Paul Levinson
Teoksen The Silk Code tekijä
Tietoja tekijästä
Paul Levinson, a former rock musician, lives in White Plains, New York.
Image credit: photo by Emon Hassan
Sarjat
Tekijän teokset
Cellphone: The Story of the World's Most Mobile Medium and How It Has Transformed Everything! (2004) 28 kappaletta
In Pursuit of Truth: Essays on the Philosophy of Karl Popper on the Occasion of His 80th Birthday (1982) 8 kappaletta
The Mendelian Lamp Case {novelette} 6 kappaletta
Touching the Face of the Cosmos: On the Intersection of Space Travel and Religion (2016) 4 kappaletta
The Copyright Notice Case 3 kappaletta
Ian, Isaac, and John [novelette] 2 kappaletta
A Medal for Harry 1 kappale
The Way Of Flesh 1 kappale
Advantage Bellarmine 1 kappale
Smart Weapon 1 kappale
Little Differences 1 kappale
Late Lessons 1 kappale
Associated Works
Nebula Awards 32: SFWA's Choices for the Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year (1998) — Avustaja — 90 kappaletta
Boarding the Enterprise: Transporters, Tribbles and the Vulcan Death Grip in Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek (Smart Pop… (2006) — Avustaja — 79 kappaletta
King Kong Is Back!: An Unauthorized Look at One Humongous Ape! (Smart Pop series) (2005) — Avustaja — 18 kappaletta
Merkitty avainsanalla
Yleistieto
- Virallinen nimi
- Levinson, Paul
- Syntymäaika
- 1947
- Sukupuoli
- male
- Kansalaisuus
- USA
- Koulutus
- New York University (BA, PhD)
The New School for Social Research (MA) - Ammatit
- author
professor
media commentator - Organisaatiot
- Fordham University
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP)
Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI)
Media Ecology Association
Mystery Writers of America - Palkinnot ja kunnianosoitukset
- Quotes in 1st Amendment Calendar, 2005, 2007, Freedom Forum
Neil Postman Award (Outstanding Public Intellectual Media Ecology Assoc, 2005)
"Teacher of the Year" Award, Graduate Student Assoc, Fordham Univ, 2003-2004
Jäseniä
Keskustelut
The Plot to Save Socrates, Historical Fiction (joulukuu 2012)
Kirja-arvosteluja
Palkinnot
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Associated Authors
Tilastot
- Teokset
- 36
- Also by
- 20
- Jäseniä
- 882
- Suosituimmuussija
- #29,046
- Arvio (tähdet)
- 3.5
- Kirja-arvosteluja
- 21
- ISBN:t
- 63
- Kielet
- 1
- Kuinka monen suosikki
- 1
Unfortunately, despite some promise in the opening chapters – not least some successful mimicry of Plato's Socratic dialogues, where Socrates and a mysterious visitor debate the paradoxes of time-travel – the storytelling itself misfires. Characterisation is weak throughout: none of the main players have much in the way of motivation, for all that they leap to their feet to take their part, and those that become the villains of the piece have motives that remain completely inscrutable – in fact, the main villain and orchestrator is all but forgotten by the end. Sierra Waters, the closest we have to a protagonist, could have as her characterisation a post-it note that just says "sexy". The explanation for the time-travel basically amounts to "magical chairs" (pg. 231), and Levinson proves in multiple scenes that he can't write action to save his life. By the end, the novel has failed to avoid that common time-travel trap of "heads chasing tails" (pg. 265) and it degenerates into a hectic, harum-scarum mess, with the only resolutions proving underwhelming.
Some of which would be OK if the novel's promising ideas had been tackled. But we lose the thread of the plot to save Socrates – partly because of the characterisation and storytelling mentioned above, but also because it's never clear why the effort's being made on the elderly philosopher's behalf in the first place. Civilisation "has never fully recovered from the death of Socrates", Levinson writes on page 135, which is stretching it a bit, and besides which is an argument never fully explored in the book itself. Socrates' challenge in the novel – that "it will make no difference, to the present or the future of the world, if I die here or escape with you" (pg. 49) – is given a mundane plot-resolution answer rather than a thematic one that addresses the concepts of messing with history and saving a Great Man for posterity. Questions of fate, paradox and philosophy are raised by Levinson's scenario but never addressed, with the can being kicked down the street until there's no more street. The result is a promising high-concept thriller that is disappointingly unsuccessful, with its events "happen[ing] in a way that makes no impact, in which case we have wasted our time" (pg. 168).… (lisätietoja)