D'Alembert's Principle: A Novel in Three Panels [Paperback]

Andrew Crumey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 1999

As the scientist D'Alembert nears the end of his life, he looks back on his friendships with Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Denis Diderot and mourns his unrequited love for a woman who spent years deceiving him. At the same time, an exiled Jacobite dreams of journeying to the planets, and in a prison cell two unlikely captives discuss love, language, and fate. Meticulously crafted, D'Alembert's Principle is a fascinating historical triptych about memory, reason, and imagination set in the rich and lavish world of eighteenth-century Europe.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The senseless passion of 18th-century French mathematician Jean le Rond D'Alembert for his friend Julie de L'Espinasse (hinted at in Diderot's satire D'Alembert's Dream) is the subject of the strongest of the three interrelated novellas that make up this volume from Scottish author Crumey. Diderot implied that they were lovers; tragically, for D'Alembert, L'Espinasse never returned his passion. Instead, she fell for a number of other, physically imposing men. D'Alembert learns this from her letters after her death, and the claims of reason come tumbling down as he probes the logic of his passions. Crumey deftly outlines D'Alembert's life and times, albeit in broad, rather prim strokes. In his less compelling, oddly humorless second novella, a series of variations on the paradoxes of solipsism, Crumey follows the windings of an 18th-century author who appears and disappears in the text of his semifabulous book. The third, fortunately, goes for less heavily theoretical territory, returning to the characters of his acclaimed previous novel, Pfitz. A jeweler named Goldman in the city of Rrheinstadt gets thrown into prison with a beggar named Pfitz, and the beggar tells him a series of improbably scabrous tales. The loopy dialogue between Pfitz and Goldman is reminiscent of the Tortoise and Achilles sections in Douglas Hofstadter's Godel, Escher, Bach. Crumey is described as a postmodernist, but he isn't anything so terrifying: he's simply reviving that old Enlightenment pastime, the philosophical jeu d'esprit. (Nov.) FYI: Crumey's first work, Music, in a Foreign Language, won England's Saltire Prize for Best First Novel.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

D'Alembert's Principle is actually three stories, including the title story, "The Cosmography of Magnus Ferguson," and "Tales from Rreinstadt." Each represents an aspect of D'Alembert's definition of knowledge: memory, reason, and imagination. The stories are set in the 18th century, when D'Alembert worked with Diderot on his famous dictionary. The first story uses D'Alembert's memories to illustrate his great success with mathematical theories but his failure in love. The second story, representing reason, is an exploration of empiricism. "Tales from Rreinstadt" is narrated by Pfitz, the beggar who also appeared in Crumey's earlier novel, Pfitz (LJ 9/1/97), while Pfitz is temporarily imprisoned by a wealthy jeweler. Crumey, a Scotsman, has cleverly interwoven aspects of human thought with entertaining stories. The details and tone of the stories aptly convey the tenor of 18th-century rationalism. For academic and public libraries where intellectual fiction is enjoyed.?Ann Irvine, Montgomery Cty. P.L., Silver Spring, MD
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Picador; First Edition first Printing edition (October 30, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312204019
• ISBN-13: 978-0312204013
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,361,578 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars D'Alembert's Dream, June 20, 2000

By 

"scottish_lawyer" - See all my reviews

This review is from: D'Alembert's Principle: A Novel in Three Panels (Hardcover)

This is Andrew Crumey's third novel, and the second in a loosely related trilogy beginning with Pfitz, and concluding with Mr Mee, a worthy conclusion published in the UK in May 2000.

This novel is structured around the structure of Diderot's Encyclopaedia with the focus on Memory, Reason, and Imagination - and while in Pfitz these aspects were dealt with in an abstract way permeating the novel, here there are three distinct parts - each notionally attributed to one of the heads.

The most conventional is the first, Memory, a memoir by D'Alembert, with observations by his servants. It deals with D'Alembert's relationship with the other great minds of the time, Diderot and Rousseau, and his troubles in salon culture. The second part is based around a view of the Solar System by Magnus Fergusson. This is an off-kilter way to take various approaches to logic, and philosophy. Each planetary view has a convincing internal logic. Each is completely mad, and very amusing.

The final part, Imagination, reintroduces storyteller Pfitz.

Each part is laced with Crumey's dry sense of humour, and - as with his other novels - Crumey's mathematical background is put to good use. He has immersed himself in eighteenth century French culture and while in previous novels by Crumey the influence of Calvino, Borges, and Barthelme is most marked here we see some of the philosophical games Diderot uses in Jacques the fatalist and D'Alembert's Dream.

While Crumey again demonstrates his erudition, it is necessary to stress that in the midst of the philosophy, and the clever games, Crumey is a witty writer. His novels have a black humour, and occasional farcical scenes running through them.

Crumey maintains a very high standard in his fiction, and deserves a broad readership. Those that like Barthelme, Borges, Calvino, or Steve Erickson will find something to like in Crumey.

And if you enjoy Crumey and those writers try Drivetime (a novel) or Last Orders (short stories) by James Meek.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unusual and rewarding, August 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: D'Alembert's Principle: A Novel in Three Panels (Hardcover)

People keep comparing Crumey to Calvino and Borges, I can see the similarity but there's a lot else too - like Sterne, Diderot etc, not to mention Flaubert, whose "Three Tales" came to my mind after reading Crumey's "triptych". These are three separate stories linked by a theme ("memory, reason and imagination"). The result is a fine read, though disconcerting if you expect a conventional novel. Paul Auster's "New York Trilogy" also comes to mind. The last story in Crumey's book is related to his earlier novel "Pfitz". I didn't discover this until afterwards but it didn't spoil my enjoyment. Reading "Pfitz" before this book might enhance your understanding, but it's not essential. Crumey's evocation of the 18th century in this book is remarkable. He's a unique and strikingly unusual voice in contemporary fiction.

4.0 out of 5 stars I love Pfitz, April 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: D'Alembert's Principle: A Novel in Three Panels (Hardcover)

I enjoyed this story very much, however it won't make any sense unless you read Pfitz first.