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Sum (book)
Encyclopedia
Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives, also simply called Sum , is a work of speculative fiction
by the neuroscientist David Eagleman
. It is in press in 23 languages . The Los Angeles Times
described it as "teeming, writhing with imagination." Barnes and Noble named it one of the Best Books of 2009.
, the book presents forty mutually exclusive stories staged in a wide variety of possible afterlives. The author has stated that none of the stories is meant to be taken as serious theological proposals but, instead, that the message of the book is the importance of exploring new ideas beyond the ones that have been traditionally passed down.
The title word "Sum" refers to the Latin for "I am," as in Cogito ergo sum
.
Like Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities
, Sum does not fall cleanly under the traditional category of a novel. It has been called "philosofiction", an "experimental novel", and "a collection of thought experiments". Most of the stories are understood to "posit the afterlife as mirroring life on Earth"
The New York Times Book Review called Sum a "delightful, thought-provoking little collection [which] belongs to that category of strange, unclassifiable books that will haunt the reader long after the last page has been turned". Sum was chosen by Time Magazine for their 2009 Summer Reading list, with the acclaim "Eagleman is a true original. Read Sum and be amazed. Reread Sum and be reamazed.". Sum was selected as Book of the Week by both The Guardian
and The Week
, and was the featured subject on the cover of two magazines in 2009, The Big Issue
and Humanitie. On September 10, 2009, Sum was ranked by Amazon as the #2 bestselling book in the United Kingdom.
The book received accolades from non-religious reviewers as well as from the religious community. The recommendations of Stephen Fry
, Philip Pullman
, Brian Greene
, Brian Eno
, and others appear on the cover, and Sum was named as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2009.
and to Sum as a reflection of that position. According to his definition, possibilianism rejects both the idiosyncratic claims of traditional theism
and the certainty of atheism
in favor of a middle, exploratory ground. The possibilian perspective is distinguished from agnosticism
in that it consists of an active exploration of novel possibilities and an emphasis on holding multiple hypotheses at once when no data is available to privilege one position over the others. Possibilianism
is understood to be consonant with the "scientific temperament" of creativity and tolerance for multiple ideas when there is a lack of data.
Speaking with the New York Times, Eagleman stated that he had an upcoming treatise entitled "Why I am a Possibilian" that would expand on the definition. This was published on 27 September 2010 in New Scientist.
One of the stories in Sum, A Brief History of Death Switches, was originally published in the journal Nature
, and subsequently anthologized in Futures from Nature.
In June, 2009, Eagleman and musician Brian Eno performed a musical reading of Sum at the Sydney Opera House
in Australia.
A September 2009 episode of Radiolab featured comments from Eagleman and readings of two of the stories by actor Jeffrey Tambor
.
In May 2010, Enhanced Editions, in association with Canongate Books
, released an iPhone/iPad/iPod enhanced eBook version of Sum, integrating the audio book with the text. The audiobook was narrated by the author as well as Gillian Anderson
, Emily Blunt
, Nick Cave
, Jarvis Cocker
, Jack Davenport
, Lisa Dwan
, Noel Fielding
, Kerry Fox
, Stephen Fry, Clarke Peters
, Lemn Sissay
and Harriet Walter
.
Readings from the book are featured in a number of episodes of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
's radio programme "WireTap".
The episode "Circle of Friends" features the story "Circle of Friends".
The episode "26 Minutes, 30 Seconds" features the story "Sum" read by Jane Lewis.
The episode "All Beasts Go To Heaven" features the story "Descent of Species" read by Katie Malik.
The episode "We Are But the Stuff of Dreams" features the story "The Cast" read by Jane Lewis.
The episode "The Answering Machine" features the story "Spirals" read by Jane Lewis.
The episode "Adhesion" features the story "Adhesion" read by Elizabeth Robertson.
The episode "Getting Away From It All" features the story "Angst" read by Jane Lewis.
The episode "A Better You" features the story "Subjunctive" read by Elizabeth Robertson.
The episode "The Reverse Life" features the story "Reversal" read by Katie Malik.
Speculative fiction
Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history in literature as well as...
by the neuroscientist David Eagleman
David Eagleman
David Eagleman is a neuroscientist at Baylor College of Medicine, where he directs the Laboratory for Perception and Action and the Initiative on Neuroscience and Law. He is best known for his work on time perception, synesthesia, and neurolaw...
. It is in press in 23 languages . The Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
described it as "teeming, writhing with imagination." Barnes and Noble named it one of the Best Books of 2009.
