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The Indian Clerk: A Novel

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About this Book

Hardcover

1 Pages, 6.65 x 9.6 x 1.5 in

August 30, 2007

Bloomsbury USA


1596910402
9781596910409

From the Publisher

The brilliant new novel from one of our most respected writers--his most ambitious and accessible to date.
On a January morning in 1913, G. H. Hardy--eccentric, charismatic and, at thirty-seven, already considered the greatest British mathematician of his age--receives in the mail a mysterious envelope covered with Indian stamps. Inside he finds a rambling letter from a self-professed mathematical genius who claims to be on the brink of solving the most important unsolved mathematical problem of all time. Some of his Cambridge colleagues dismiss the letter as a hoax, but Hardy becomes convinced that the Indian clerk who has written it--Srinivasa Ramanujan--deserves to be taken seriously. Aided by his collaborator, Littlewood, and a young don named Neville who is about to depart for Madras with his wife, Alice, he determines to learn more about the mysterious Ramanujan and, if possible, persuade him to come to Cambridge. It is a decision that will profoundly affect not only his own life, and that of his friends, but the entire history of mathematics.
Based on the remarkable true story of the strange and ultimately tragic relationship between an esteemed British mathematician and an unknown--and unschooled--mathematical genius, and populated with such luminaries such as D. H. Lawrence, Bertrand Russell, and Ludwig Wittgenstein, "The Indian Clerk" takes this extraordinary slice of history and transforms it into an emotional and spell-binding story about the fragility of human connection and our need to find order in the world. David Leavitt is the author of several novels, including "The Body of Jonah Boyd," "While England Sleeps," and "Equal Affections." A recipient of fellowships from both the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, he teaches at the University of Florida in Gainesville. A "New York Times" Notable Book of the YearA "New York Magazine" Top 10 Book of the Year On a January morning in 1913, G. H. Hardy--eccentric, charismatic and, at thirty-seven, already considered the greatest British mathematician of his age--receives in the mail a mysterious envelope covered with Indian stamps. Inside he finds a rambling letter from a self-professed mathematical genius who claims to be on the brink of solving the most important unsolved mathematical problem of all time. Some of his Cambridge colleagues dismiss the letter as a hoax, but Hardy becomes convinced that the Indian clerk who has written it--Srinivasa Ramanujan--deserves to be taken seriously. Aided by his collaborator, Littlewood, and a young don named Neville who is about to depart for Madras with his wife, Alice, he determines to learn more about the mysterious Ramanujan and, if possible, persuade him to come to Cambridge. It is a decision that will profoundly affect not only his own life, and that of his friends, but the entire history of mathematics.
Based on the true story of the strange and ultimately tragic relationship between an esteemed British mathematician and an unknown--and unschooled--mathematical genius, and populated with such luminaries such as D. H. Lawrence, Bertrand Russell, and Ludwig Wittgenstein, "The Indian Clerk" takes this extraordinary slice of history and transforms it into an emotional and spell-binding story about the fragility of human connection and our need to find order in the world.

"Mathematics and its paradoxes provide a deep vein of metaphor that Leavitt uses to superb effect, demonstrating how the most meaningful relationships can defy both logic and imagination."--"The New Yorker"

"Leavitt, a fine writer, has captured not just the complex nature of their partnership, but also a sense of the context: In his telling, England at the turn of the 20th century fits the phrase he uses to describe a particular boarding house, as 'a room grown stale from its own protection.' But beneath the surface of this story lurk issues that feel as fresh as today's news. Most importantly, the novel addresses the clash of cultures as Britain's empire-building came home to roost."--"Seattle Times"

"Extensively researched . . . a] richly layered, rueful portrait . . . Leavitt has tapped into marvelous material."--"San Francisco Chronicle"

"A beautiful and creative work that manages to portray a melange of the literary, historical, romantic and academic, with breathtaking prose and deeply nuanced characters."--"Pittsburg Post-Gazette"

"Leavitt makes the math of prime numbers surprisingly palatable. But we learn more about the complexities of love and work, and their interaction. In Hardy, Leavitt has created a rich character."--"Boston Globe"

"Erudite and well researched, and Leavitt writes about pure mathematics in a way that won't utterly baffle those of us who didn't get beyond pre-calculus in high school ."--"Christian Science Monitor"

"A novel about people who really existed, recreated by an author who plays with the facts, and especially the intriguing lacunae, of their lives . . . richly imagined . . . Leavitt's porttrait of Hardy is a remarkable achievement . . . Leavitt has been praised and condemned for the explicit sex in his fiction, but it is his candid exploration of class that sets him apart from most American writers . . . It's usually not possible to know real people as well as writers can know fictional characters, and it's to Leavitt's enormous credit that he makes these historical personages so vividly complex . . . Leavitt has a passion to inhabit the past, a particular novelistic impulse that goes beyond simple 'animation' of history. The research that went into "The Indian Clerk" is impressive . . . reading it offers the pleasure of escape into another world, along with the nagging feeling of familiarity that characterizes the best historical fiction.""--The New York Times Book Review"

"This is a daring novel in a most unusual way. It is as if David Leavitt had challenged himself to novelize the subject most inimical to fiction, and when the eureka moment arrived, it was a vision of--mathematics ""--""Los Angeles"" Times Book Review"

"Excellent...highly recommended." --"Library Journal," starred review

"A profoundly moving tale that illuminates the agony of repressed feelings and the thrill of intellectual discovery. Think "Remains of the Day" meets "Good Will Hunting."""--Entertainment Weekly"

"Leavitt's copiously researched new novel focuses on a relatively narrow world that he nevertheless illuminates into its deepest recesses . . . Leavitt explores the legend that grew up around Ramanujan, finds what is real in the myth that shrouded his actual being, and in the process reaches impressive heights of understanding the psyche of the intellectual as well as those who seek company with the brilliant-minded.""--Booklist"

"A loving exploration of one of the greatest collaborations of the past century, "The Indian Clerk "is a novel that brilliantly orchestrates questions of colonialism, sexual identity and the nature of genius."--Manil Suri, author of "The Death of Vishnu"

"The certainty attributed to mathematics is richly contrasted to the uncertainty of human relationships in Leavitt's unusual and absorb

About the Author

David Leavitt's first collection of stories, "Family Dancing," was a finalist for both the National Book Critics Circle Award & the PEN/Faulkner Prize. "The Lost Language of Cranes" was made into a BBC film, &"While England Sleeps" was shortlisted for the Los Angeles Times Fiction Prize. Leavitt is also the author of "Equal Affections,""A Place I've Never Been,""Arkansas,"&"The Page Turner." With Mark Mitchell, he coedited "The Penguin Book of Short Stories"&"The Pages Passed from Hand to Hand"& cowrote "Italian Pleasures." He is recipient of fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation & the National Endowment for the Arts. He divides his time between Italy and Florida.

Other Editions

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Trade Paperback $17.50 $13.30

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Reviews from the Community1 Review

  • sandra glaze

    sandra glaze

    • 1 person found this helpful

    Complex, intriguing, fully imagined 5

    This review is from: The Indian Clerk (Trade Paperback)

    14 months ago

    This is a startlingly good book. It is a long time since I read something where both the characters' internal life and their external realities were so fully and convincingly evoked. It looks, among other things, at England during the first world war from an aspect that I had never seen explored before. It makes me think of Dickens, in the best way, compelling and intriguing characters, without any grotesqueries, complex, flawed and humanely, by which I think I mean sympathetically treated.

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