Dark Matter: The Life of Sir Isaac Newton

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and enjoyable
Review: A very entertaining book that presents Issac Newtown in a different and interesting light. Mystery lovers will enjoy the plot and lovers of historical fiction will be rewarded with a rich tapastry of the era. One might also enjoy Alexander's John Fielding mysteries and Stephenson's Quicksilver.

Rating:
Summary: Decent Novel Makes Fantastic Audio-Book
Review: DARK MATTER by Philip Kerr is a tale of epic opportunity, but meager result. Kerr attempts to flesh-out a dark, brooding mystery in dark, brooding Central London during the dark, brooding 17th century. A reader could get the feeling that Mr. Kerr was trying to set a certain mood...

The story observes Sir Isaac Newton through the eyes of his apprentice, Christopher Ellis, both "real" people. Newton is, of course, brilliant but also comes across as quite conceited, unfeeling, and not in the least bit charming. One could hope that the Newton character could be likeable, even in an eccentric manner, but Kerr's Newton gives the reader no reason to cheer, or care. Ellis is his swashbuckling sidekick who's good with a sword and better with the ladies. Yes, Ellis is, in fact, THAT cliched. In both cases, the characters move about London with relatively little believable motivation (Newton: pursuit of counterfeiters; Ellis: pursuit of some "tail"). Even with poetic license on his side, Kerr's revelations into the mind of what could be the world's most brilliant scientist are remarkably shallow and unimaginative.

The prose is positively painful. One might imagine Kerr hunched over a thesaurus looking up words that sound old. From the first page, one can tell the reading of DARK MATTER will be an effort: "...a little consideration of heavenly deliverance might have helped me to channel my anger against Papist tyranny instead of the man who had impugned my honour." (And that's not even the whole sentence.) I'll admit the effort was valiant, but it lacks the rhythmic flow of literature of the day, and ends up stilted, staccato, and awkward. The unevenness of his effort is evident, never more dramatically than in the midst of Ellis' flowery description of a particularly attractive (and married) woman, he throws in a comment about her "boobies". Great literature, to be sure.

With shallow characters, a mad-lib mystery plot, and over-formal, pretentious prose, DARK MATTER was a major disappointment.

Rating:
Summary: empty calories...
Review: Dark Matter: The Private Life of Sir Isaac Newton written by Philip Kerr is a brilliant book filled with intrigue and mystery. This is a crime novel set in 1696 England.

When reading this book I could see Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson trying to solve this case of counterfeitting or Umberto Eco and his "Name of the Rose" popped into my head as I began reading into the book. This is a book of many levels but a crime-mystery is the best sobiquet I can think of for the sonorous prose.

With risk of giving away the story the book has Sir Isaac Newton as the Warden of Royal Mint and he is given the services of young Christopher Ellis as the track down counterfeiters that are trying to weaken a war-weakened economy. But, counterfeiting is only part of the problem as deaths start to occur and the plot thickens. Now, the echelons of power and nobility are suspect, collapse of the economay is now eminent.

You will be engrossed in this book till the end as the author takes you on a history tour of England, places you have never been before... truly an innovatively conveyed thriller.

Rating:
Summary: Issac Newton the Sleuth
Review: London at the turn of the century, 17th, that is, is a place of intrigue and mystery. Will the recoinage fail and cause England to be destroyed by France and the Catholics? The mystery is deepened with each new murder, but, is Issas Newton, and his faithful sidekick, up to solving the case? Read on, and learn. This book was a little tedious, but it had its moments.

Rating:
Summary: TERRIBLE BOOK - Pedantic Ramblings of Offensive Arrogance
Review: Philip Kerr tries to write in seventeenth century formal English but it only makes him sound arrogant and it distracts the reader from the existing weak plot line. Dark Matter was a terrible book. The characters were underdeveloped, the plot line weak and unrealistic, and the writing obnoxious. In Dark Matter Kerr's writing is extremely jumbled. His style bothers and irritates the reader more than conveys any sort of message or story. If you want to read a historical fiction, look for any other author. Kerr uses vivid sex scenes gratuitously and pointlessly. It is a completely inaccurate account of Newton's life other than the basic fact that he worked at the Tower of London. (Historians agree that Newton was psychotic, which this book does not convey.) Kerr should be forbidden from forever writing again.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting...but had some shortcomings
Review: The book, Dark Matter: The Privet Life of Sir. Isaac Newton was a very interesting book. I read through the first 250 odd pages with excitement and enjoyment. However, once the book reached page 300, it felt like the author realized he had to finish it and then quickly tied up all the lose ends almost to neatly. My other main problem with the book is something, which I encounter with the vast majority of modern fiction, and that is sex. There seems to be this idea that a book must have at least one scene during which people must engage in the act, now I understand that on occasion this is important to the plot or the character development, however, must we actually be subjected to a detailed analysis of the actions preformed? This book would have been better, and the characters as well developed had we not been 'privileged' to their sexual activities. Still on the whole, it was an enjoyable book, with strong characters, and an interesting plot.

Rating:
Summary: Page turner
Review: This is the first novel by Philip Kerr that I have read. I was attracted to this book by the subtitle: "The Private Life of Sir Isaac Newton." As a teacher of math and physics, how could I resist a book that uses one of my heroes as a main character? Of course, I should have remembered the old adage about the disappointment in meeting your heroes.

In this novel we find Isaac Newton as the Warden of the Royal Mint. The story is told through the eyes of Christopher Ellis, Newton's assistant. The two men are investigating illegeal coining which leads them to a plot to overthrow the government. Needless to say, they save the day.

The storyline of this novel is filled with murders and intrigue--interesting enough for an easy-to-read thriller. And Kerr does a good enough job giving us a sense of London at the close of the seventeenth century. What was missing, for me, was Newton.

In many ways, despite the subtitle, Newton is a secondary character in this novel after Ellis. This is fine, on one level, but when Newton does appear he comes off as more of a poor man's Sherlock Holmes than a unique character. Perhaps I have studied histories of Newton too much to be an objective reader, but the Newton Kerr brings forth in his novel is difficult for me to reconcile with what I have always imagined Newton was like. Not that Kerr gets facts wrong, he doesn't. It just feels wrong to me. And so it was difficult for me to enjoy this novel.