Galatea 2.2: A Novel
by Richard Powers
List Price:
Our Price: $3.75
You Save: $12.25 (77%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Richard PowersEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-01-01
ISBN: 0312423136
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Picador
Book Reviews of Galatea 2.2: A Novel
Book Review: A Novel Turing Test
Summary: 3 Stars
In this novel, Richard Powers weaves an intriguing story out of ideas taken from Artificial Intelligence, neural network theory, the Turing test, Pygmalion stories, philosophy, brain-research, the state of literary criticism, and love of language. This was the first novel of his that I've read, and I was looking forward to it because I've read that Powers has a reputation for writing cerebral works that delight polymaths, using a style that would delight any highly verbal virtuoso. Unfortunately, I didn't think the book lived up to some of the reviews that called it "dazzling," though I found it intriguing in parts.
The novel has two major plotlines. First, a failed writer named (coincidentally) Richard Powers takes a temporary job as "Humanist-in-Residence" at a research institute. An AI researcher there takes him under his wing; later, that same researcher makes a bar-room bet with a colleague that he can write a computer program that would be able to comment on great works of literature with as much competence as an undergraduate English major. With the bet made, Powers is drawn into the project to train the program by reading literature to it. In doing so he learns its quirks, and muses about the nature consciousness as his dialogues with the program grow more elaborate and "intelligent." Another separate plotline revolves around flashbacks Powers has to the years he lived in Holland with an ex-girlfriend.
One of the strengths of this novel is that Powers has clearly done his homework in the areas of AI and neural networks. He uses all the field's lingo correctly, and works all the right buzzwords into his literary pyrotechnics. Overall, I found the novel to be intelligent, erudite, and chock full of literary and technical references.
On the negative side, I thought the narrator's many flashbacks to his life with an ex-girlfriend in Holland could have been easily deleted; it didn't seem like there was any strong thematic link between that plotline and the rest of the action in the novel. Also, the flashbacks seem annoyingly autobiographical (though we don't know how closely the narrator's life actually represents the authors real life). Finally, although Powers is capable of linguistic pyrotechnics, they can sometimes be distractingly ornate; after a while his verbal virtuosity doesn't rescue the slightly plodding pace of the plot.
Overall, though, I was entertained by his clever turns-of-phrase, the intriguing concepts and the narrators philosophical musings and debates. However, I kept thinking that the plot could have moved a little more quickly, and that something a little more surprising could have happened or there would be a slight twist to this theme. Overall, though, I think this would be a good novel from an unknown writer, however, it was slightly disappointing based on the reputation and history of the "dazzling" Richard Powers. Three stars.
Genre Fiction Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Genre Fiction Books
Children of the Stormby Elizabeth Peters
WmMorrow; Published: 2003-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.49
Price in other shops:
Innocenceby Kathleen Tessaro
William Morrow Paperbacks; Published: 2006-05-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
Little Altars Everywhere: A Novelby Rebecca Wells
HarperTorch; Published: 2003-02-25; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.99
Price in other shops:
Breakheart Passby Alistair Maclean
Harpercollinspublishers; Published: 1994-05-01; Paperback; Book
Here Be Dragonsby Sharon Kay Penman
Holt, Rinhart and Winston; Published: 1985-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $228.78
The Killing Groundby JACK HIGGINS
HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS LTD; Published: 2007; Hardcover; Book
Life Expectancyby Dean Koontz
Harpercollins Pb; Published: 2005-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Constant Princessby Philippa Gregory
Touchstone/Simon & Schuster; Published: 2005; Hardcover; Book
Wolf of the Plains (Conqueror, Book 1)by Conn Iggulden
Harper; Published: 2007; Paperback; Book
Saharaby Clive Cussler
Harper Collins Pb; Published: 2005-03-21; Paperback; Book
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
The Mind's I: Fantasies and Reflections on Self & Soulby Douglas R. Hofstadter, Daniel C. Dennett, Daniel C. Dennett
Basic Books; Published: 2001-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.44
Price in other shops:
Pygmalion (Enriched Classics Series)by George Bernard Shaw
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2005-07-26; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.65
Price in other shops:
The Crying of Lot 49 (Perennial Fiction Library)by Thomas Pynchon
Harper Perennial; Published: 2006-11-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.49
Price in other shops:
The Museum of Innocence (Vintage International)by Orhan Pamuk
Vintage; Published: 2010-10-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops:
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?by Philip K. Dick
Del Rey; Published: 1996-05-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.42
Price in other shops:
What Mad Pursuit: A Personal View of Scientific Discoveryby Francis Crick
Basic Books; Published: 1990-07-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.49
Price in other shops:
Elizabeth Costelloby J. M. Coetzee
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2004-10-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.80
Price in other shops:
Patchwork Girlby Shelley Jackson
Eastgate Systems Inc; Published: 1995-01; CD-ROM; Book
Best price: $22.95
Price in other shops:
White Noise: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)by Don DeLillo
Penguin Classics; Published: 2009-12-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.10
Price in other shops:
Gold Bug Variationsby Richard Powers
Harper Perennial; Published: 1992-07-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.95
Price in other shops: