The Indian Clerk: A Novel

The Indian Clerk: A Novel
by David Leavitt

The Indian Clerk: A Novel
List Price: $16.00
Our Price: $3.99
You Save: $12.01 (75%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $2.97 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: David Leavitt
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-09-16
ISBN: 1596910410
Number of pages: 496
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Book Reviews of The Indian Clerk: A Novel

Book Review: Disorder
Summary: 3 Stars

David Leavitt takes historical figures and facts of the early 20th century in England, and weaves a complicated story of personal relationships and mathematical genius on the pages of his novel, The Indian Clerk. The title refers to Srinivasa Ramanujan, who in 1913 from his accounts clerk desk in Madras, India, sent a nine-page letter about prime numbers to Cambridge mathematician G.H. Hardy. Hardy and his colleague J.E. Littlewood recognize Ramanujan's talent and agree that he should come to Cambridge. Once there, he and Hardy work hard on math proofs. The orderliness of math contrasts well with the disorderliness of the relationships in this book. Genius can always be difficult in their personal relationships, and the many geniuses in The Indian Clerk make for lively and complicated relationships. Lovers of math will find the formulas in the book and their discussions to be intriguing. For the rest of us, there's sadness about all the personal aspects of unfulfillment in the emotional lives of all the key characters. Husbands and wives are estranged; lovers are separated; homosexuality is closeted and Ramanujan dies an early death for a reason that could have been avoided if the selfish Hardy had paid more attention. For those readers who reach the end of the book with questions about what was fact and what was fiction, Leavitt provides a final section of the book that sorts much of that out.

Rating: Three-star (Recommended)

Summary of The Indian Clerk: A Novel

"Richly imagined [and] impressive" (New York Times Book Review), this critically acclaimed and emotionally charged novel about the strange and ultimately tragic relationship between an esteemed British mathematician and an unknown-and unschooled-mathematical genius is historical fiction at its best: ambitious, profound, and absorbing.

Based on the remarkable true story of G. H. Hardy and Srinivasa Ramanujan, and populated with such luminaries such as D. H. Lawrence, Bertrand Russell, and Ludwig Wittgenstein, The Indian Clerk takes this extraordinary slice of history and transforms it into an emotional and spellbinding story about the fragility of human connection and our need to find order in the world. A literary masterpiece, it appeared on four bestseller lists, including the Los Angeles Times, and received dazzling reviews from every major publication in the country.?

Historical Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Disappointments of 2008
In a Cardboard Belt!: Essays Personal, Literary, and Savage ImageIn a Cardboard Belt!: Essays Personal, Literary, and Savage
by Joseph Epstein
Mariner Books; Published: 2008-09-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.52
Price in other shops: $14.95
Um. . .: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean ImageUm. . .: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean
by Michael Erard
Anchor; Published: 2008-08-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.84
Price in other shops: $14.95
Letter to a Christian Nation (Vintage) ImageLetter to a Christian Nation (Vintage)
by Sam Harris
Vintage; Published: 2008-01-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.97
Price in other shops: $11.00
Everything You Know About English Is Wrong ImageEverything You Know About English Is Wrong
by Bill Brohaugh
Sourcebooks, Inc.; Published: 2008-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.40
Price in other shops: $12.95
The Little Book of Plagiarism ImageThe Little Book of Plagiarism
by Richard A. Posner
Pantheon; Published: 2007-01-16; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.80
Price in other shops: $10.95
The World Without Us ImageThe World Without Us
by Alan Weisman
Picador; Published: 2008-08-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops: $15.00
The Indian Clerk: A Novel ImageThe Indian Clerk: A Novel
by David Leavitt
Bloomsbury USA; Published: 2008-09-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.79
Price in other shops: $16.00
The Best American Essays 2008 ImageThe Best American Essays 2008
Mariner Books; Published: 2008-10-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.53
Price in other shops: $14.00
When Science Goes Wrong ImageWhen Science Goes Wrong
by Simon LeVay
Plume; Published: 2008-03-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.95
Price in other shops: $15.00
Cheating at Canasta: Stories ImageCheating at Canasta: Stories
by William Trevor
Viking Adult; Published: 2007-10-18; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.69
Price in other shops: $24.95
Similar Books and other products
Out Stealing Horses: A Novel ImageOut Stealing Horses: A Novel
by Per Petterson
Picador; Published: 2008-04-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.96
Price in other shops: $14.00
Bridge of Sighs: A Novel (Vintage Contemporaries) ImageBridge of Sighs: A Novel (Vintage Contemporaries)
by Richard Russo
Vintage; Published: 2008-08-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.44
Price in other shops: $14.95
The Gathering (Man Booker Prize) ImageThe Gathering (Man Booker Prize)
by Anne Enright
Grove Press, Black Cat; Published: 2007-09-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.43
Price in other shops: $14.00
The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court ImageThe Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court
by Jeffrey Toobin
Anchor; Published: 2008-09-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops: $15.95
Netherland: A Novel ImageNetherland: A Novel
by Joseph O'Neill
Pantheon; Published: 2008-05-20; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.64
Price in other shops: $23.95
The Uncommon Reader: A Novella ImageThe Uncommon Reader: A Novella
by Alan Bennett
Picador; Published: 2008-09-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.19
Price in other shops: $12.00
Tree of Smoke: A Novel ImageTree of Smoke: A Novel
by Denis Johnson
Picador; Published: 2008-09-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.89
Price in other shops: $16.00
The White Tiger: A Novel (Man Booker Prize) ImageThe White Tiger: A Novel (Man Booker Prize)
by Aravind Adiga
Free Press; Published: 2008-10-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops: $14.00
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao ImageThe Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
by Junot D?az
Riverhead Trade; Published: 2008-09-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.23
Price in other shops: $14.00
Hotel de Dream: A New York Novel ImageHotel de Dream: A New York Novel
by Edmund White
Harper Perennial; Published: 2008-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Price in other shops: $13.95
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories