tA novel about the world of codes and code-breakers set in Bolivia, Turing’s Delerium is highly ambitious in its scope, but sadly can’t quite live up to that ambition. Nonetheless, it represents a worthy attempt. tIts narrative structure is unusual and intriguing. It follows several different viewpoint characters, each with her or his own perspective on the crimes of state that have been exposed over the years by the code-breakers of the clandestine Black Chamber, and that have served to maintain dictatorial power in one form or another. The characters include Albert, the dying founder of the organization; his number one code-breaker, Saenz, as well as his professor wife and hacker daughter; the master hacker, Kandinsky—iconic, anonymous, and threatening to bring down the government—who has apparently infiltrated the Black Chamber itself; the new head of the organization (fresh from his post at the NSA); and craven judge Cardona, intent on revenge through a belated vigilante justice. tSaenz’s chapters are related in the second person. This seems at first like an affectation (think Bright Lights, Big City), but it works as an effective distancing maneuver. Saenz drifts through the novel like the ineffectual ghost that he is, finding meaningless patterns and codes wherever he looks in his mundane world, while dreaming of his past triumphs under Albert. By contrast, Albert’s chapters are delivered in the first person in brief bursts of staccato prose as he lies mute and isolated on what could be his deathbed. If Saenz is the most boring character, Albert is the most interesting, and in his stream of consciousness ramblings we are treated to a host of anecdotes about code-makers and breakers and their hidden, behind-the-scenes roles in shaping history. Fascinating, and to this reader the most interesting aspect of the novel. tWithout getting into plot points or outcomes, the novel grapples with the issue of responsibility: Is it enough to just follow orders and be a good soldier? Must we not also weigh the consequences of our actions? Is truth revealed when we seemingly expose a wrong? Or are we simply being manipulated? Is there another more subtle layer of code underlying the one we grappled with where the real meaning lies?tThese questions should give rise to a rich thematic structure, and the novel did indeed lay the foundation for it. But it simply didn’t deliver. Perhaps its biggest fault was that I never really cared for or about any of the characters. Like Saenz, they all seemed a bit untethered. As a result, the historical vignettes wound up carrying more verve and color than the story line, and overwhelm it by contrast. tAs much as I’d like to recommend this novel, I can’t wholeheartedly. I certainly don’t regret the read. I just wish it had been more.
What I learned from this book? My creative writing professors were right. They were right when they said not to write in present tense, they were correct when they stated that using a second person point of view was not the best way to go and they were dead on accurate when they rolled their eyes at the thought of a story written in first peson stream of consciousness. I thought my professors were simply trying to stunt my overwhelming creativity. Someone should have stunted this book. My goodness, this is a prime example of how not to write. Instead of professors telling you not to write this way they should just make you read this book. (show not tell -- heh,heh)So of course, there were multiple points of view from different characters with all the before mentioned maneuvers. On top of that the plot was predictable and the insights of the characters were insipid and platitudinous. For instance, did you know that we are all simply codes trying to communicate with each other? And we can't. And this is tragic.This book was supposed to be a cyber/thriller/government/revolution and was a let down. But, it was translated so perhaps the fault of the book can't rest on the author's shoulders alone.
Do You like book Turing's Delirium (2007)?
This was a book that mixed high tech hacking, a Latin American country's movement from dictatorship to something akin to democracy (Bolivia is setting), how to deal both personally and nationally with political violence committed by people who are still in power, or at least wield power, and grassroots movements. It's a lot to cover and many writing techniques are deployed to move the story from start to finish.This book took me forever to get through. This was in part due to my writing and not wanting to get distracted by reading fiction. Turns out, that hurt me. I need to keep reading even when I'm in the midst of heavy writing. But, it couldn't be just that. I'm not sure if it was me, the translation (original was in Spanish) or the original author's story, but it took forever to get into the book and I didn't feel it really moving until after 200 pages (it's a 291 page book in the hardcover edition I have).It was an interesting exercise, though, as the author experimented with different techniques. Chapters would switch between first, second and third person point of view. He also used stream of consciousness, narrative, dialogue and internal monologues, keeping consistency within each short chapter.Time was also something he played with. The beginning of the next chapter would often start before the end of the last, and then "catch up" and surpass it, but always from a different point of view. I found that kind of neat.One cool quote, towards the end: "You're delirious." "We all are. It's just that some people's delirium is less offensive than others."
—Drew
the concepts/ideas were great but the delivery method, the "techie" side was very outdated and not as impressive to me than it was to the older generations in my reading group. it took me like 3-4 tries to pick it up again and I finally finished it out of stubbornness, not because I was enjoying it...read it for the Main SFPL Rincon Literario group + West Berkeley Library Café Literario.update: I'm currently reading Palacio quemado and loving it, especially since I will be working in La Paz, Bolivia, for the month of July. I'm almost sure I will read more of Paz Soldán's books.
—pa'tí m
Clearly an ambitious book, with a compelling story, but it hasn't aged well to me, which is the double-edged sword of writing a techno-thriller at a time when technology is so rapidly changing. But it's a fun read, focusing on a secret cryptoanalytical agency in Bolivia during a time of political upheaval. Aside from the dated feel, the chapter-to-chapter shifting of perspective (especially the use of the second-person protagonist) was a distraction for me. It won't blow your mind, but it's a fun summer read that tends toward the literary.
—Chris
