When We Cease to Understand the World | Supersônica

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When We Cease to Understand the World

of Benjamín Labatut

translated by Paloma Vidal

available here

Synopsis

Mathematicians, physicists and chemists are the protagonists of this book by Chilean author Benjamín Labatut, which recounts the stories of four scientific discoveries that shook humanity and the world around it to the core. Through the use of fictional devices, Labatut plunges readers into the troubled lives of scientists such as Schrödinger, Einstein and Heisenberg, revealing the existential concerns, ethical dilemmas, historical tragedies and impressive twists and turns that these figures — and science itself — experienced.

Genres

why we recorded it

When We Cease to Understand the World offers a striking image of scientists who, according to the author, devoted themselves to the search for truth like monks and mystics. In this book's four narratives, literature investigates science and scrutinizes the lives of individuals caught up in deeply human dramas and driven by a "desire for infinity," which finds expression in the radical and dangerous freedom of science. The author himself described this idea at a panel at the 20th Paraty International Literary Festival (Flip 2022). On the border between fiction and biography, the texts that comprise this work encourage readers to follow men obsessed with their discoveries and grappling with their historical moment on the verge of madness. In this audiobook version, produced by Supersônica under exclusive license from publisher Todavia, actor and director Enrique Diaz guides listeners through this seductive, difficult-to-classify work.

Benjamín Labatut read by Enrique Diaz

Enrique Diaz is an actor and theater director. He is the founder and artistic director of Cia. dos Atores and Coletivo Improviso. He has directed several plays, including Ensaio Hamlet (winner of the French Critics' Award for Best Foreign Play), Gaivota – Tema para um Conto Curto, In On It, As Três Irmãs, Cine_Monstro, Melodrama, O Espectador, O Bem Amado, and Férias. He has received several awards for his work as an actor and director, including the Molière, Mambembe, Shell, Sharp, APCA, Qualidade Brasil, APETESP, and French Critics awards. He has acted in films such as Casa de Areia, directed by Andrucha Waddington; Kenoma, directed by Eliane Caffé; Primeiras Estórias, directed by Pedro Bial; and Carandiru, directed by Hector Babenco, among others. He won the Best Actor Award at the Brasília Film Festival in 2012 for his performance in Noite de Reis, by Vinicius Reis. On TV, he starred in Felizes para Sempre?, and appeared in productions such as O Auto da Compadecida, Justiça, Filhos do Carnaval, Amor de Mãe, Onde Nascem os Fortes , Pantanal, Mar do Sertão, and Renascer. He directed the Rede Globo soap operas A Regra Do Jogo and Joia Rara, the latter of which won the International Emmy Award. He was also the artistic director of Teatro Ziembinski and Espaço Cultural Sérgio Porto in Rio de Janeiro. His work has been presented in France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, the United States, Russia, Bulgaria, Canada, Japan, Puerto Rico, Italy, Colombia, Argentina, and cities throughout Brazil.

other works read by Enrique Diaz

author Benjamín Labatut

Benjamín Labatut was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and has lived in Santiago, Chile, since the age of 14. His works have been translated into several languages. Labatut won the Caza de Letras Prize in 2009 and was nominated for the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Award. In 2021, his book When We Stop Understanding the World was a finalist for the International Booker Prize. Editora Todavia has published three of Labatut's books in Brazil: When We Cease to Understand the World, Maniac, and The Stone of Madness. In 2022, Labatut participated in the 20th Paraty International Literary Festival (Flip) alongside photographer Nair Benedicto.

hear an excerpt