A Universe of Sufficient Size by Miriam Sved
Picador
Pp. 311
Spanning
continents and three generations, this rich novel of mathematics, politics,
friendship, family, sexuality and love, features numerous time and narrative
shifts. Illy discovers a diary written by her mother, who has left it deliberately
where she can find it, and reading it changes Illy’s perception of history and her
self. It takes her back to 1930s Hungary, when Jews are barred from attending
university, so a group of five friends and mathematicians (two couples – Ildiko
and Levi; Eszter and Tibor; and Pail) meet beneath the statue of Anonymous in
Budapest to expound upon their theories.
This desire for
anonymity is unusual as nationalities fight to be the one to make mathematical breakthroughs
that can be given military applications. Ildiko considers how one can know what
future use will be made of the science, maths and physics they think they are discovering
in isolation.
The friends
cannot know that the Holocaust is coming, but they are aware that the future
will be dangerous and that their group will dissolve. They can’t imagine
marriage or children, because they live in such uncertain times. They all, particularly
Eszter, want to protect Pail from the real world and shield his genius,
worrying that he is not equipped to deal with the coming war and its
consequences. While Pali remains entrenched in his theoretical problems, not all
of the friends agree he needs extra attention. Ildiko tells Eszter, “Someone
will always look after Pali, because he is brilliant and hopeless at the same
time. I have noticed that people can’t resist the combination of brilliance and
hopelessness in men.”
This world is
echoed in the present when Josh, Illy’s son, attempts to find applications for
his version of theoretical mathematics. He is aware of the work of Pali Kamar,
but thinks the internet provides practical applications, which he explains to
his grandmother, Nagymama, not knowing she was a friend of Kali’s. Josh is excited
by finding order in chaos; to understand the universe; to feel less
insignificant, which he (and Pali before him) demonstrates through Euclidean
planes. Josh searches for order and predictability, trying to shape the
situation to fit.
