Love and Other Thought Experiments: Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2020

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A stand alone fictionalised work centered just on the thought experiments would have been preferable for me. The book builds a network of affection connecting all of these characters, and then seems to assume that the existence of the network is enough to engage the reader’s emotions without doing any more work to actually endear the characters to the reader.

The story eventually veers into speculative fiction territory, exploring ideas on consciousness, reality, and “the telescopic sensation of giant tiny moments”.I read a lot, but not much of what I read are books that appear on Booker Prize Long Lists (or win Booker Prizes).

Love and Other Experiments is precisely the type of novel associated with the College but is unfortunately ineligible for the Goldsmiths Prize due to the (rather unnecessary) rule that disqualifies any books by current, and even former, members of staff and students, the same rule that, for example last year, ruled out, among others, This Brutal House, Mothlight, Patience and Girl, Woman, Other.

Also, honestly, I don't think I can adequately describe the playful, intelligent, mind-bending journey Ward has created here. I suppose once the AI character comes into play an argument could be made for ‘zero emotion’ to make sense with the story, but even so it’s not an effective tactic to keep the reader engaged! The experiments are renowned studies of the imagination; the stuff of philosophers and psychologists.

With its no-nonsense design and quiet release, Love and Other Thought Experiments is the fascinating, magnetic party guest you can't stop thinking about and hope to see again soon. The second uses the Prison’s Dilemma, although more to establish a forking paths type of narrative as to different outcomes of a young Turkish Cypriot lad struggling in the sea after he has swum too far in pursuit of a football. I think the emotional distance is going to get in the way for a lot of readers who look for personal connections in what they read. The author does not state what is going on, but tries to reveal it slowly whilst surrounding the reader with new information. There were connections that I missed the first time and also there were some pieces of wonderful writing that stood out for me.

Many elements of the basic storyline, as well as additional characters like Rachel’s parents or a Cypriot Turkish boy Ali, are retold in different versions as the author probes a number of “thought experiments” on her characters and their interconnected lives. Greg tells him that she is in space and it’s no surprise that Arthur eventually becomes an astronaut in America. On another, it’s a sandbox of philosophical ideas ranging from free will and the nature of consciousness, to the limits of human experience. It seems like readers are increasingly being asked - by publishers, marketers, and prize committees - to embrace new works that are, frankly, not very good.