More from The Genius in My Basement

A couple of quotes from the book (quirky as hell) by Alexander Masters that I had written about before.

 "It is a cliche that mathematicians are over the hill by their mid-thirties, but often it's not loss of mathematical intelligence that weakens their ability, but loss of focus. They meet someone luscious in the university canteen, get married, shackle themselves with debt, find they are suddenly pushing a pram containing twins; or they decide they haven't done enough for the health of the world and stumble off to fight American Imperialism. ...the mathematical concentration is shot, and before these ex-geniuses can get it back, it's time to retire and die themselves."

The book is about a mathematician, Simon.

"As a child, Simon invented an idea called 'Vortex Theory'. According to Vortex Theory, one step in the wrong sartorial direction-eg, buying a new pair of trousers when there are still two days left in the old ones before the police file indecency charges-and the Vortex will get you. A second later, you will be swirling down Saville Row in a frenzy of designer suits and Gucci tiepins."

Finally, Simon's views about public transport services in England. He is a big fan, and takes trips on buses and trains all the time.

"I'd say that you ought to treat me as if I was currently watching the great love of my life (the public transport system) being slowly murdered, torn between my desire to save her and expose her murderers and my wish to spend as much time as I can with her while she is still alive."

The Genius in My Basement- Book Review

Alexander Masters is not an author I am quite familiar with. But the title aroused my curiosity. The full title is actually 'Simon- The genius in my Basement'.

This is a quirky tale of a person who finds and writes about a nerdy guy who lives below his house. Another funny thing about this book is that it has a number of drawings to explain what happens when you turn geometrical figures around. For example, what happens when you turn a square to the right. This is depicted by giving the square two feet at its bottom, so you know what it looks like after a turn-or two, or three, because the feet sticking out are rotating.

Anyway, I will provide a couple of quotes from the book instead of giving too much away-not that there is a mystery in it.

1. The object of the tidy housekeeper is to remove all proof that he is a functioning organism.

2. Simon is, verbally, one of the most adept and playful people I know- as long as he doesn't have to speak. Or use metaphor or comment on photographs. This is after asking Simon for a comment on one and drawing a blank.

3. Simon's brother in the book writes about 365 ways to change the world. One of which is...start drinking. ..give up sewage brands like Heineken or Budweiser-brew your own beer using oysters and wild rice.

You get the drift, I suppose..