Bold and thought-provoking.
In Pausback’s novel, a journalist conducts a three-day interview with a reclusive game designer who just might have the answers to life’s biggest questions.
The author has structured this work of fiction in an interview format. The interviewer, called “D,” never reveals his subject’s identity, electing instead to refer to him simply as “K.” Readers learn that, at one time, K was a millionaire game designer and professor of game theory living in the United States who seemingly “had it all.” Like many ascetics and spiritual seekers before him, K decided to give it all up and live a life of quiet solitude, in this case on the outskirts of Panama. That’s where D crosses his path. What follows is an extended conversation between the two in which K is more than happy to share his thoughts on life, love, death, immortality, and everything in between. According to K, we are all living in a kind of “simulation.” Unlike other proponents of similar theories, K posits that the point of this simulation is to become “Love.” That might sound lofty and a bit woo-woo at first blush, but the discourse between the two comes across as grounded and sober: “Lots of people are confident tech will save us. Like believing in the second coming of Christ,” the anonymous interviewee says. “In reality though, the only thing that’s kept us from total annihilation so far has been cool-headed, rational, mature thinking (along with a good measure of dumb luck).” Their discourse is fascinating and lucid, with welcome doses of humor along the way. (“Do you believe in reincarnation?” the interviewer asks at one point. “Not this time around,” his subject replies.) K gives hope to those fearing that AI will “wake up” one day and decide to destroy humanity; he asserts that AI will never achieve true consciousness—and without true consciousness, there can be no free will. However, there’s the “burden of eternity” to contend with—K says it’s the one thing we really must learn to reconcile. It’s all very heady stuff, but, as Pausback’s ideas are rendered here, engaging with them feels as effortless as passing the time with your favorite barstool philosopher.
Bold and thought-provoking.Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2024
ISBN: 9798991333009
Page Count: 386
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: April 23, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
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