Rating: 
Summary: An excellent book even if you are clueless about mathematics
Review: This is an excellent novel on a mathematical level as well as on a psychological level which is great fun. I really am clueless in mathematics, but it isn't a bother at all. You fully comprehend the story and learn a lot about maths even without a close reading. However if you are interested by the mathematical part all the theorems are clearly presented as foot notes.
This is really an excellent novel!
Rating:
Summary: An Intellectual Delight
Review: This literary page-turner, subtle and concise, is set in the poetic world of pure mathematics, with finely crafted cameo appearances by real-life heroes of the field. The title character is a tragic hero in the great tradition and the "clueless" ambivalent narrator/antihero a worthy equal of Ishiguro's butler. VERY readable, with knowledge or understanding of mathematics NOT required. I read it at one sitting. One of the aesthetic pleasures for me was that the,technically flawless, English text (the authors own rendering), through nuances of formality, hints of stilted syntax and combinations of slang with slightly foreign idiom, never lets you forget that you are reading a novel by a Greek author. It added a dimension that is most often missing from translated texts.
Rating: 
Summary: A Look Inside the Mathematical Mind
Review: To be honest, I loved this book. I have a special place in my heart for novels about mathematicians and this is a good one.However, the mathematician in me requires that I be objective. As a novel, it is slight. There is not a lot of plot here and depth of character is rather limited. For the average person looking for something to read of an afternoon, this is perhaps not the best choice. On the other hand, anyone who wants a glimpse inside of the mathematical mind will find a good look here. Additionally, you will find insight not only into the mind of mathematical genius (the standard in books about mathematicians) but also into the mind of the rest of us--we mathematical Salieris who wish for the genius but can only admire it in others. This is a worthwhile insight that is not often found in books about mathematicians. In the characters of Petros and his nephew, the narrator of the tale, we find the two major categories of mathematician and, in the story of Petros' attempt to prove on of the great unsolved problems of mathematics, we get a wonderful tour through many of the famous personalities and problems of 20th century mathematics. For someone interested in mathematics and mathematicians this is a fun book and short enough to be read in a sitting. For the non-mathematician who wants to know a bit about the passions of mathematicians, this is a good book as well. For anyone else, I'd suggest you find something else.
Rating:
Summary: A Look Inside the Mathematical Mind
Review: To be honest, I loved this book. I have a special place in my heart for novels about mathematicians and this is a good one. However, the mathematician in me requires that I be objective. As a novel, it is slight. There is not a lot of plot here and depth of character is rather limited. For the average person looking for something to read of an afternoon, this is perhaps not the best choice. On the other hand, anyone who wants a glimpse inside of the mathematical mind will find a good look here. Additionally, you will find insight not only into the mind of mathematical genius (the standard in books about mathematicians) but also into the mind of the rest of us--we mathematical Salieris who wish for the genius but can only admire it in others. This is a worthwhile insight that is not often found in books about mathematicians. In the characters of Petros and his nephew, the narrator of the tale, we find the two major categories of mathematician and, in the story of Petros' attempt to prove on of the great unsolved problems of mathematics, we get a wonderful tour through many of the famous personalities and problems of 20th century mathematics. For someone interested in mathematics and mathematicians this is a fun book and short enough to be read in a sitting. For the non-mathematician who wants to know a bit about the passions of mathematicians, this is a good book as well. For anyone else, I'd suggest you find something else.
Rating:
Summary: Truly original!
Review: To those of you who maybe hesitate reading a book by a relatively new Greek author,I say only this: Order now! "Unkle Petros" is a fascinating human story evolving around advanced mathematics, nevertheless accessible even to people like me who only know that 2+2=4. Doxiadis has written one of the true originals of the year 2000, with knowledge, humour, style and true love for his hero. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Rating: 
Summary: Dare I called a mathematics book "uneven"?
Review: Uncle Petros is most definitely an interesting read, but I suspect each reader have a markedly different experience with the book. As a fictional story woven neatly into the real history of mathematics, it does very well. The most impressive part of the book was its representation of a mathematician's life. Although not a mathematician myself (I'm a physicist), I can see a very truthful portrayal of the struggles (and joys) of a life in mathematical research. The human element has often been overlooked in recent popular science/science literature books. The only negative comment I have regarding the book is the treatment of mathematical content. If you are looking for a book that will give you some insight into the actual nature of Goldbach's conjecture, look elsewhere. The mathematics itself is never treated beyond describing what the problem is and how to understand a statement of it. That in itself is not necessarily a bad thing, however, there are a great number of references to mathematical knowledge that I imagine are beyond the comprehension of people who have not studied mathematics at a university level. If you don't mind being somewhat perplexed by the occasional sentence, then you won't have a problem. Just don't think that the bits you are missing will illuminate the mathematics of Goldbach's conjecture particularly well. Unfortunately, the case is worse for Godel's incompleteness theorems. If the ideas discussed whet your appetite, you are best off seeking out other popular science books on the topic as Uncle Petros does not give a very clear idea of its nature. Overall, however, the story is an interesting one. It is one of the few books available which deals with the nature of being a mathematician and for that it is to be commended. If you like this type of book, I would recommend you have a look at The French Mathematician, by Tom Petsinis, a well written fictional biography of Evariste Galois, another big name in mathematics. It is well written literature and provides real insight into a mathematical life and the mathematics driving it.
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