Measuring the World - Daniel Kehlmann

Last night (27/06/2007) we (Tim, Tim, Chris, John and Ian) discussed "Measuring the World". 6/10 was our combined score with no one giving it much less or much more. Given the hyperbole on the cover we were all a little disappointed. Overall we were confused as to it's meaning or direction although we enjoyed it's characterisation and some of the tales. We wondered if something was lost in translation and found the lack of quotation marks confusing and annoying. It was a little too fanciful (spaceship up the amazon) but maybe we are missing the joke/point aimed at German classism and it's failure to understand or measure humanity itself.

Roger who could not attend however liked it :-

Sorry I couldn't make it last night, but I thought I'd add my brief comments
on the book. Too much hype on the back cover, and a slow start seemingly
fulfilling the stereotype about one-dimensional German writing. However, as
it went on, the book got better, as did the humour. The relationship between
Bonpard and Humboldt was particularly good - especially when climbing the
mountain, and Gauss also becomes a much more interesting character as the
book progressed. So, I ended up really enjoying it, and it made me look the
characters up on the internet, so I learned something aswell.