Product Description

"Measuring the World" recreates the parallel but contrasting lives of two geniuses of the German Enlightenment - the naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt and the mathematician and physicist Carl Friedrich Gauss. Towards the end of the 18th century, these two brilliant young Germans set out to measure the world. Humboldt, a Prussian aristocrat schooled for greatness, negotiates savannah and jungle, travels down the Orinoco, climbs the highest mountain known to man, counts head lice, and explores every hole in the ground. Gauss, a man born in poverty who will be recognized as the greatest mathematician since Newton, does not even need to leave his home in Gottingen to know that space is curved. He can run prime numbers in his head, cannot imagine a life without women and yet jumps out of bed on his wedding night to jot down a mathematical formula. Daniel Kehlmann has produced a novel of rare charm and readability, distinguished by its sly humour and unforgettable characterisation. The author's acute powers of observation and ability to write memorable dialogue shine through its every page. "Measuring the World" marks the UK debut of a distinctive and original voice in contemporary fiction.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #187824 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-15
• Original language: German
• Binding: Hardcover
• 272 pages

Review
Measuring the World has proved nothing less than a literary sensation... the novel has sold more than 600,000 copies in Germany, knocking J K Rowling and Dan Brown off the bestseller lists... it is the most successful German novel since Patrick Suskind's Perfume... 31-year-old Daniel Kehlmann is a literary wunderkind already being compared to Nabokov and Proust' Guardian Daniel Kehlmann's Measuring the World announces the arrival of a new generation...Kehlmann is a master of irony ... already a figure of European stature...(he) has it in him to be the great German novelist that the world had given up waiting for - Sunday TelegraphFilled with wry humour and fascinating anecdotes, this is a warm, witty and ultimately tragic celebration of the many faces of genius - The Good Book GuideIn sparing prose Kehlmann cleverly combines a great enthusiasm for the Enlightenment spirit of enquiry with demystifying depictions of the individuals involved...Moving...Hilarious - Book of the Week - 5 stars out of 6 - Time Out

Sunday Telegraph
...he has it in him to be the great German novelist that the world had given up waiting for

Daily Telegraph
...a dazzling success ... fantastically imagined...

Customer Reviews

Marvellous - literally!
A book about marvels that is marvellous in the telling. Out of a seemingly unpromising scenario - two great scientists working in Germany in the early 19th century - Daniel Kehlmann weaves a hugely entertaining story that is also deeply thought-provoking. He writes with a witty, deadpan sort of style that reminded me a bit of Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days; there is also a degree of sadness at the end - the book has a melancholic undercurrent. Humboldt and Gauss, the two heroes of the novel, are very different characters involved in very different types of scientific exploration (all of which is perfectly readable to a layman like me with little understanding of mathematics!), yet through these differences Kehlmann explores a time when scientific discoveries we take for granted today were still new, and makes us think about things that are still highly relevant today - not least the issue of fame and celebrity. The writing is wonderful, the characterisation superb, and the fusion of good story, thought-provoking ideas and human experience makes it a winner. A novel that shows you can be literary and intelligent while still being very readable and fun!

A good read that grabs the head rather than the heart.
Early on in the book i noticed that it seemed that the whole story would be related in the third person. I flicked through the book but found no evidence of any speech marks. I thought it may annoy me, but I can say that it didn't and the book kept me gripped to the end.

It is the story of two scientists, Humboldt and Gauss. Both completely different characters within the same field. Both set out to measure the world, Humboldt is the adventurer heading to South America for the Amazon and sacrifices this at the expense of having his own family, whereas Gauss marries and has children but is more the techical type who never travels very far.

A chapter is dedicated in turn to each scientist. Daniel Kehlmann has a great wry sense of humour and some of what is said will have you cracking a smile at the characters sharp, sarcastic wit in their odd pithy sentences.

I enjoyed the read, it was interesting. It wasn't however, like novels such as "The Shadow of the Wind" or "The Time Travellers Wife" where you are really gripped and drawn to the characters that you almost become part of their world. I suppose the lack of actual dialogue maybe contributes to this.

Anyway it is definitely worth a read, unless you can't stand the parts about astronomy, magnetism, measuring mountains etc.

Lost in translation
I found this book distinctly odd. I don't know if if was by design but the translation into English left an unusual flavour in the mouth and to be honest, it made the reading a less than fluent affair. Having been advised by the jacket that the book induced hard laughter and the dialogue totally hilarious, I would have to counter that it never raised even a smile for me and the dialogue was merely unusual. Overall, the whole thing left me with the impression that it had only been translated word for word without any real understanding of English and that the differences in tone between the two languages were unaccounted for. My interest in what were two historical characters was lost in the process. The story lept through years in a swift and sketchy manner, a number of lesser characters were abandoned to their fate and the book tailed off in a very annoying fashion. Possibly in the original language (if you speak it) this book is everything claimed but for me it simply left the impression of having just read a book in german/english without really understanding it. Lacks foth fluency and a sense of humour likely to appeal to most English speakers. Two stars for oddity value and because I'm a sucker for historical fiction.