Light reading for Xmas Eve

[Lionel Mandrake]

I just read the first 75 pages of Logicomix, a graphic novel by Apostolos Doxiadis, Christos H. Papadimitriou, Alecos Papadatos, and Annie Di Donna. So far, it is mostly a Gothic story (think Jane Eyre) about how little Bertie Russell discovers the terrible secrets of an old mansion and of his own family.

The novel is a real page-turner (so far). It has been out for about a year and has been a best-seller. Has anyone else here read it, and, if so, what do y'all think about it?

[Lionel Mandrake]

1. Having read some more of this book,

I can report that the Gothic phase ends on page 75. After that, the book gets all philosophical and mathematical. But the book works on so many levels that you can still enjoy it even if you have no interest in or prior exposure to math or philosophy. For example, the authors draw themselves discussing how to continue, what to skip, what to include, etc. In this respect the book is self-referential and therefore prone to ambiguities and riddles somewhat like Russell's paradox. There is also romance. Tending to fall in and out of love with various women, Bertrand Russell became an advocate of free love at a time when that was verboten. Being also a pacifist during WW1, he was branded a traitor and spent time in prison. But you probably already knew that.