Gunther Nickel

Read this with my German tutor as I could not bear reading another heavy, heavy German novel. The intertwined stories of Humboldt and Bonpland and their voyages in South America (think a pair of Redmond O'Hanlons in frock coats) with the irrascible stay-at-home mathematician Gauss and his hapless son Eugen does make for some sprightly reading. The ending, unfortunately, falls very flat (so abruptly that I had to buy a copy in English to make sure I hadn't missed something) when Kehlmann drops one narration with a clumsiness that is out of place with such a light and elegant book.… (meer)

Read this with my German tutor as I could not bear reading another heavy, heavy German novel. The intertwined stories of Humboldt and Bonpland and their voyages in South America (think a pair of Redmond O'Hanlons in frock coats) with the irrascible stay-at-home mathematician Gauss and his hapless son Eugen does make for some sprightly reading. The ending, unfortunately, falls very flat (so abruptly that I had to buy a copy in English to make sure I hadn't missed something) when Kehlmann drops one narration with a clumsiness that is out of place with such a light and elegant book.… (meer)

Read this with my German tutor as I could not bear reading another heavy, heavy German novel. The intertwined stories of Humboldt and Bonpland and their voyages in South America (think a pair of Redmond O'Hanlons in frock coats) with the irrascible stay-at-home mathematician Gauss and his hapless son Eugen does make for some sprightly reading. The ending, unfortunately, falls very flat (so abruptly that I had to buy a copy in English to make sure I hadn't missed something) when Kehlmann drops one narration with a clumsiness that is out of place with such a light and elegant book.… (meer)