Hello, book-burners!
On this third episode of Books Are Burning!, I’m joined once again by my sometime co-author G.J. Villa as we continue our discussion of Benjamín Labatut’s When We Cease to Understand the World. This time our focus is “The Heart of the Heart,” the third section of Labatut’s novel—if we can use that term to describe this strange book. The title of the section in question is taken from a phrase used by Alexander Grothendieck—and his disciple Shinichi Mochizuki—to describe the ultimate mathematical truth. The blood-red background on the graphic above is representative of this Grothendieckian search for absolute knowledge.
FYI, In his younger days, Grothendieck looked like Michel Foucault’s twin brother:
Later, he came to resemble Gandalf:
And here’s a pic of his reclusive Japanese acolyte:
Next up on BAB!: “When We Cease to Understand the World,” the fourth section of the book thusly named. Stay tuned!
MW
P.S. The video for BAB! #2, “Schwarzschild’s Singularity,” has been uploaded to YouTube:
"The Heart of the Heart" - Benjamín Labatut's "When We Cease to Understand the World" (3/5)