Benjamín Labatut, Adrian Nathan West (Translator) – When we Cease to Understand the World

Whenever I like a book a lot, I find it rather easy to write a review. The words come out flowing and it’s simple to point out the things I liked. Thing is, now and then I come across a book which stuns me and due to it’s complexity, I find it difficult to write a review. Such is the case of When we Cease to Understand the World.

At the moment I can gloss over it superficially: The book structured as three essays , one novella based on a true story with fictional elements and a concluding ‘story’ of sorts.

In essence the whole book has a heavy Sebald element to it. By this I mean that Labatut starts off with a topic and then jumps to another one which has links to the previous topics and then jumps to another topic. Yet, despite all the diversions everything still makes sense.

The first essay is about the development of the color Prussian Blue, first used as a pigment in painting but then developed into much more deadly things, more notably, through the scientist Fritz Haber, as a key element of the Zyklon B.

The next two essays focus on the development of quantum physics. Thus there are small biographies on Alexander Grothendieck and Werner Heisenberg. Naturally another key player is Albert Einstein, however he serves as the person who receives these theories and gives his judgement on them.

The titular novella is all about Erwin Schrödinger and his discovery of the ‘wave’ in which to prove his quantum theory. It is in this section where, I feel, the fictional element comes in as there is a stint in a sanatorium, where Schrödinger falls in love with the head doctor’s daughter Herwig. The book goes into detail about his passions and lusts.

The last section is a conversation between a person known as the Night Gardener and the narrator of the book. One could say it’s a summary of all the themes discussed in the previous sections.

So what is the book about? This is my stumbling point. I think it’s about how science has the aim to improve the world, for humankind and yet, as seen in these essays, has the ability to cause death and destruction instead. This is hammered in the last story.

Nature also has a role. Prussian Blue is an element in fertilizer, Schrödinger was inspired to write his theories when he was exposed to fresh air. Heisenberg retreated to a rural area to be inspired, despite his allergies and Grothendieck rejected science in order to live a beyond frugal lifestyle. I guess that despite science trying to provide order, the natural world is the real contributor to that order or somewhere to go when we cease to understand the world.

As I said earlier, I thought this was fantastic. In the past I have spoken against books in the Sebaldian tradition but I can definitely say that When we Cease to Understand the World has changed my attitude towards Sebald. I liked the way Labatut connected all the non fiction elements and then uses the fiction element in a clever way. This is a brainy and brilliant novel and will definitely stay with me for a long time.