering, thought provoking. The author speaks in clear, natural prose and through such varied and solid characters - I would almost swear I'd been reading about real people. Simply lovely stories.
What a insightful collection of short stories by one of my all-time favorite American authors! As a bonus I was also so surprised and happy to meet the characters from Goldstein's book "Mazel" again.
I read the entire collection in a couple of sittings, and I was amazed at the scope of themes included - even though they all deal with "being Jewish" in one way or a another.
As much as I like Goldstein's novels, I sincerely hope she will write more in this genre again as well.
Recommended!
I read the entire collection in a couple of sittings, and I was amazed at the scope of themes included - even though they all deal with "being Jewish" in one way or a another.
As much as I like Goldstein's novels, I sincerely hope she will write more in this genre again as well.
Recommended!
I tried this collection because I read an exerpt in 33 Things Every Girl Should Know. However, I did not care for the philosophy-heavy stories in this collection. I only read three in their entirety.
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Stories featuring characters who are mathematicians
42 works; 5 members
Author Information
15+ Works 3,737 Members
Rebecca Goldstein graduated summa cum laude from Barnard College and received her Ph.D. from Princeton University in the philosophy of science. She has taught philosophy at Barnard. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Bowker Author Biography)
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Strange Attractors: Stories
- Dedication
- For Shelly—always
- First words
- Is that seat too close to the fire?
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)And all of the mathematicians are standing together in silence; on every face the same look of transfixed bliss.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 109
- Popularity
- 297,665
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.30)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 2
- ASINs
- 1
