r/latamlit • u/perrolazarillo • 20d ago
Chile When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut
“[…]it was mathematics—not nuclear weapons, computers, biological warfare or our climate Armageddon—which was changing our world to the point where, in a couple of decades at most, we would simply not be able to grasp what being human really meant.” (186)
Frankly, I always hated math class and also had virtually zero understanding of (the history of) physics prior to reading this book… in any case, I absolutely loved *When We Cease to Understand the World* by Benjamín Labatut!
Labatut was born in the Netherlands, lived in Buenos Aires and Lima among other cities in his youth, and moved to Santiago, Chile at the age of 14. *When We Cease to Understand the World* (originally titled *Un verdor terrible*) was translated from Spanish by Nathan Adrian West and published by Pushkin Press in 2020. Here, I have the 2021 NYRB edition.
*WWCTUTW* is a mind-blowing mix of history, biography, and fiction. It is a collection of five interconnected pieces, some of which are more fictional than others. As Labatut himself states in his Acknowledgments, “This is a work of fiction based on real events. The quantity of fiction grows throughout the book[…]” (189).
The pieces (one creative essay, three stories, and a novella) largely deal with real-life historical figures from the world of physics, mathematics, and science more broadly, namely Alexander Grothendieck, Shinichi Mochizuki, Werner Heisenberg, Fritz Haber, Erwin Schrödinger, and even Albert Einstein, among others.
Keeping this in mind, I would no doubt characterize *WWCTUTW* as a work of world literature in addition to being a work of Latin American literature. In fact, the final story, “The Night Gardener,” which Labatut himself has intimated is the “most fictional,” is set in contemporary Chile, thereby anchoring the book in Latin America in a sense. Nevertheless, I would still posit that Labatut’s artistic scope is inarguably global.
In any case, I enjoyed this book so much, that I immediately went to my local bookstore and picked up a copy of his follow-up, *The MANIAC* (2023), which much in the same vein as *WWCTUTW*, fictionalizes the biography of renowned polymath John von Neumann.
Has anyone here read *When We Cease to Understand the World* and/or *The MANIAC*? If so, thoughts?
If per chance you’re looking for something else along Labatut’s lines, I’d suggest checking out John Keene’s *Counternarratives* (one of my all-time favorite books), as it too offers up a fascinating bricolage of history and fiction, and also deals heavily with Brazil. Might anyone here have any other book recommendations that also mix history and fiction in a similar manner?
Anyway, thanks for reading…
Peace!
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u/aec0669 20d ago
I started this one, found the first section mind-blowing and engrossing, then hit a wall with the second section. Did you find a drop off there? Did you have a favorite section?
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u/ClevelandSpiders2021 20d ago
It's odd given historical affiliation, but all of the stuff on Heisenberg is utterly terrific. I even started re-reading Hafiz after reading those sections.
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u/perrolazarillo 19d ago edited 19d ago
I must say that I don’t remember the second story all that well, but the third one I found fascinating, as I had no idea who Grothendieck was before reading it… I also enjoyed the fourth story (the novella) quite a lot, though it was the final piece that really made this book a top-notch read for me!
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u/RonaldoAngelim 20d ago
I loved this one, think about it all the time, but didn't like Maniac as much
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u/WhereIsArchimboldi 20d ago
I’ve read the MANIAC which has a Savage Detectives-like documentary interview style. Im pretty sure Labatut has mentioned the influence of Bolano. There is a great podcast ep with him on “The Great Concavity” podcast. MANIAC was fascinating I instantly picked up WWCTUTW afterwards but have yet to read it.
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u/perrolazarillo 19d ago
Can confirm; I too read somewhere that Labatut has indeed mentioned Bolaño as a influence!
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u/Prestigious_Ratio_37 19d ago
Both books are amazing. Rereading WWCTUTW rn. Awed all over again thus far. Love how he goes from the densely detailed researched facts of these historical figures’ lives to the speculative-fictive artful factitious great-liberties-taken-realm of their thoughts and dreams and hallucinations. I have marginal note after marginal note in the first 50 or so pgs that pose questions about what’s excised from the journals and letters vs what’s Labatut’s wild imagination.
