The Rule Of Four

There's a reason Steven King recommends never using a word if there is a simpler one that will do. Because, sadly, when authors stretch their readers, and those readers can't quite make the stretching, they end up feeling stupid. Tending to react badly to the experience. Or, overreacting, mostly with negativity. Unreasonably so. This book, from reading through its reviews after I read it, seems to do just that.

It's a good engaging read, well written. A detailed story, connecting to complexity and the non-usual. Definitely not going to be everyone's thing. However, personal like or dislike seems to be much confused with the quality of the work itself. I might not personally enjoy something and still be able to recognise and appreciate it as a work of good quality. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be common among reviewers, who assume if they did not like, then it “must” be bad.

There is much to recommend the work, form its insight into Princeton University life to the illuminations on renaissance intellectual life. Most of all, it provides insight into Immersion and obtuse interest which can consume some. This might seem removed from our ordinary life, but, through the extremes portrayed in the book, we come to understand any mindset or psychology that can become waylaid by immersion. This can happen with ego, ambition, sex, career, status, or any number of “mundane” obsessions.

This book does an excellent job of illustrating those diversive and sometimes destructive distortions of perspective which can result. Not to mention the power of choice, awareness and deliberation. The necessity of character, and how its lack is so consequential. If we look at the book, its story, the characters, from this more abstract perspective the story has much to offer indeed. Well worth the read.

My rating standard is more strict than most, just how I started, and like to keep the consistency. This book would have earned a very high 4 stars from me except the ending I felt was weak relative to the rest of the book. It's as if the last part was written by other authors. Still good, but not as potent as the rest.