Este es el primer libro sobre Stephen Hawking que leo en mi vida, conocía previamente su trayectoria como gran científico y los logros personales de no dejar que la parálisis permanente con la que vive lo haya detenido nunca, pero más allá de eso no conocía de su vida. En mi propia ignorancia, reconozco que lo que me motivó a leer este libro fue la película The Theory of Everything (La Teoría del Todo), por el simple detalle de ver a Hawking caminar, moverse y hablar como el resto de las personas antes de que fuera diagnosticado con la enfermedad de la motoneurona a unos escasos 21 años, donde apenas comienza recién a vivirse la adultez y de la figura anónima que lo acompañó por años y a quien recién ahora se le va otorgando el reconocimiento que se le merece, porque ésta en realidad no es la vida de Stephen Hawking, sino de Jane Hawking, quien fue su primer esposa por veinticinco años, quien a pesar de todas las adversidades que le avecinaban, decidió casarse con él, ser su compañera por veinticinco años de matrimonio y la madre de sus tres hijos. El libro nos da una mirada detalla y concisa (que a veces puede ser un poco lenta por la falta de diálogos), de casi tres décadas de vida en común. Fue interesante conocer y leer como esta sencilla joven de Cambridge conoce y se enamora de un joven Stephen, así como al mismo tiempo fue bastante conmovedor ver a este famoso científico ser un poco más humilde. Sus viajes por Europa, especialmente por España y Francia, su amor y pasión por la poesía medieval, su creencia en Dios a diferencia de Stephen, quien se considera un ateo permanente y sus primeras dudas luego de enterarse de la enfermedad del joven. Conforme los capítulos van pasando (y algunos son tan largos como los años en que transcurre la historia recordada), se puede apreciar una gran gama de personajes famosos que se hicieron amigos de la singular pareja y fueron una gran ayuda (especialmente cuando Stephen comienza a perder de forma gradual los movimientos de forma notoria sin poder realizar las funciones más básicas y al mismo tiempo su fama comienza a crecer), como Kip Thorne, Roger Penrose, George Ellis, Dennis Sciama, Gaileo Galilei, Isaac Newton y muchos más de alrededor del mundo y la historia. (Personalmente, me sorprendió y me gustó que Jane mencionara a Chile, mi país, y lo ocurrido en la dictadura militar de Pinochet, nunca pensé que hubiera conocido a varios chilenos o que nombrara la figura de Pablo Neruda). A la vez se puede apreciar la evolución de la misma Jane con el correr de los años, de la joven estudiante a un ama de casa y posteriormente madre de tres hijos, Robert, Lucy y Timothy y su camino para lograr su propio mágister en poesía medieval española. Claro que no todo el libro es color de rosa, luego comienza a ponerse difícil y comienzan a verse las verdaderas pruebas. Como figura protagonista de su propia vida, muchas veces, Jane Hawking parece estar relegada a un personaje secundario en comparación de la creciente fama de Stephen con sus descubrimientos sobre los agujeros negros y el encontrar una ecuación que unifique toda la teoría del origen del universo. Muchas veces dejando sus propios sueños, especialmente su tesis, para apoyar no solo los sueños de su marido, sino la crianza de sus primeros dos hijos, Robert y Lucy, especialmente siendo una madre primeriza y que no siempre puede contar con la ayuda de Stephen, debido a su notoria discapacidad. Así como al mismo tiempo las tareas más básicas en la casa comienzan a ser complicadas. Se puede admirar su esfuerzo y empeño por querer que las cosas salgan bien, pero también se comparte un sentimiento de injusticia debido al poco cuidado que se le daban a los discapacitados en esa época, porque dudo que Jane hubiera podido lograrlo si no hubiera sido por la gran ayuda que recibió de muchas buenas personas que pasaron por su camino. Pero el precio del esfuerzo y de la fama no siempre es con las más buenas intenciones. Jane tiene que enfrentar un mundo que muchas veces se muestra más que injusto y prejuicioso, un mundo que puede aceptar a Stephen Hawking como un genio, pero donde ella es mirada en menos debido a su condición de mujer, esposa y sin título universitario donde como señalé al principio, relegada a un papel secundario muy inmerecido cuando siempre se le debió de dar más y muchas veces proviniendo de los