Synopsis
As a short story cycleShort story cycle
A short story cycle is a collection of short stories in which the narratives are specifically composed and arranged with the goal of creating an enhanced or different experience when reading the group as a whole as opposed to its individual parts...
, the book presents forty mutually exclusive stories staged in a wide variety of possible afterlives. The author has stated that none of the stories is meant to be taken as serious theological proposals but, instead, that the message of the book is the importance of exploring new ideas beyond the ones that have been traditionally passed down.
The title word "Sum" refers to the Latin for "I am," as in Cogito ergo sum
Cogito ergo sum
is a philosophical Latin statement proposed by . The simple meaning of the phrase is that someone wondering whether or not they exist is, in and of itself, proof that something, an "I", exists to do the thinking — However this "I" is not the more or less permanent person we call "I"...
.
Like Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities
Invisible Cities
Invisible Cities is a novel by Italian writer Italo Calvino. It was published in Italy in 1972 by Giulio Einaudi Editore.-Description:The book explores imagination and the imaginable through the descriptions of cities by an explorer, Marco Polo...
, Sum does not fall cleanly under the traditional category of a novel. It has been called "philosofiction", an "experimental novel", and "a collection of thought experiments". Most of the stories are understood to "posit the afterlife as mirroring life on Earth"
The New York Times Book Review called Sum a "delightful, thought-provoking little collection [which] belongs to that category of strange, unclassifiable books that will haunt the reader long after the last page has been turned". Sum was chosen by Time Magazine for their 2009 Summer Reading list, with the acclaim "Eagleman is a true original. Read Sum and be amazed. Reread Sum and be reamazed.". Sum was selected as Book of the Week by both The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
and The Week
The Week
The Week, styled as THE WEEK, is a weekly news magazine.-History:It was founded in the United Kingdom by Jolyon Connell in 1995. In April 2001, the magazine began publishing an American edition; an Australian edition followed in October 2008. Dennis Publishing publishes the U.K. and Australian...
, and was the featured subject on the cover of two magazines in 2009, The Big Issue
The Big Issue
The Big Issue is a street newspaper published in eight countries; it is written by professional journalists and sold by homeless individuals. It was founded by John Bird and Gordon Roddick in September 1991...
and Humanitie. On September 10, 2009, Sum was ranked by Amazon as the #2 bestselling book in the United Kingdom.
The book received accolades from non-religious reviewers as well as from the religious community. The recommendations of Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
, Philip Pullman
Philip Pullman
Philip Pullman CBE, FRSL is an English writer from Norwich. He is the best-selling author of several books, most notably his trilogy of fantasy novels, His Dark Materials, and his fictionalised biography of Jesus, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ...
, Brian Greene
Brian Greene
Brian Greene is an American theoretical physicist and string theorist. He has been a professor at Columbia University since 1996. Greene has worked on mirror symmetry, relating two different Calabi-Yau manifolds...
, Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
, and others appear on the cover, and Sum was named as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2009.
Philosophy
Eagleman refers to himself as a PossibilianPossibilianism
Possibilianism is a philosophy which rejects both the diverse claims of traditional theism and the positions of certainty in strong atheism in favor of a middle, exploratory ground. The term was first defined by neuroscientist David Eagleman in relation to his book of fiction Sum...
and to Sum as a reflection of that position. According to his definition, possibilianism rejects both the idiosyncratic claims of traditional theism
Theism
Theism, in the broadest sense, is the belief that at least one deity exists.In a more specific sense, theism refers to a doctrine concerning the nature of a monotheistic God and God's relationship to the universe....
and the certainty of atheism
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
in favor of a middle, exploratory ground. The possibilian perspective is distinguished from agnosticism
Agnosticism
Agnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable....
in that it consists of an active exploration of novel possibilities and an emphasis on holding multiple hypotheses at once when no data is available to privilege one position over the others. Possibilianism
Possibilianism
Possibilianism is a philosophy which rejects both the diverse claims of traditional theism and the positions of certainty in strong atheism in favor of a middle, exploratory ground. The term was first defined by neuroscientist David Eagleman in relation to his book of fiction Sum...
is understood to be consonant with the "scientific temperament" of creativity and tolerance for multiple ideas when there is a lack of data.
Speaking with the New York Times, Eagleman stated that he had an upcoming treatise entitled "Why I am a Possibilian" that would expand on the definition. This was published on 27 September 2010 in New Scientist.
Related publications and performances
Nature (journal)
Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...
, and subsequently anthologized in Futures from Nature.
In June, 2009, Eagleman and musician Brian Eno performed a musical reading of Sum at the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
in Australia.
