The Memory of Whiteness [Paperback]

Kim Stanley Robinson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1986

In 3229 A.D., human civilization is scattered among the planets, moons, and asteroids of the solar system. Billions of lives depend on the technology derived from the breakthroughs of the greatest physicist of the age, Arthur Holywelkin. But in the last years of his life, Holywelkin devoted himself to building a strange, beautiful, and complex musical instrument that he called The Orchestra.

Johannes Wright has earned the honor of becoming the Ninth Master of Holywelkin's Orchestra. Follow him on his Grand Tour of the Solar System, as he journeys down the gravity well toward the sun, impelled by a destiny he can scarcely understand, and is pursued by mysterious foes who will tell him anything except the reason for their enmity.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Arthur Holywelkin, a brilliant physicist, devoted the last years of his life to creating a strange, beautiful musical instrument called The Orchestra. Hundreds of years later, in a universe centered around music, Johannes Wright is chosen as the Ninth Master of Holywelkin's Orchestra. Wright must travel the solar system pursued by enemies in the name of a destiny he understands only imperfectly. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Review

"The Memory of Whiteness is ambitiously, intricately, and deliberately orchestrated, and philosophical to boot....If you are a fan of music, of Jack Vance, of intricately recomplicated tales, you will love Robinson's novel!" --Analog

"Robinson creates an intellectual dessert, The Memory of Whiteness: physics, music and intrigue; an outré and improbably delicious world; wit and philosophy. A symphony of ideas!" --Greg Bear

"Robinson's narrative technique is impressive and the richness of his concepts and language is extraordinary." --Booklist

"Robinson is one of science fiction's most emotionally evocative writers. [But] this novel is a cerebral tour de force. Carefully structured and full of futuristic notions, The Memory of Whiteness becomes a fable about art and scientific determinism." --Philadelphia Inquirer

"The Memory of Whiteness is about music. It is also about the structure of the universe and the meaning of life....A rich mix of cultures, based on divergent notions of political order, but unified by an appreciation of music as a language that speaks, without the need of translation, to something deep in human nature." --The New York Times Book Review

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Tom Doherty Assoc Llc (July 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812552350
• ISBN-13: 978-0812552355
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,309,176 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kim Stanley Robinson is a winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards. He is the author of eleven previous books, including the bestselling Mars trilogy and the critically acclaimed Fifty Degrees Below, Forty Signs of Rain, The Years of Rice and Salt, and Antarctica--for which he was sent to the Antarctic by the U.S. National Science Foundation as part of their Antarctic Artists and Writers' Program. He lives in Davis, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One word DEPTH., September 7, 2001

By 

Ryan E McMahon (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Memory of Whiteness (Paperback)

I would consider this one of the all around best works of modern fiction. The depth and breadth of the worked that Robinson creates is truly a wonder. Few writers can successfully juggle the complex ideas contained within this book and still present a coherent story.

When I started this novel I feared that the level of music theory and physics was going to overshadow the story and make for a dry and boring read. By the end of the third chapter I realized that I was hopelessly hooked and couldn't put the book down. This was not due to an attachment to characters but rather an involvement in the world that I have rarely felt.

Let's just hope that no one gets the bad idea to try and make a movie.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A far-futuristic symphony of ideas, March 19, 2002

By 

Christopher (Denver, Colorado, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Memory of Whiteness: A Scientific Romance (Paperback)

Calling Robinson a stream-of-consciousness author may be unkind, thanks to the label's attachments... let's rather peg KSR as a stream-of-ideas craftsman.

Those that made their way thru the Mars trilogy and called the journey pleasant will testify that what kept them entranced was not any certain traditional literary technique, but instead a technique possibly unique to KSR himself. KSR builds rich gardens, scenes built on pure thought and ideas, realistic enough and utterly fascinating, and then allows his characters to wander within for awhile. We never are fully guided through any of these idea gardens, but as we close the book, we realize that he has left a meta-map of 5 or 6 of these for our minds to explore later. Asimov may have created 1 or 2 of these idea gardens (psychohistory, as one), but KSR does it repeatedly. It is a totally unique experience in literature.

Speaking to The Memory of Whiteness itself, it is set in the year 3229... that alone speaks volumes, and KSR builds the finest 4th milennium stage I've yet read. You will be guided on a tour of worlds and cultures (KSR also being a fine 'culture creator', another of his distinct footprints), and the entire idea of 'music' will transform before your eyes. The story moves along with good pace, with enough complexity to entice you to read it again, and builds to an ending that will haunt your waking days. So this one certainly deserves an A+.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, February 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Memory of Whiteness: A Scientific Romance (Paperback)

Robinson is the only human who could possibly write a novel about a recovering drug addict on a mission from God to accurately represent 10th dimensional physics through music. Music lovers will love it, Physics lovers will love it. Simply grand.