lugares menos esperados y más cercanos al mismo tiempo. También debe enfrentar sus batallas internas, especialmente cuando en medio de su matrimonio con Stephen, encontrará el amor con Jonathan, un músico viudo que entra a formar parte de la familia como amigo y ayudando tanto a Stephen como a los pequeños Hawking, muchas veces ocultando el afecto que ambos sienten debido a la situación de Stephen, un dilema moral enorme que muchas veces no le será fácil a Jane, quien al fin y al cabo es una mujer con sueños y anhelos como muchas en el mundo que buscan la felicidad y el amor, especialmente cuando éste aparece en los momentos más inesperados y singulares. Narrativamente me gustó mucho, quizás no a todos les guste o pueda ser una lectura algo pesada, pero Jane hace gala y honor a sus inspiraciones poéticas a la hora de narrar sus memorias, una tarea que no siempre suele ser fácil, porque si algo es seguro, es que la memoria colectiva nunca coinciden a la hora de recordar detalles. He encontrado similitudes tanto en The Theory of Everything y Hawking, donde un joven Benedict Cumberbatch interpreta a Stephen en sus comienzos como científico y cuando la enfermedad de la motoneurona aparece en su vida. Pero aquí se puede leer la vida de una mujer que contra todo pronóstico logró formar una familia y ayudar a uno de los científicos más inteligentes y respetados del siglo, titularse de su carrera a pesar de los años que le tomó y aunque sabemos cómo terminó todo entre el matrimonio Hawking para los que conocen la historia, no hay que verlo como un triste final, sino como el avance a un siguiente capítulo. Resumiendo en pocas palabras, es un relato de toda una vida en conjunto, un proyecto de vida y convivencia y un relato de amor genuino y conmovedor en honor al amor en pareja, el amor hacia los amigos, los padres, los hijos y la vida misma.
This is a book about Stephen Hawking's courtship and marriage to Jane Hawking, and their family life. Jane married Stephen when he was newly diagnosed with motor neuron disease and given about two years to live. That was over 40 years ago and he's still alive. She was terribly burdened with his care, on top of taking care of three children, without much money. She has genuine, legitimate complaints about his treating her like a slave? So why is she so irritating? I think it's because she has so little self-awareness. She never delves into why she might have decided to marry a man with a serious, life-threatening disease, never a hint that it might have seemed glamorous or noble to her. She does seem to have been smitten with him -- his feelings for her are much less apparent. He needs her but he seems as often irritated with her as loving. It is striking how old-fashioned her attitudes are. It sometimes feels like an early 20th century book. She views her role almost entirely as mother and wife. Yes, she does manage to complete a PhD, but the time is stolen from an endless round of teas, birthday parties, and other forms of entertainment. Really? She has to do all of this? It seems that she takes pleasure in this role but also complains about it. There is hardly a mention of any real communication between Jane and Stephen, except in their joint commitment to some political causes.Finally she meets John, who loves and values her. Because she's committed to Stephen and the children, she absolutely won't leave him, and the new man becomes part of the household. apparently with Stephen's consent. It's hinted but not made explicit that Stephen is no longer able to have sexual relations with her -- although she did become pregnant by him a few years earlier. That episode is recounted by her saying that she wasn't always careful about birth control. What?! They're having sex? He's not just her fourth child? She is furious at his sister asking if the child is John's, although it seems a reasonable question, if intrusive. The bizarre thing is that Jane is baffled to learn after a few years that Stephen apparently wasn't happy with the new arrangement. It is this kind of obtuseness that makes her so annoying. But as a picture of their home life, and what it's like to be married to a "great man," it's fairly compelling. And she does get her revenge on the evil nurse who manipulated him into leaving Jane and marrying him, and we do learn that apparently THEY were having sex.
