Cait's Reviews > Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth

This is an ambitious biography of Bertrand Russell, and I feel like it overreached itself. None of its aspects felt thoroughly explored and many were actively off-putting. The "logic vs madness" theme, for example, was picked up and dropped again multiple times and managed to conflate many different mental illnesses without addressing any of them except as punishments for other people's sins. The "democracy solves war" framing device dragged its punchline out far too long for such a weakly supported conclusion. And through it all, Bertie Russell came across as the least interesting person in the room at all times judging by personality, life history, and mathematical insight -- quite a feat for the protagonist. He was also often the least likable, and when someone else was shown to be worse, he was always admiring them. I'd always had the vague notion that Russell, like many of his peers, was an interesting guy; I hope that this is not an accurate representation.