Customer Reviews

The Mathematics of Love: A Novel (P.S.)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I really liked reading this book. I enjoyed both of the timelines-- the teenager in the 1970s who has grown up a little too fast for her own good, coming to terms with her family past and future; and the ex-soldier in 1819, trying to build his future, but discovering he also must face his past before he can truly move on. I loved the ongoing ties between the timelines. It isn't a simple read, but I found it worthwhile.

I am impressed with this book. Main and supporting characters are all vividly portrayed, and the book is rich with their thoughts and emotions, but the book does not seem crowded. There are many themes explored... love, sex, society's rules, effects of war and people and places on one another... and it's all connected and explored across two time periods, but the book is not overly complicated or difficult to follow. And I'd like to respond to another reviewer who sounded offended by people who value propriety being called "old-fashioned."

I think it's worth noting that much grief is caused by various characters' choices. I do not see loose sex being glorified in this book. While I disapprove of several choices characters make, I can follow their thoughts and feelings enough to understand them. I do not feel that this author is trying to vilify me and other people with conservative values.

Emma Darwin's mastery of language in the service of both sense and sensibility leaves me so conscious of my own limitations that I'd never have attempted to review this book were it not for my dismay at some of the other reviews here. THE MATHEMATICS OF LOVE is intricate and spellbinding novel, beautifully written and finely detailed. It's a tumultuous and glorious emotional adventure.

Although I've spent years studying the Napoleonic Wars, particularly the war in Spain, Darwin's perspective makes that tragic, brutal terrain fresh and haunting. At first I resented the segues into the 1970s, but Darwin skillfully weaves them into the older story, and they soon become compelling in their own right. The leading characters (Major Fairhurst, Miss Durward, Katrijn, Anna, Theo, Eva, and Cecil) felt as vital and precious to me as if they actually inhabited my own world. The minor ones, too (the Stebbings, the Barracloughs, Mercedes, Penny, Susan, etc.), are wonderfully realized.

Darwin looks squarely at some of the greatest cruelties human beings can inflict on one another, yet somehow manages to infuse the reader with an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the beauty of this world; for the wounded, brave souls who inhabit it; and for those who came before us. Thank you, Emma Darwin.

My book club selected this novel, and I was very glad to see it end! The title refers to the theme of the book--as one character says, "the mathematics of love defy arithmetic" (216). In other words, if a person feels physically attracted to another person, age, gender, and marital status shouldn't stand in the way. People who think otherwise are called "old-fashioned" 3 times in just 10 pages (311, 314, and 320). So although I found some of the information about photographic processes and the author's use of language in certain passages interesting, the disdain for and name-calling of those of us who are "old-fashioned" turned me off from this story very quickly.

this book enough time but I stopped around page 70. I was in the mood for a quick fluffy romance novel and this was a bit too slow moving for me. Plus I was not real fond of the 'hero' - he was injured in the war and decided to settle on a widow for marriage and she rejected him. It just did not catch my attention.