Stella Maris
by Cormac McCarthy · first published 2022
72% recommend28% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Dialogue-driven novel about a math prodigy committed to an asylum, probing genius, madness, and the philosophy of math and science. A quick, easy read for fans of ideas-heavy fiction, especially math-minded ones.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…attenuated. It's very hard to write a novel that explores what it means for scientists to encounter the limits of scientific rationality as we understand it. Interestingly, (and apropos) McCarthy's last, Stella Maris, I think, did a much more eloquent job of exploring the same themes. Stella Maris is astounding, it's cosmic horror without the 'supernatural.' Instead there's only Gödel and Metzinger.
on “Cormac McCarthy, Novelist of a Darker America, Is Dead at 89” ↗I suggest giving Cormac McCarthy’s final novels, the pair The Passenger and Stella Maris, a read. With these feelings, you might find that they read very powerfully for you.
on “Telling the Bees” ↗I finally got round to reading The Passenger and the companion piece Stella Maris. Cormac McCarthy still had it even in his late 80's. Not quite as good as his earlier novels but still very sharp.
on “Ask HN: What's the best book you've read so far in 2024?” ↗The Road was the first of his books I read. I read his last two books The Passenger and Stella Maris shortly after he passed. Both contained interesting thoughts on philosophy, science, mathematics. Of the two, I think Stella Maris was better - it's kind of a deep dive into genius and the madness that…
on “Cormac McCarthy's personal library” ↗"The Passenger" and "Stella Maris" by Cormac McCarthy are fantastic. In general, I enjoy McCarthy's work because I believe he manages to present interesting ideas drawn from philosophy and religion, and if you read between the lines of…
on “Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?” ↗Stella Maris, volume 2 of his most recent two volume novel, and The Road, have blown my mind. SM in particular focuses on a math prodigy committed to a mental asylum. I think it would speak to many people here. I'm…
on “Subterranean Treasures: Cormac McCarthy’s late style” ↗I'm a McCarthy fan and I liked The Passenger/Stella Maris. Usually with McCarthy it takes ~50 pages for me to get into his writing. That wasn't the case this time around, both books are quick, easy reads. McCarthy is at his best when he's describing characters…
on “Subterranean Treasures: Cormac McCarthy’s late style” ↗If you’ve read his final two books it’s incredible clear how fascinated he is by math, physics, and their interaction at philosophy. Stella Maris is basically just a long exploration of the philosophical implications of math, in dialogue form.
on “Cormac McCarthy, Novelist of a Darker America, Is Dead at 89” ↗I read it on a recommendation from readers of McCarthy's last works "The Passenger" and "Stella Maris". Loved it! I've picked up Lebatut's latest, 'The MANIAC' and I'm not enjoying it as much (though, I will note that the first chapter is riveting).
on “Benjamín Labatut Will Not Be Profiled” ↗…any other DFW-ish math-ish writings to be found? Against The Day (Pynchon) is not really math-ish, but it does have a good bit of math (more than GR at least), and a DFW fan would probably like it. Stella Maris (McCarthy) is perhaps neither DFW-ish nor math-ish, but it is Serious Fiction centered on a mathematician and is probably the best work of fiction to feature Alexander Grothendieck. I have heard that…
on “Infinite Proofs: The Effects of Mathematics on David Foster Wallace (2012)” ↗I don't think it diminishes him. "Stella Maris" is a great novel that could only be written by someone who was very knowledgeable about math. As far as art that engages deeply with math and science, I don't know of anything comparable. Most artists…
on “Cormac McCarthy's personal library” ↗Agree that “Stella Maris” is amazing for this deep engagement with art. Perhaps in a similar vein I do think there are a couple of other books that do this . One is Anathem by Neal Stephenson, which is similar in that foundations…
on “Cormac McCarthy's personal library” ↗My first introduction was The Passenger, which I greatly enjoyed. Actually it was probably some HN comment that finally got me to buy it. Obviously I followed it up with Stella Maris and his article The Kekule Problem, also great. Then I started Blood Meridian and DNF’d it, which I almost never do. I’m sure it pays off etc. and maybe I’ll come back to it eventually, but I just didn’t…
on “The Style Is Father of the Man” ↗ELIZA is mentioned in passing in Cormac McCarthy's latest novel, Stella Maris (which is a companion/coda to his novel that came out one month prior: The Passenger). I didn't know what ELIZA was when it was mentioned, and looked it up and that kicked off a long rabbithole of learning…
on “In honor of Weizenbaum's Centenary, I asked ChatGPT to program ELIZA” ↗Why not read Stella Maris? I'm reading The Passenger right now, and enjoying it.
on “Cormac McCarthy, Novelist of a Darker America, Is Dead at 89” ↗