A September 2009 episode of Radiolab featured comments from Eagleman and readings of two of the stories by actor Jeffrey Tambor
Jeffrey Tambor
Jeffrey Michael Tambor is an American actor, perhaps best known for his roles as George Bluth Sr. and Oscar Bluth on Arrested Development and Hank Kingsley on The Larry Sanders Show.-Early life:...
.
In May 2010, Enhanced Editions, in association with Canongate Books
Canongate Books
Canongate Books is a Scottish independent publishing firm based in Edinburgh; it is named for The Canongate, an area of the city. It is most recognised for publishing the Booker Prizewinner Life of Pi...
, released an iPhone/iPad/iPod enhanced eBook version of Sum, integrating the audio book with the text. The audiobook was narrated by the author as well as Gillian Anderson
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Leigh Anderson is an American actress.After beginning her career in theatre, Anderson achieved international recognition for her role as Special Agent Dana Scully on the American television series The X-Files. During the show's nine seasons, Anderson won Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen...
, Emily Blunt
Emily Blunt
Emily Olivia Leah Blunt is an English actress best known for her roles in The Devil Wears Prada , The Young Victoria , and The Adjustment Bureau . She has been nominated for two Golden Globe Awards, two London Film Critics' Circle Awards, and one BAFTA Award...
, Nick Cave
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...
, Jarvis Cocker
Jarvis Cocker
Jarvis Branson Cocker is an English musician and frontman for the band Pulp. Through his work with the band, Cocker became a figurehead of the Britpop movement of the mid-1990s. Following Pulp's hiatus Cocker has led a successful solo career...
, Jack Davenport
Jack Davenport
Jack Davenport is an English actor, best known for his roles in the television series This Life, Coupling and as James Norrington in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. He has also appeared in many other Hollywood films such as The Talented Mr. Ripley...
, Lisa Dwan
Lisa Dwan
Lisa Dwan is an Irish actress, from Coosan, Athlone, Co. Westmeath, Ireland.-Early life:Dwan originally wanted to be a ballet dancer. She was chosen to dance with Rudolf Nureyev in the Ballet San Jose's production of "Coppélia" in Dublin when she was 12...
, Noel Fielding
Noel Fielding
Noel Fielding is a British artist, comedian and actor. He is known for his roles as Vince Noir in The Mighty Boosh, which he co-writes with comedy partner Julian Barratt, and as team captain on the music panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks.-Stand-up comedy:Noel Fielding performed regularly as a...
, Kerry Fox
Kerry Fox
Kerry Fox is a New Zealand actress. She came to prominence playing author Janet Frame in the movie An Angel at My Table directed by Jane Campion, which gained her a Best Actress Award from the New Zealand Film and Television Awards....
, Stephen Fry, Clarke Peters
Clarke Peters
Clarke Peters is an American actor, singer, writer and director best known for his role as Detective Lester Freamon on the HBO drama The Wire.-Early life:...
, Lemn Sissay
Lemn Sissay
Lemn Sissay MBE is an award-winning British author and broadcaster of Ethiopian and Eritrean parents.He is known for performances of his poetry and also with jazz fusion groups. He is a playwright, and has worked on radio and television...
and Harriet Walter
Harriet Walter
Dame Harriet Mary Walter, DBE is a British actress.-Personal life:She is the niece of renowned British actor Sir Christopher Lee, as the daughter of his elder sister Xandra Lee. On her father's side she is a great-great-great-granddaughter of John Walter, founder of The TimesShe was educated at...
.
Readings from the book are featured in a number of episodes of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
's radio programme "WireTap".
The episode "Circle of Friends" features the story "Circle of Friends".
The episode "26 Minutes, 30 Seconds" features the story "Sum" read by Jane Lewis.
The episode "All Beasts Go To Heaven" features the story "Descent of Species" read by Katie Malik.
The episode "We Are But the Stuff of Dreams" features the story "The Cast" read by Jane Lewis.
The episode "The Answering Machine" features the story "Spirals" read by Jane Lewis.
The episode "Adhesion" features the story "Adhesion" read by Elizabeth Robertson.
The episode "Getting Away From It All" features the story "Angst" read by Jane Lewis.
The episode "A Better You" features the story "Subjunctive" read by Elizabeth Robertson.
The episode "The Reverse Life" features the story "Reversal" read by Katie Malik.
External links
- Author's official website
- "Sum" as Enhanced eBook with integrated audioBook for iPhone & iPod
- Starred review from Publishers WeeklyPublishers WeeklyPublishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
- Sum in Random House catalog
- Possibilian.net