Eine vorläufige Theorie der Liebe: Roman

Geschrieben von Scott Hutchins und Torben Kessler

Erzählt von Torben Kessler

Mit Mitte dreißig steht Neill Bassett jr. wieder ganz am Anfang. Seine junge Ehe ist grandios gescheitert, jetzt muss er sich auf erniedrigende Tennisabende für Singles einlassen. Auf der Haben-Seite seines Lebens steht nur das aberwitzig umfangreiche Tagebuch, das sein Vater hinterlassen hat und das ihm einen Job im Silicon Valley beschert. Mit den 5000 Seiten soll er einen zu Empfindungen fähigen Computer programmieren. Und während Neill nebenbei dem Grund für den Selbstmord seines Vaters auf die Spur kommt, macht der Computer ebensolche Fortschritte in Liebesangelegenheiten wie er selbst.

• Sprache: Deutsch
• Herausgeber: OSTERWOLDaudio
• Erscheinungsdatum: 10. März 2014
• ISBN: 9783844909609

Rezensionen für Eine vorläufige Theorie der Liebe

[dysmonia · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

A fascinating novel about artificial intelligence: a man is hired to input a lifetime's worth of journals written by his father into a computer to try to build a machine that can pass the Turing test. Meanwhile, dude's own life is a mess. There's also some sex with hot girls.

I really did like this book; I wish I could give it 4.5 stars.

[bookczuk · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

Suppose you worked as part of a team to create an artificial intelligence, which would be successful in a competition using the Turing test (a test of a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behavior equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human.) Now, suppose, the "personality" of the computer was based on the diaries of your father, a somewhat traditional, stern, Southern physician, who killed himself when you were 18.To this add that you are a divorced man, living in San Francisco, sorting out various relationships with the women in your life, as well as sorting out your relationship with your father, via your talks to the computer based on his personality. Add in a quirky relationship with a younger woman, who is involved in an almost cult-like organization focused on finding the inner click in the limbic system. This debut novel (with a title I really like) took this premise and created the story of Neill Bassett. I probably might not have picked this book up had it not been for the Stanford Book Salon (first selection of this year's crop), but I'm glad I did. It moved as a slowed pace for me, which was surprising as I pretty much rip through books. But it was an interesting slant on a slice of life, combining a science which interests me with a city I love. I never really engaged with Neill, until the end, which surprised me, but I still could admire his journey.

[randymetcalfe · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

This novel is full of surprises. It gives the impression at the outset that it will be a geeky exploration of what it is to be human, set in San Francisco with lattes. Okay, I’m always up for a bit of Turing testing, and lattes. Of course you expect it to be hipsterish with hook-up sex and outré kinkiness, but with lattes. But as you get into the book a bit, get beneath the surface so to speak, you find there is another entirely more serious, even dark, side to this story. Love, platonic and sexual, maternal and paternal, becomes the figured base of the tale, with the more problematic relationship between fathers and sons driving things forward. All of this is complicated by the fact that one key actor is less than actual, being the dead father of the protagonist, Neill Bassett, Jr., synthetically realized through scanning in the detailed journals of Neill’s father into a proto-AI computer project appropriately named Dr. Bassett. As Neill’s synthetic father gains depth and character – i.e. becomes more human – so too Neill’s frustrated relationship with his father gains heft. However, this is no ordinary son-meets-dead-father story since Neill’s father was a suicide. Did I mention that the novel gets a bit dark?Not everything works here. The writing is bit choppy. The presentation of software development is a bit implausible (one of the first rules of programming is to have a way to back out of changes, which is not followed here presumably for plot device reasons). The on-again off-again sexual relationships that Neill has are at times distasteful and at times fantastical (or maybe I’m getting old). The ending is contrived and hurried. Numerous characters (such as Neill’s brother) and themes (such as Turing’s own sexuality) are given short change.But enough does work to at least make the novel enjoyable. There are, I suppose, two different kinds of novels of idea. In one, the author thinks through all of the implications and ramifications of his ideas first and the novel is, in effect, the culmination of that thinking. In the other, the author appears to be doing his thinking in the novel itself, muddling down some blind alleys, chopping and changing when necessary, but, obviously, reaching some kind of viable conclusion (as least viable enough to convince someone to publish the book). This is the latter kind of novel. If you prefer the former, you may find this a bit too draft-like in its execution. But I found it be passable.

[patrickgarson_1 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

A working theory of love melds a fairly standard story of twenty-something ennui with a more interesting, and original story of emotional connection. The result doesn't wholly work, but the second component elevates the book over typical offerings in the genre. Neil Bassett's first marriage has already ended, and it took any sense of connection with it. But his job is offering him an opportunity to reconnect - to the ghost of his father, animated through journals and artificial intelligence. One side of this story - alienated twenty-something struggling with lack of purpose - is very familiar. And I didn't really feel that Hutchins bought anything new to the execution. As a character, Neil's feelings are understandable, but to be honest, he is kind of self-absorbed and selfish.However, the other side - conversations with a computer intelligence powered by the father's journal - are much more interesting. Perhaps this resonated with me because I bought the book in response to my own father dying this year. But Hutchins manages something quite challenging - a computerised voice that feels both realistic (i.e. something a computer could actually say) and actually interesting. The development of the personality is interesting and reminded me in some ways of HAL in 2001. The book kind of peters out with a more conventional ending from its putative genre. It wasn't unsatisfying, per se, but I felt it represented somewhat of a turning away from the less marketable, but more interesting aspects of this novel.

[heike6 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

It felt really superficial.

[bookmagic_1 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

I wanted to like this book, the writing was great and the story had potential. It took me awhile to get past the technical parts of creating a computer program that can think like a human. Neill is a recently divorced guy who is working for the company that is trying to develop this program. Not because he is a computer programmer but because they are using his deceased father's diaries for...something. I don't know, I didn't understand it. But I tried to stay focused on the story of Neill instead. I gave it a good 100 pages and then abandoned it. I don't think it was bad book, just not the book for me. I think this could be enjoyable to others even though it wasn't for me.

[bearette24 · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

This story - about a bachelor's quest to find love in San Francisco, and his artificial intelligence project based on his late father's journals - was very engaging. I have to admit I didn't like the protagonist very much, though he felt real, as did many of the other characters.

[ltcl_1 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

I received an advance of this book as the August selection in the Penguin Debut Authors Program. It is interesting to me that I have recently read several books that dealt with "human like" computers. Neill is pulled into a contest between computer giants when his dead father's journals are used to build a working model of a more "human" computer program. The idea being that it is either possible or impossible to develop a program that reacts as a person would, not as a machine. The problem is two-fold. First, Neill has some serious issues with his dad who committed suicide. Second, he has some serious issues with his mom, his ex-wife and just about every woman he has a relationship with. I didn't "click" with Neill as much as I would have liked to but I did enjoy the San Francisco culture and his exploration of the new relationship with his dad via the computer. In the end, everyone agrees that you must give the computer emotional fodder to work with - a working theory of love. Scott Hutchins provides an interesting voice of a man lost and found and that it is never too late to settle your past with your father.