欧宝娱乐

I would like to try to read this...sometime. When you're done, care to pass it on? Oh, who am i kidding, i already have 20 books on the "I Seriously Must Read This Next" shelf.

The man changed physics. His lectures on legendary. The world would be better off if there were more Richard Feynmans in it. He is good at things because he "solves" them. He's not bragging, he's proving to you that anything can be solved. Lesson not learned, I guess. I'm an English Major, and even I can appreciate his talent as a scientist.

Jeremiah wrote: "
The man changed physics. His lectures on legendary. The world would be better off if there were more Richard Feynmans in it. He is good at things because he "solves" them. He's not bragging, h..."

I picked this book up because of my admiration for Feynman. But just because he's a great scientist doesn't mean he can't be annoying and a little full of himself. (In fact, some argue that genius and arrogance go hand-in-hand.) There's no question he was a brilliant scientist. However, appreciation of his literary prose is something separate and open to subjective interpretation. (Hmm, you'd think an English major would know about that.)

I have no problem with Feynman using anecdotes and am aware of the obvious fact that a memoir or autobiography is told from the author's perspective. But Feynman's brilliance at math and physics does not preclude his anecdotes from being found annoying. (Or, if you prefer, I *perceive* him as annoying despite his academic genius.) Even if I were a math genius myself, I could still find the anecdotes annoying. Does his intelligence or contribution to his field somehow create an immunity to anyone, anywhere, finding his anecdotes self-aggrandizing and boring? Does his math brilliance automatically mean he's a brilliant writer? Of course not.

Plain and simple--Emily you just didn't get it. You don't "get" him.

Well, emily, I have to disagree, it's a biography or memoir (So he is going to talk about himself), and most of the time he is expressing how happy or excited he is about the result or what others thought of his exploits. And just a question for you, did you bother searching for Richard Feynman's music, art or tried his safecracking techniques? Really good stuff... I find it amazing how someone can be so passionate and excited about so many different things. Loved the book.

The book was actually adapted from conversations and talks, so any sloppy errors of ego can be forgiven, I think.

I understand exactly what you mean.

I disagree. I found his child-like enthusiasm in everything he engaged in enthralling. I read this book at bedtime and would look forward to his escapades at the end of each day. I'm not convinced that he was bigging himself up throughout - and if he did we can sure that it was as faithful to the truth as it could be. Loved every sentence and I'm not a "mischevious self-aggrandizing guy" (I think!).

He totally disagree this book is great fun.

Feynman was brilliant and clever, and probably irritated a lot of people around him! I think C J gets it, it's a child-like enthusiasm that doesn't dim with age or experience, and never really means to be obnoxious. He can't help it, he really is that talented and determined to overcome whatever problem he's facing at the time. But it鈥檚 going to sound pompous unless the reader is on the same page (i.e. isn鈥檛 it cool that he could solve/learn/overcome this). I think that鈥檚 part of the reason science generally does a terrible job of communicating its importance to the public 鈥� it thinks too much about itself and not enough about the reader.

Anthony, that's great :)

There's nothing wrong with being proud of your work. It's taken me a long time to unlearn Catholic guilt.

What do you expect in an autobiography ? ponytail horses and dumbledore ?

His way of showing off was just exploring the world...

I think the parts where he talked about his talents or his discoveries, (the parts you thought he was showing off) were precisely the parts where he was being modest. Take the story of The Nobel Prize for example. He did not fail to mention that the period before winning the prize was a slump in his career and life. How he was frustrated and thought he was worthless because he wasn't making any valuable contributions to his field. And then, how he got back on track by pursuing physics simply because he loved it. Personally, it inspired me to continue to pursue my studies without losing hope. According to me, Feynman, by talking about his success in such great detail, made them seem like something anybody could do. He did not try to potray himself as some genius, but actually tried to make the reader believe that whatever he had achieved was no big deal.

This is a memoir.The person tells his story and some of his amazing life moments.What did you expect?

I expected intelligent wit but all I got was... Hey guys let me tell you for pages upon pages how I once slept on a couch, played bongos with some hippies, and learned to open a locked file cabinet. Snore. Interesting guy, sure, but not funny.

@Ravi Sankar : Man! That was brutal. :)

Well, I can certainly say that Feynman has more respect in the Physics department than dear Emily has the in the book review department.