Do You like book Travelling To Infinity (2014)?
Memoirs are very hard to review. How can you criticize the characters and plot of someone else’s life. It’s not like they invented the whole thing, everything actually happened. So I’ll try to keep it close to reality and remember that this is not a novel.Jane Hawking was married to the genius scientific Stephen Hawking for about thirty years. They met in the sixties and married shortly after he was diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, for those of you who were living in another planet in 2014, during the ice bucket challenge craze). She chronicles their married years, his disease, his academic life and physical deterioration, and she manages to show him as a normal human being, not as the awesome and brave scientific that has faced a lot of adversity and still goes on.Don’t get me wrong: I deeply admire Hawking for all he has done. He is, indeed, a brave human being. But he’s not a poor saint. And Jane shows it very clearly here. And a lot of the things he has overcome are invisible: what we see is just the tip of the iceberg. Jane does show them: how hard it is to move a wheelchair, how much does it cost to travel in these conditions and so on. I’ve never even thought about it, it’s just one of those things you take for granted.I respect Jane a lot, especially after reading this. She could’ve sounded bitter and she could’ve shown Hawking in a worse light, like a despot or a selfish person (there are some points in which he does come out as self-involved, but it’s kind of understandable, given his life). Jane shows the good and bad honestly, both of Steven and herself. She doesn’t hide her infidelity or any of that side. That’s something worth repeating. It shows her humanity (she has lots of reasons to be bitter about her relationship). So, points for her for that.This is a book that I totally recommend to anyone. Hawking is one of the greatest minds in science, and it’s very interesting to read about him in such a light. I think that sometimes, in the cases of people who have gone over such problems, we tend to see them as heroes rather than people. In this book, Hawking is incredibly human, which is great to read. Maybe because I can’t stand “heroes”, they bore me way too much. I prefer reading about real people (o realistic, at least). I enjoyed this book a lot. It’s well written and it kept me going, so I finished it in a few days (mind you, I usually read very fast). It never gets really hard to read or anything, so there are some points there.P.S.: Watch the film. There are a few problems with it (it shows their lives to be a lot more idyllic than how they really were), but Eddie Redmayne’s acting is wonderful. And Felicity Jones is also amazing, so it’s totally worth watching it.
—Anita
Alguém disse um dia que:"The impossible only takes a bit longer"É o que se passa nesta estória...Quando confrontados com a adversidade optamos por lutar em vez de nos deixarmos afundar avançamos no caminho da auto-descobertaEnveredamos por um trilho de luz, de clarividência, onde nao há dúvidas em relação ao próximo passo a dar...Esta estória é um testemunho do poder da mente que quando determinada a vencer dificuldades é capaz de realizar milagresÀs vezes, o impossível é apenas o que nunca tentámos antes...NOTA: Dei-vos o sumo da estória! Subtraí uma estrela à avaliação porque a narrativa perde-se um pouco em pormenores mundanos o que por vezes a torna algo aborrecida. Mas apesar de não ser uma leitura ávida , não deixa por isso de ter interesse, pela mensagem que dela podemos extrair. Digamos que se trata dum livro que pressupõe uma leitura capaz de separar o trigo do joio ;)
—Maria Espadinha
Jane Hawking is an excellent writer. She uses words and metaphors very well and paints some lovely pictures of the English countryside and Cambridge, in particular. This book, however, is l-o-n-g. Too long. I understand that a life dedicated to a debilitated genius and three children has been extremely challenging but reading about every luncheon, party, family vacation, child illness, and attendance at functions held in her husband's honour became tedious. Parts of this book read like that annual letter you get at Christmas from your cousin abroad crowing about all the of their accomplishments and strife during the past year. Mrs Hawking skirts around the most interesting aspects of her relationship with her famous husband and doesn't answer a number of questions that are on the tips of everyone's tongues. In short, I guess we need more of the juicy bits! The book should have been 25% shorter. However, this is a woman I admire and she certainly could have a career as writer.
—Shannon Dutchyn
