Rating: 
Summary: A Beautiful Mind
Review: Reading Sylvia Nasar's book A Beautiful Mind is an engrossing book on the journey of life from the brilliance of enlightened thought to the unfathomable darkness of mental illness, both intertangled in one mind. I found the book inspiring, fascinating, hopeful and interesting, portrayed with a compassionate accuracy.The book does start slowly... but this is a building of knowledge as to the whole of John Nash's life. Mathematics and extraterrestrials seem to be the brilliance and the darkness manifesting itself at the same time. Understanding neurochemistry is a difficult science... as the human mind works its wonders we learn and understand. The significance of John Nash's accomplishments is nothing short of amazing... Nobel prize and all. The human journey is fascinating... reading A Beautiful Mind was deeply interesting and superbly written.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent life and book
Review: Nash is fascinating and the book is excellent. I disagree with the diagnosis of his mental disorder. What I read presents a strong case for Dissociative Identity Disorder rather than Paranoid Type of Schizophrenia. Both have components of auditory and visual hallucinations, and I consider Nash to have suffered from the less psychotic disorder. If so, then his treatment certainly was inappropriate.
Rating:
Summary: The Mysterious Mind
Review: As a scientist and researcher myself, I know full well the trap that one can fall into when one assumes that, given sufficient time and space, one can solve any problem if the full power of one's mind and the complete concentration of one's waking thoughts are brought to bear in the solution of that problem. It is easy once a discovery is made to decide that further inspirations are bound to occur if only the mind is allowed to do nothing but search for new problems. I think that Nash had a tendency to feel that any problem he could think of would have a solution which could be derived given one's absolute attention.
Nash seems to suffer from a melancholy developing around the problems which are yet unsolved; a regret that overwhelms the joy which successsful solutions should have brought to the one who discovers those solutions. This coupled with depression and mental illness are terrible burdens which only the strongest of wills could cope with. I admire Nash's resolve, and am glad that his story is out there to inspire others. As a head trauma survivor, I know what a long journey it is after a brain breaks to go from sick to healthy, and how important it is not to give up without a fight. Another person who fought the brave fight against severe mental illness and won is Tracy Harris, and her book, "The Music of Madness" gives us a fascinating peek into the mind of a musical genius fractured by mental illness and the story of the restoration of her Self and Mind. The life-paths of both Nash and Harris make for unique and inspirational reads which one cannot put down easily until one has made it to the end of the book.
Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Mind
Review: I am ordering the book right now, having just seen the movie.
But, I can say from the standpoint of the characters. That the story is portrayed with accuracy, and compassion. Because I watched it with one of the dearest people on earth to me, who also happens to be a genious, and a schizophrenic. And so, I am no stranger to Alecia's world...
Of course a lot was left out, in the editing of a lifetime down to a 2 hour film. I am looking forward to getting the book, which I am sure will have much more of the grit and reality that makes a biography, and less of the romanticisim that makes good movie.
Rating: 
Summary: A Beautiful Mind
Review: I found the book disappointing after seeing the film. I hoped to find out more about what it was like to have these visions etc., but the book doesn't shed much light on it. It doesn't quote John Nash directly, or even his wife much, except for their autobiography and interview. There's a great deal of detail, but I was left with the same questions. Also, rather significant parts of the film don't seem to be in the book at all.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Reads like a good novel. Haven't seen the movie but imagine the book touches more on the mathematics and details of his life. Highly recommended..
Rating:
Summary: Too much useless information, however interesting life story
Review: The first half of the book was tedious and slow-going. I agree with someone else who asked WHY did the writer feel it necessary to give a biography on each and every person who came into contact with John Nash. A good editor should have red-lined out the numerous rabbit trails and kept the story to the point. I could have done without all of the history of mathematics lessons as well. I would have preferred a more thorough explanation of the significance of John Nash's accomplishment that earned him the Nobel. Yet I trudged on... The second half of the book (the book is in thirds I think but I don't have it here with me, so please forgive) really picks up a bit. As unpleasant as John Nash behaved, it's hard to not feel sorry for him when he hits rock bottom. The book should have touched more on the stigma of mental illness during that time period but did little to nothing to describe it. Oh well. On the whole, I was much more interested in the human/relational/mental illness aspects of John Nash's life than all of the mathematical jargon/history of Princeton/social tea times. The writer would have done well to pare down the first part and focus in more detail on his illness, his close relationships, his mathematical accomplishments and his recovery.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating and engrossing
Review: I have to begin by saying that I really do not read much non-fiction, and knew nothing about John Forbes Nash, Jr. But after seeing Ron Howard's exceptional film A BEAUTIFUL MIND, I left the theatre with so many unanswered questions, curious to know more about the Nobel Laureate.
While the film's one weakness is that it romanticizes Nash's life by omitting certain facts, Sylvia Nasar's book is a frank look at Nash's relationship with Alicia Larde and his struggle with paranoid schizophrenia, and finally, remission from this disease.
A BEAUTIFUL MIND reads like fine fiction. While most of Nash's story is at times heartbreaking, it is also a story of his great accomplishment, that is ulitmately uplifting and full of hope.
Even if you have seen the film, read the book. It offers the clarity and insight that the movie does not and is just a wonderfully informative and engrossing book.
Rating:
Summary: Too Much
Review: I just finished this book this afternoon. I literally slogged my way through it. If I hadn't seen the movie, and thus become interested in Nash the man, I never would have picked it up. There were far too may mini-biographies of everyone who ever had any connection to his life. I wanted to know about Nash. There was far too much mathematical jargon for a layman. I didn't know what she was talking about much of the time. She did not even try to explain anything in an understandable way. I got very good at skipping stuff I didn't understand. This involved a lot of page turning. So I guess that to me, it was indeed a page turner. Just not in the sense it is usually taken. If I had realized what I was getting into, I would not have read it. I still think that Nash is a remarkable, sympathetic and fascinating man; I just wish the book had more about him and less about mini-biographies of people I've never heard of, and heavy, advanced mathematical theory. I was disappointed that I never shed a tear. I expected to. By the way, it certainly does NOT read like a novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding Biography
Review: I was really torn as to how to rate the book. Part of me wanted to give it a three, another part of me wanted to give it a five. That is because the book is both. There are parts that are very hard to read, especially in the beginning of the book. The author felt it necessary to explain Nash's papers and theories in detail. If you are not a mathematical person like me, it is a very difficult portion of the book to get through. Its like reading a mathematics textbook. I really didn't want to skim over those portions for fear I would miss something, so I plodded through. But once you are done with that portion of the book, it does become "the fine novel" all the advertisements say it is. The characters are described vividly and clearly. The situtations are interesting. The author does an excellant job in explaining why John Nash was the way he was. Once I got to this part of the book, I could not put it down. Also, do not expect the movie when you read this book. The movie is a glamorized version of the life of John Nash, with many of the not so pleasant events left out. This book does not leave anything out and goes over both the good and the bad in John Nash's life. It is a very clear and definate biography of the life of a genius.
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