Beschrijving
Titel en schrijver |
The man who knew too much – David Leavitt |
ISBN nr. |
978-0-7538-2200-5 |
Uitgeverij, drukjaar en drukversie |
Orion Books Ltd., 2007, Eerste druk |
Paperback of hardcover |
Paperback |
Aantal pagina’s |
319 pagina’s |
Taal en categorie |
English, Geschiedenis & Politiek |
Korte samenvatting |
To solve one of the greatest mathematical problems of his day, Alan Turing proposed an imaginary computer. In attempting to crack the Nazi’s code during World War II Turing designed and build one, thus ensuring the Allied victory in World War II. Alan Turing became champion of artificial intelligence, formulating the famous (and still unbeaten) Turing test that challenges our ideas of human consciousness.
But Turing’s work was cut short when, as an openly gay man in a time when homosexuality was officially illegal in Britian, he was arrested and sentenced to a ‘treatment’ amounted to chemical castration. Ultmately it drove him to commit suicide. Leavitt portrays Turing in all his humanity – his eccentricities, his brilliance, his fatal candour – while elegantly explaining his work and its implications. |
Over de auteur |
David Leavitt (born June 23, 1961) is an American novelist, short story writer, and biographer. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Leavitt is a graduate of Yale University and a professor at the University of Florida. He has also taught at Princeton University.
His published fiction includes the short-story collections Family Dancing (finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award), ‘A Place I’ve Never Been, Arkansas’ and ‘The Marble Quilt’, as well as the novels ‘The Lost Language of Cranes’, ‘Equal Affections’, ‘While England Sleeps’ (finalist for the Los Angeles Times Fiction Prize), ‘The Page Turner’, ‘Martin Bauman’, ‘The Body of Jonah Boyd’ and ‘The Indian Clerk’ (finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and shortlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Award). Leavitt, who is openly gay, has frequently explored gay issues in his work. |
Recensies |
Guardian: ‘Leavitt provides a sympathetic novelist’s take on a brilliant eccentric … a picture of the fragility of human genius’
Economist: ‘Leavitt’s biography will give even the most innumerate reader an idea of the beautiful and fascinating world he is missing’ Seattle Times: ‘Leavitt conveys abstruse information in elegant narrative prose. – Miami Herald With lyrical prose and great compassion, Leavitt has produced a simple book about a complex man involved in an almost unfathomable task that is accessible to any reader. – Publishers Weekly Stimulating … ambitious.’ |
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