Scott

This was the first time I've read Ishiguro, and I was impressed with the way a surface simplicity belied a profoundly deep and moving story and meditation on memory and the embodied place of memory in our personal and collective lives. Ishiguro creates an evocative and believable landscape and i could fairly see the mist on the page - an Avalon for today: not romanticised, yet not a hard-nosed de-mystified historical place, either. Something in-between with enough magic to bring the reader in and allow the reader to play a role in the narrative and plot development. He has a beautiful way with language and how language is the key to human relationships. Powerful reading, and one i look forward to returning to in future.

Watson's racial politics aside, and taking into account that Watson did not give any credit to Rosalind Franklin, who was at least as important to the “discovery “ process as either Watson himself or his (male) colleague Francis Crick, this is a useful - if partial - book for understanding one aspect of 20th century genetic science. Subsequent developments and writing about these development in the realm of genetics and genomics help to frame this work and point up Watson's limitations and his misdirected race and gender biases. It's a relatively quick read, although given Watsons' recent ill-conceived statements about race-based intelligence and other wrongheaded ideas, you may want to hold your nose while digesting.

Incidentally, the stars-based rating system is totally unhelpful for a book like this. I hate the racist vitriol Watson spews and his blatant sexism, but the book itself is helpful as a starting point for learning about DNA. 3 stars seems like a difficult thing to sign in the circumstances, and I understand the objections for those who disagree. I think reading this as a companion to Brenda Maddox's “Rosalind Franklin: Dark Lady of DNA,” and/or Rachel Ignotofsky's “Women in Science: 50 Pioneers who Changed the World” can help to ease the strain and broaden one's understanding of what discover actually looks like in science, and who is involved.

This is an inspiring book. Czapski's memory and ability to recall A la recherché du temps perdu without the books and under the duress of confinement in a Soviet gulag is impressive and humbling. Well worth reading both for the interpretation of Proust and for the sense of life the undergirds Czapski's narrative. Human being may be able to adapt to any difficulties, and Czapski demonstrates how literature and imagination can help to survive extremely difficult circumstances.

Karpeles' translation is remarkable and vivifies the book for readers of English.