Intuition

Pretty Good, I guess...

I was so looking forward to reading 'Intuition,' as I had heard great reviews for it and had loved Goodman's 'Paradise Park.' Unfortunately, the story, for me, never really took off. It was as if all the pieces of a fantastic novel were there, but the heart and empathy for the characters were not. What had so impressed me about 'Paradise Park' was Goodman's ability to make me as a reader care about a protagonist who was so flighty and neurotic. But the 'Intuition' characters, who were more relatable on the surface, lacked heart and warranted little interest from this reader.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Another great book

This book was intriguing and kept your attention throughout. I felt very connected to all the characters. This is the second book of Allegra Goodman's I have read. I now count this author one of my favorites.

Thought-provoking Examination of Science Research

The issues, personalities and moral quandaries in original science research are set forth in a direct and engaging style that captures your attention without losing the feeling of a powerfully enjoyable "read."

Intuition, Science and human all too human

Scientific laboratories rely heavily on grants to pursue their cutting edge research. Scientific researchers are only human and as such prone to ambition, greed, jealousy, and errors of judgement.. Goodman starts the novel with Marion and Sandy needing to find the focus for their next grant proposal. Sandy and Marion are the directors of the Philpott Institute, and polar opposites in their approach to science. Sandy appears as a media-hungry the end justifies the means administrator while Marion is focused on the painstaking process of constructing solid impugnable science. Both are married, Sandy to Anne, devoted mother of his daughters and Marion to Jacob a brilliant mind who 'lacked the creative spark' and thus funnels all his brain power in being supportive of wife. Cliff is a researcher at the Philpott who is about to fired when, after several failures, he seemingly makes a break-through discovery in the cure for cancer. Or is he? Robin is his ex-girlfriend and co-worker. She has been a devoted researcher who peaked early and was shunted off onto a project that was going nowhere. Cliff's success seems to good to be true to her and so she questions, queries and ultimately officially launches an investigation into his methodology. The official inquiry will call the lab into question and will reveal much about each character. In fine strokes we grow attached to these seemingly clear-cut characters but then realize that, as with everything, nothing is ever clear-cut or black-and-white. Is Jacob really so self-sacrificing or is he a cynical manipulator of his wife's career? Science for science wins the day but it is a close call. Intuition is an indictment of scientific research funded by grants which promotes the publish-or-perish mentality to the detriment of slow, careful and exacting science. It underlines that in Science it is not possible to cut corners and so labs should not be expected to do so. A detailed but precisely written novel.

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