I thought this was a very difficult book to read, especially in the first 100 pages or so. The parts I had the most trouble with were the passages almost all about these theorem's and describing them, and how so and so got to them, how they work, what they do, ect... I know this is a book about a mathematical genius and obviously is going to have text about math, but since I am not a genius and I like to read into every paragraph, it was difficult for me to get try to grasp what she was saying. Maybe I just read into everything too much and should focus on the bigger picture, move on and leave it as that, but I don't. After you get past these rough passages though the book really is wonderful. I would read it again. I have never seen the movie but it can't possibly beat the book. Sylvia Nasar has done a fine job of letting us glimpse into the extraordinary life of John Nash.
I wanted to see this film when it came out but I have a personal rule to read "the book" first, even if I know the movie doesn't exactly follow the story. In this case I did enjoy both, though the movie left out some very important facts about the brilliant Nash's life. Read the book, don't assume you know it all after the film. I believe these were important facts involving the realities behind his mathematical genius. He changed the way we look at fields such as sociology, international negotiations, business...A truly human story with all the beautiful blemishes.
amazing snapshot of one man's attempt to fix the broken part of his powerful mind
John Nash was a legend by age thirty when he slipped into madness but, thanks to the selflessness of a beautiful woman, he emerged after decades to win the Nobel prize and world acclaim. this is a drama about the mystery of the human mind, triumph over incredible adversity and the healing power of love.
A great book, great movie.
The Award-Winning Bestseller is the true story of John Nash, the mathematical genius who was a legend age thirty when he slipped into madness, and who - thanks to the selflessness of a beautiful woman and the loyalty of the mathematics community - emerged after decades of ghost-like existence to win a Nobel Prize and world acclaim. The inspiration for a major motion picture, Sylvia Nasar's award-winning biography is a drama about the mystery of the human mind, triumph over incredible adversity, and the healing power of love.
I saw the movie and loved it-however I did not choose to read the book having already seen the movie of his story.
The true story of John Nash, the mathematical genius who was a legend by age 30 when he slipped into madness, and who--thanks to the selflessness of a beautiful woman and the loyalty of the mathematics community--emerged after decades of ghostlike existence to win a Nobel Prize and world acclaim. The inspiration for a major motion picture, a drama about the mystery of the human mind, triumph over incredible adversity, and the healing power of love.
Fascinateing book that reads like a novel. True story of Mathematical genius John Nash who came to believe he was communicateing with extraterestrials. An amazing saga of genius and maddness.

Vincent L. (
Vince) wrote on 2/19/2006...
Like new condition, very interesting story of math genius.

Suze U. (
A-Z) wrote on 1/25/2006...
Once again, ended up with two copies of this book~