Every time I put this book down after reading a chapter or two, it left me with a smile on my face, even when it was dealing with the harder parts of his life. I will take away with me the no-nonsense-ness of it all, the pure joy towards things that excite and the slight ignorance towards the world outside one's own.

To my dearest R.P. Feynman:

Our love affair (read: my infatuation with you) started blooming years ago when I happened upon your lectures. Your wit, charm and intelligence was the triple combination that wooed me into bewilderment. For years I devoured anything I could find about you. I swooned over tales of your bongo skills. Your grace and humility when accepting the Nobel made my heart flutter. So when I came across your letters nothing could keep me from them. It has been a rare joy the past week to be deep inside your writing filled with humor, intellect and your unique charisma. When faced with the nutzos that come with fame you handled them in a way that left them dazzled and slowly putting the pitchforks away. What can I say? I'm a sucker for a man with brains who makes me laugh.

Very Truly Yours,
A very smitten Michelle

I enjoyed hearing richard feynman tell me more about his life than these disparate letters. A lot of the letters seem to be pointless and kind of uninteresting.

[Placeholder review: what an admirable man.]

What a cool dude. I happened upon this book on my dad's shelf and it gave me giggles and chuckles, And it made me cry big dripping tears that landed in fat globs on the page. Feynman was awesome.

An interesting novel about an even more interesting, charismatic, and brilliant individual. This is a great read and it was so great to get an inside perspective on the influential Richard P. Feynman.

Feynman has become a cult figure for some, though I saw no evidence to support why this might have happened. The book was so thick, and he seemed so ordinary, I couldn't wrap my mind around the attraction.

Some instances are quippy (and a Feynman fan might find some to be of great interest), though I wouldn't recommend it to the general reader.

In a letter to Koichi Mano, 3 Feb 1966:

It seems that the influence of your teacher has been to give you a false idea of what are the worthwhile problems. The worthwhile problems are the ones you can really solve or help solve, the ones you can really contribute something to. A problem is grand in science if it lies before us unsolved and we see some way for us to make a little headway into it.


In a letter to Mark Minguillon, 23 April 1976:

Don't pay attention to "authorities," think for yourself.

Interesting But Repetitious

Starting the book I was fascinated by the stories the letters tell of a most extraordinary man. I continued to read with enthusiasm, but after a while the letters seemed to repeat quite a bit, especially in the responses to congratulatory letters. A fantastic man, a too-long collection.

I’ve lost track I’m not sure if this is the fifth or sixth book I’ve read about Richard Feynman but this one was delightful. You get an intimate look of his life from his own letters and correspondence from various people throughout his life. At times you get to see his vulnerability and humility. It is a book worth checking out.

Saying that I preferred “Surely You’re Joking, Mr Feynman” and “The Pleasure of Finding Things Out” to this book is a bit like saying I preferred “Hamlet” to “Macbeth”