An Audience for Einstein (2006 EPPIE Award Winner)
An Audience for Einstein (2006 EPPIE Award Winner)
Professor Percival Marlowe is a brilliant, elderly astrophysicist who’s dying, his greatest achievement still unfinished and now beyond his diminished means.
Doctor Carl Dorning, a neurosurgeon, finally discovers a secret method of transplanting memories from one person to another, thanks to Marlowe’s millions.
Miguel Sanchez, a homeless boy, agrees to become the recipient of Marlowe’s knowledge and personality in this unorthodox experiment, enticed by Dorning’s promises of intelligence, wealth and respect, but dangerously unaware that his own identity will be lost forever.
What results is a seesaw battle for control of Miguel’s body, as Marlowe learns to his dismay what his lifetime of arrogance and conceit has earned him.
And when Marlowe stumbles upon the shocking procedure Dorning used in desperation to succeed, the professor does what he must to defeat Dorning and redeem himself at last.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Very satisfying and engaging
Originally posted on [...]
An Audience for Einstein is a truly futuristic Science fiction novel. We step back in time to fully comprehend the goals and dreams of one of the chief characters, Astrophysicist Professor Percival Marlowe. Then we meet him again, in his waning years, his achievement as yet incomplete. You cannot help but to sympathize with his increasing frustration, even desperation.
Young Miguel Sanchez (in a collision course with the good professor from the start) is motivated by his circumstances to voluntarily take on the knowledge, education and memory of the aging Professor Marlowe. We readers understand Marlowe’s motivation in imparting these (which on one hand might seem a great gift) because he so desires that his greatest achievement will be reached. The means are brought about by a possibly less-than-ethical doctor, who’s own greatest achievement allows that access to the mind’s memories.
But its never so simple as all that. The gift of mind and memory will result in the loss of the self–Miguel, as he was, will cease to exist, merely becoming a tool of Marlowe. We see this coming before Miguel, and wait for the contemplative and soul-searching on a journey that must surely and thoroughly affect all three chief participants in the scheme.
The relationship that develops between Marlowe and Miguel is surprising and fascinating. Once or twice, in the war between he who was Marlowe and Miguel’s own personality, the personalities don’t stay quite true to themselves (Miguel especially, has a knowledge level that seems to increase in the struggle to assert itself, then recedes…which appears to be the point, but it seems hardly fair that he both uses and rejects Marlowe’s intelligence, at the same time.) Certainly, the personality struggle is the absolute center of the story, and at the same time, difficult to exhibit coherently. Other characters, like Natalie, offer a different (if limited) perspective on the ongoing impact on Miguel. In addition to the main characters, it’s wonderful to find secondary characters so full and rich and well-developed.
Science is a major component in this original novel which is ultimately about people, choices and identifying right and wrong.
A lot of An Audience for Einstein recalls the older, classic stories of science-fiction. The achievements of the future; the science supporting the goals are almost in sight, and the moral and ethical cost is part of the plot. This work offers a rather dark premise and not surprisingly leads to a rather dark story.
Very satisfying and engaging.I give this story 4 suns.
5 Stars A science fiction version of A Christmas Carol
We are reading this novel now for class, and our teacher said this is actually a science fiction retelling of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Professor Marlowe is Scrooge, and Miguel is Tiny Tim. Even the dialogue mimics Dickens dialogue even though its old fashioned. Based on what some reviewers here have said about the dialogue, that might not have been such a good idea so I would say my rating is actually four and a half stars instead of five. The novel also addresses modern scientific issues like stem cell research and other end of life medical issues, which is the real reason why we’re reading it. So far I think its a really good book, and we will be doing some additional research for our book reports. My report will be about late term abortion, which our teacher said is a real hot button issue right now. This has been an enjoyable book.
5 Stars Great book for 3rd grade projects
My 3rd grader daughter loved the book, the characters and the overall plot of the story. It was a great choice for her in fiction books assignment at school.
2 Stars Tedious read, interesting idea
Only the premise of the story carries this book along, and I find it tedious to read. The characters are hard to penetrate beyond the surface. But I hate skipping to the end so I slogged through. I get a star for reading this one. But it is an interesting idea. The concepts frequently reminded me of issues in the Frankenstein story.
5 Stars More like four and a half stars
Hmm. My Kindle edition of this book was just fine, without any editing issues. (Maybe Amazon fixed it?) Not only that, but I rather enjoyed this story about a relentless quest for immortality and its legal and ethical implications. This really does seem like a great book for middle schoolers and early high schoolers thanks to its timely topics, as well as those of us who still enjoy young adult books. The dialogue did seem a bit “off” in a few places (the reason why I can’t give it five stars) but that’s a minor quibble. And as others have noted, there are several scenes that are absolutely riveting and really pull you in. Doctor Dorning seemed possessed the way Captain Ahab was in his quest for the Great White Whale, and Professor Marlowe goes through a personal transformation that’s far more than just physical. The pawn in the middle of this story is the homeless boy Miguel, who’s horribly naive about life on the streets and yet has something important to teach the old professor, who up to the end of his first life thought he had all the answers. And what Marlowe does at the end finally elevates him to the greatness he assumed he had but didn’t his first time around. This is a thoughtful book with both a heart and a soul.
Filed under: Winning Book Reviews