Funny, in that I enjoyed the book but was left with the nagging suspicion I'd find it's author very annoying if I met him. But then how many Nobel prizes have I won?

I'm in the disagree I loved it and Feynman's approach to living.

I got this vibe from the review... sort of a shame really, ive generated an interest in Feynman from interviews ive seen...

and his work, obvs :S

Yeah, I made it about a quarter of the way through this one and gave up, which is something I almost never do. I kept asking myself "Is there something I'm missing, or are these anecdotes not nearly as interesting to me as they are to the writer?" Your review echoes my thoughts perfectly.

great and funny book by a great man. he has a great sense of humor: read Leighton's book about the trip to meet the tuva throat singers. also recommended is the movie infinity.

He didn't really write this book per se. These anecdotes were edited by Edward Hutchings from taped conversations between Feynman and his friend Ralph Leighton. That might explain the tone. He didn't sit down and think, "I think I'll write a book about how awesome and talented I am" 鈥� he was merely joking and talking with an old friend and someone happened to write it down because 鈥� yes 鈥� others found it amusing too. Before you criticize, please do your research.

I guess I'm a mischievous, self-aggrandizing guy, then!...oh shit.

Honestly I'm right there with you. Sorry you're getting so many rude comments on this, but on the other hand, you have the most-liked review of this book.

I totally agree with you.

I tried reading this after I saw it recommended in various places but I just don't get what everyone sees in this book. I gave up about 50 pages in.

Don't get me wrong, Feynman was a great scientist but dear god this book makes him sound like an obnoxious person. Playing pranks on people, laughing at others' expense, reveling in his own smugness, these are things that bullies do!

can some one plz help me...im new here...how can i exactly start reading books here???? can some one help? thanks

Ehsan wrote: "can some one plz help me...im new here...how can i exactly start reading books here???? can some one help? thanks"

You seem to be mistaken. 欧宝娱乐 is not an e-book distribution website. It's a place where you review books you've read or are reading. Think "Yelp" not "iTunes". :)

Wow. Interesting. I absolutely didn't see it that way. So strange, i didn't even think someone would think he's annoying =(

And it wasn鈥檛 actually written by him. It鈥檚 just his conversations with a close friend. He didn鈥檛 actually think to tell it in exactly this way to the whole world.

I remember there were a few stupid jokes but they were all done mostly as experiments and were pretty harmless. It's a really common thing for a mathematicians to be a little senseless.

(PS i loved it and him. I think he is very funny and cute as he is a bit of a weirdo as all real scientists are
It鈥檚 so really sad that so many people didn鈥檛 enjoy this book)

And as long as this world has idiots like you, people like him will keep winning Nobel Prize and continue to self-aggrandize (as you say it). Because people like you make people like him feel smart (as you know, everything is relative). But before making a judgement you should research a little. I know that you read this book because you hate Physics, and thought that this book can help you gain interest. But it doesn't work that way. This is not a written book. None of Richard Feynman's published books are written, He didn't like writing (Watch "The last journey of Genius, Richard Feynman" on youtube ), that is why it felt casually written.

So, before writing a review like this (and judging people who loved this book), make sure that you can achieve even 1% of what Sir Richard Feynman did.. and know that you are not the reference frame of this universe.

Swarup wrote: "make sure that you can achieve even 1% of what Sir Richard Feynman did.. and know that you are not the reference frame of this universe. "

Jeez guy, it's just someone's opinion on a book, stop laying it on so thick and remember that not everyone has the same opinions on everything.

Swarup Mondal I like ur comment :)

I agree with Emily here. It is fun for the first 100 pages, but then it starts getting annoying. I mean i couldn't take more of 'see how smart i am' stuff for any longer. It kind of does disservice to the genius that the Nobel Laureate was. So, Mr. Feynman may or may not be an annoying person, but the book certainly is. It is probably got to do more with the format of the book than anything else.

