Measuring the World by Daniel Kehlmann

Will rivet eyes to its pages.

Book Review by Keir Hind | 11 Apr 2007
Book title: Measuring the World
Author: Daniel Kehlmann
A runaway bestseller in Germany, Measuring the World rushes through the story of the intertwined lives of two remarkable 19th century Germans, the polymath Alexander von Humboldt and the mathematical genius Carl Friedrich Gauss. It has to rush, because both men lived crammed lives. Humboldt was a botanist, geographer and diplomat who made his name with a perilous but successful expedition to explore and map South America. Gauss explored the world with his mind whilst rarely leaving his home in Gottingen, happily publishing revolutionary mathematics papers if possible. This is a quick but fascinating read - Kehlmann writes both lives in breathless prose, short sentences running into each other and driving the reader along with his subjects' driven lives. Both men are different characters, Gauss a virtually untutored prodigy who loved to be around women, Humboldt a virtual celibate who had been extensively trained by rich parents to be a great man. Kehlmann clearly has to take liberties with the details, but his subjects are likeably real characters throughout. And by juxtaposing their stories – one chapter on one man, the next on the other for the most part - the story allows for several cliffhangers and will rivet eyes to its pages. It's easy to see why this was a sales success. But in reading the book, in experiencing the speedy, controlled flow of the story whilst becoming fascinated by Gauss and Humboldt, it also becomes clear that this is literature of a high quality.
Release date: 5 April. Published by Quercus. Cover Price £12.99 hardback.