A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar

Watched the movie? Read the book!
The book, a biography on John Nash, plays out better than your average fiction novel...more intriguing and more exciting. If you watched the movie did you ever wonder, "Why is Russell Crowe chosen to play John Nash?"

Answer: Because that's what John Nash was really like when young. Tall, well-built, handsome and like Crowe, a bastard. He got a girl pregnant while still getting into affairs with other men. And he refused to marry her. He treated his now-divorced wife (still living together) like crap. There was once at a party he threw her to the ground and placed his foot on her neck, perhaps to show that he was her "master". Wtf.

The book can be split into 2 distinct parts, 1.pre-schizophrenia 2.During, and post-schizo of Nash. Part 1 is damn entertaining, as you first you get to read about the entire intellectual culture of Princeton, mathematics and their brilliant young students. The gathering of geniuses, the eccentric professors, my-theory-tops-yours debates. It's Hogwarts for any smart kid! Then there is also Nash the genius as the book shows how he tackles the toughest problems face on. There's quite abit of explanations about game theory. It's hard not to be amazed:

"The difficulty...to anyone in his right mind would have stopped them cold...But Nash was different. If he had a hunch, conventional criticisms didn't stop him. He had no background knowledge. It was totally uncanny. Nobody could understand...He was the only person I ever saw with that kind of power, just brute mental power."

Another remarked, "If he was right, his intuition would be up in the stratosphere."

A beautiful mind, indeed.



Part 2 of the book gets abit boring and draggy, as it describes his condition and his slide into schizophrenia. The part that stands out for me is his ex-wife Alicia's almost complete dedication and devotion to him. For a woman who can endure all his bad-boy behaviour, childlike tantrums, and his unfortunate condition. I wonder how much it hurt, having to endure all that shit for so many years. I think she deserves a Nobel Prize also. For peace.

Movie vs The Book
1. When you read the book, you get a better idea of Nash's accomplishments and also, his genius and eccentricity. The book is very well-researched and was nominated for a Pulitzer.
2. The movie doesn't mention Nash's homosexual escapades, nor the girl he made pregnant and abandoned.
3. "Can we get straight to the fluid exchange part?" does not appear in the book, neither does...
4. ...the beautiful scene where Nash takes Alicia's hand to point patterns in the stars.