You're godamn right mate. But to me it also suggest a possible correlationship between mischief and pure genius, and that is pretty interesting. Sometimes it just feels like (at least for me) we are much dumber being serious and so much more brilliant being playful and mischievous. So here it is, Feynman saying "why so serious" in my face. Just fyi I too found this book annoying because I'm the dead serious kind. But I'll still give it credit for that well deserved smack in my face to wake up

He didn't discover he was great at anything right off the bat. The thing that made him so good at these things was his willingness to try. Many people believe that you're either born with it or not, but that's not the case. No great artist was born that way. What you see in a great piece of art is hours upon hours of practice on many other pieces, and Richard Feynman understood this.

He wasn't full of himself, he was open to every possibility, and willing to try. Not many people think this way though, so it's easy to see how it could be misunderstood as egotistic.

f26 wrote: "
Don't get me wrong, Feynman was a great scientist but dear god this book makes him sound like an obnoxious person. Playing pranks on people, laughing at others' expense, reveling in his own smugness, these are things that bullies do!"

Totally agree with this. Whoever wrote or edited this book - he did a disservice for Feynman's reputation, at least in my eyes. Now i can't think about him without disgust. Now i think he is an example of a brains without a heart, without an ability to love and genuinely care for other people, without an ability to see personalities in other people. He cares only for his coolness and solving math problems and the likes.
For me it looked like he was stuck in his teen ages and never matured.
There were many moments in this book when he, being so "bright" and "clever", made way too fast humiliating conclusions about people. And too fast self-bragging conclusions of him being so amazingly talented and quick in almost everything. Except physics, i often thought they were unreasonable and that he was being childish. I really hated the way he behaved himself with people, especially with women.
And i never saw him being sorry enough for the consequences of the nuclear bomb and for the common people, who suffered from it.

I fully agree with the review. Even if the guy was just talking to an old friend, the book reads like a boring ode to his own awesomeness. I did finish it hoping that there would be some redeeming sections in the end but I was sorely disappointed. Furthermore most histories were uninteresting. I felt I was hearing the girl from American Pie saying "and there was that one time at atomic bomb camp...." And then saying something utterly devoid of sense or depth.

Lubomir wrote: "Swarup Mondal I like ur comment :)"

Thanks sir. I appreciate your support. :)

Very much agree. I came in prepared to be charmed and instead I was put off by several of the stories he shared. The one that stood out to me the most was when he put his tip for waitresses under a glass filled with water - creating a headache and a mess for them - and then congratulated him on 'outsmarting' them. Okay, great, you went to Princeton and have a good-paying job and you played a child's practical joke on some waitresses who are just trying to do their job. It was almost like he had no conception of how that affected the waitresses, all he could see was how it showed how clever he was.

He was a great man, but some of the stories in this book made me think less of him as a person.

Kate wrote: "Very much agree. I came in prepared to be charmed and instead I was put off by several of the stories he shared. The one that stood out to me the most was when he put his tip for waitresses under a..." You can try reading other books of his authorship, "Meaning of it all", "what do you care what other people think" and books like that. Take the fact into consideration that He never wrote a book. His books are mostly are his recorded interviews and lectures. And people answer in interviews accordingly to the questions asked. Not by themselves.

Everybody hates people who are way dumber than themselves. Even the dumb ones. Even you, Emily, criticizing a memoir on its literary qualities, and Jeremiah on being an English major. Talk about double standards.

Viplove wrote: "Everybody hates people who are way dumber than themselves. Even the dumb ones. Even you, Emily, criticizing a memoir on its literary qualities, and Jeremiah on being an English major. Talk about do..."
Exactly. And moreover, it's not even a written book.

There is a saying that anyone who knows Physics knows Richard Feynman.Have read his book 'What do you care what other people think'?Well,he would not care what you think.He was Awesome.Even a 16 years old kid knows that.

Myat wrote: "There is a saying that anyone who knows Physics knows Richard Feynman.Have read his book 'What do you care what other people think'?Well,he would not care what you think.He was Awesome.Even a 16 ye..." Awesome. :D

Kathleen wrote: "Like you, I thought he was full of himself. And everyone who thinks he wasn't is probably just as narcissistic as him. Think about it. They enjoy the traits in him that they have in themselves. Don..."
Being full of oneself doesn't necessarily mean being a narcissist. It means contentment with life, and it is required. The world is already full of misery. Let's not make it more miserable.

And moreover, this is not even a written book. I don't know how else do you respond truthfully to questions you are being asked, when you have achieved so much in life!