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Sophie Ward - Love & Other Thought Experiments (2nd Hand Paperback)
Synopsis
This impressive debut novel, longlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize, takes its premise and inspiration from ten of the best-known thought experiments in philosophy - the what-ifs of philosophical investigation - and uses them to talk about love in a wholly unique way.
Married couple Rachel and Eliza are considering having a child. Rachel wants one desperately, and Eliza thinks she does, too, but she can't quite seem to wrap her head around the idea. When Rachel wakes up screaming one night and tells Eliza that an ant has crawled into her eye and is stuck there, Eliza initially sees it as a cry for attention. But Rachel is adamant. She knows it sounds crazy - but she also knows it's true.
As a scientist, Eliza is sceptical. Suddenly their entire relationship is called into question.
What follows is a uniquely imaginative sequence of ten interconnecting episodes - each from a different character's perspective - inspired by some of the best-known thought experiments in philosophy. Together they form a sparkling philosophical tale of love lost and found across the universe.
Details
- Format : Standard 2nd Hand Paperback
- Condition : Very Good (Almost As New)
- Category : Fiction - Fiction - Uncategorised
- Published : 2020 (Corsair)
- ISBN : 9781472154606
- SKU : B002911
- PPC : LL300gm
- RRP : £8.99
- Quantity Available : 1 only.
External Reviews
"And through all these the book asks: who are we; what does it mean to experience the world; how can we really know other people or even really know ourselves and our own reality. And yet at the same time all of this philosophical reflection and increasingly science-fiction writing is set against a really moving examination all the strands of a complex family unit - Rachel, Eliza, Hal, Greg, Arthur, Rachel’s mother Elizabeth. Perhaps the most fundamental questions of all that the book asks are what does it mean to love another person, what does it mean to grieve them.
It is this narrative in parallel with the philosophy which I think really makes the book succeed as a rounded novel. It is a book which is both moving and stimulating. There is so much more I could say about this both innovative and very enjoyable book and it is definitely one that will I think require a re-read."
"Clever and impressive. Interconnected tales that add up to something bold, daring, ambitious yet also very warm and human. I was surprised and swept away by this book. All the possibilities, all the directions a life can take." - Goodreads Reviews.
'Sophie Ward is a dazzling talent who writes like a modern-day F Scott Fitzgerald' - Elizabeth Day, author of How To Fail.
'An act of such breath-taking imagination, daring and detail that the journey we are on is believable and the debate in the mind non-stop. There are elements of Doris Lessing in the writing - a huge emerging talent here' - Fiona Shaw.
'A towering literary achievement' - Ruth Hogan, author of The Keeper of Lost Things.
'Philosophy meets fiction in this beguiling and intriguing novel of minds, hearts, other worlds, love, death and everything in between. It's a book that dances and dazzles with ideas and left me thinking long after I finished it' - Sophie Kinsella.
The Author
Sophie Ward trained at the Anna Scher theatre as a child and went on to work in many films and television shows, and on stage in London and at the Glasgow Citizen’s Theatre. In 2020, Sophie’s first novel Love and Other Thought Experiments was published by Corsair, followed by The Schoolhouse in 2022. Sophie lives in London with her Korean-American wife Rena who is a playwright. She has two sons, Nathaniel and Joshua, and two granddaughters, Ruby and Eliza. She has a degree in Philosophy and Literature and a PhD from Goldsmiths on the use of narrative in philosophy of mind.