WHEN WE CEASE to UNDERSTAND THE WORLD, by Benjamín Labatut

 When We Cease to Understand the World is an extraordinary work of ... nonfiction? historical fiction? Dystopian fiction? Some sort of combination of all three.  The book consists of a number of vignettes - narratives about scientists who were mostly part of the often contentious discourse about the newly-"invented" field of Quantum Physics in the first half of the 20th Century. The stories all highlight some dark aspects of the lives of these scientists (and others), often with mixed results for the reader. They are seldom absolute heroes or villains. One reviewer called the book a dystopian novel set in the present, because the unsettling real-life uses of mathematics underlying the work of these scientists are certainly dark and destructive. 

For a review of the book from The Guardian, click here: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/10/when-we-cease-to-understand-the-world-by-benjamin-labatut-review-the-dark-side-of-science

THE FRIEND, by Sigrid Nunez

 The Friend is  moving novel about the themes of mourning, loss and writing that is based on an unusual device - the "friend" in question is both the narrator's close writer friend who has recently committed suicide and his dog, a comically huge Great Dane that scarcely fits into her tiny NYC apartment, whom she is "willed" to take care of. Based on this setup, the story could have turned sentimental or even silly, yet the story is fiercely honest and emotionally raw.  The story is narrated directly to her dead friend, reflecting on their past relationship and her current feelings, which are heavily oppressed by trying to deal with his suicide. It's a heartbreakingly transparent view of the narrator's grief. The canine "friend", though, plays a role in her grieving and coming to terms with the tragic loss of her friend, who was certainly no angel while alive and with whom she had a complex relationship that gets described little-by-little. The third theme, writing, is very interesting. The book is a real-time reflection on the power of writing to help the grieving process (or not). Descriptions of her interactions with other writers and with her students in the creative writing classes she teaches leaves the whole neo-romantic notion of the healing power of writing unresolved. It's a wonderful book and was very favourably received by critics.

For a review of the book from NPR, click here: https://www.npr.org/2018/01/23/579233885/the-friend-is-no-shaggy-dog-story