The synopsis reads "After many years of living abroad, a young writer returns to the United States to take up a position at his former college. There he encounters Philip Lentz, an outspoken neurologist intent on using computers to model the human brain.
Lentz involves the writer in an outlandish and irresistible project - to train a computing system by reading a canonical list of Great Books. Through repeated tutorials, the machine grows gradually more worldly, until it demands to know its own age, sex, race and reason for existing."
This is not a science fiction story but a study (examination, exploration?) of the main character's life. Through the novel the Writer questions the decisions he made particularly in relation with his career choice and love life, and how those decisions shaped his present situation. The second protagonist, Philip Lentz, is a peculiar character. A scientist, to me, with limited emotional intelligence, who is the mastermind behind the Learning Computer. At some point during the narration the Writer and us learn about his life and he becomes more human to the point that we can empathize with him. There is also a group of scientists whose interventions in the story are limited but meaningful. Each of them is there for a reason trying to show the Writer life lessons.
The Writer's task is to teach the computer how to read novels and how to be a literary critic. The Writer goes through a series of literary references, most of them unknown to me, trying to teach the computer the meanings behind words. At the same time he reflects about his life and tells us his story, especially since he met his ex girlfriend. At some point it is inevitable to draw comparisons between his relationship with the girlfriend, a human being, and his relationship with the computer system.
A slow but interesting read.
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