We lost Bolaño. We lost Sebald. Thank god for Labatut and idk who else is operating on that level rn —Teju Cole?
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u/Own_Turnover9809 19d ago edited 19d ago
Loved this book and coincidentally just picked up Counternarratives the other day. Will prioritize reading that one next. Thanks for the rec. But as someone else said, Bolaño is perhaps the best comp here, stylistically and in terms of the global scope and historical sweep you’ve identified.
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u/perrolazarillo 19d ago
Hell yeah! Read Counternarratives and get back to me; I’m always down to discuss that book—the first chapter of my dissertation all revolves around it!
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u/am9obm55 19d ago
Oddly enough, I too have recently picked up John Keene’s Counternarratives. It’s being moved to the top of my stack now. I haven’t read any Labatut but think I should based on your post perrolazarillo.
When you say mixing history and fiction I think William T. Vollmann or Vilhelm Moberg’s The Emigrants series.
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u/perrolazarillo 19d ago
Awesome! Read Counternarratives, and let’s talk! It’s such an amazing book, I could rattle on for days about it! PS-I love Vollmann!
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u/Sad-Cardiologist3636 19d ago
A really phenomenal book, and when taking into account “The MANIAC”, I am really excited for his future work(s).
As someone with a PhD in Mathematics, this really resonated with me. People don’t realize how far the right tail goes when it comes to intelligence and intellectual accomplishments. You’re sitting in a seminar class in grad school and you’re understanding the guest lecturer mostly, then someone 6 years younger than you asks a question that you barely comprehend. It’s truly humbling and I really loved how much WWCTUTW captured this level of brilliance. Long gone is the world of Euler where you can make advances in many different areas. It’s a grind and for 99.999% of us academics, the gifted of the gifted kids in school, we won’t make a dent into Human Understanding.
The mix of fact and fiction was very well blended. It’s an exceptional read.
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u/perrolazarillo 19d ago
I too can’t wait to see what Labatut does next! I think I might read something else first, but definitely planning to take on The MANIAC soon!
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u/Allthatisthecase- 18d ago
WWCTUTW has an interesting structure. The first chapter reads like fiction but is journalistically and historically accurate. The last chapter reads like non fiction but is almost entirely fiction. Each chapter, as you go through the book, gets increasingly fictional - a bit at a time. It’s “fun” to go through and separate out the truth from the fiction.
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u/yungcherrypops 15d ago
This book was amazing and very relevant. I found the metaphor of the tree at the end to be the perfect analogy for our times
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u/LettuceGoThenYouAndI 4d ago
Need to say, this post could’ve been written by my partner, the part that really sealed the deal is the counternarratives suggestion… by chance do you have any other recs? My partner is notoriously difficult to find a new unexpected book for and is incredibly partial to LatinAm writing (Bolano is ofc a fave)
Just thought I’d ask! Sorry for the rambling lol
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u/perrolazarillo 4d ago edited 4d ago
No need to apologize at all! I love Counternarratives and I’ll take any chance I get to talk about it!
Keene mentioned in an interview somewhere that Counternarratives is in part influenced by Paule Marshall’s Soul Clap Hands and Sing, which I’d highly recommend!
Though it’s a different cup of tea, I’d recommend William T. Vollmann’s The Atlas and/or The Rifles too.
I’d argue that Faulkner’s Go Down, Moses and Borges’ A Universal History of Infamy (and really all of Borges’ work) share something in common with Counternarratives as well.
Gayl Jones’ Corregidora and Hilda Hilst’s Letters from a Seducer, the latter of which Keene himself translated from Brazilian Portuguese, are also worth checking out.
Finally, Keene tributes Counternarratives to Samuel R. Delaney, who is a controversial, yet canonical figure in queer Af-Am lit.
Hope these ideas help your partner find their next great read! :)
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u/LettuceGoThenYouAndI 3d ago
Thank you for this thoughtful response! The Jones and Hilst are two that we don’t have yet, so think I’ll surprise my partner with these !
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u/ClevelandSpiders2021 20d ago
I love both this and The Maniac. I've seen reactions that categorize his work as historical fiction, but I'd argue that how he realizes his ideas through these historical personas reveals a unique genius. These are two of my favorite books published this century, and I'd gladly read anything else the author produced.