The Indian Clerk

David Leavitt

ago 2009 · Bloomsbury Publishing

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The extraordinary true story of the discovery of one of history's greatest mathematicians in rural India. His life is the subject of the major film The Man Who Knew Infinity

'Excellent ... His Hardy is a superb creation' Sunday Telegraph
'A loving exploration of one of the greatest collaborations of the past century, The Indian Clerk is a novel that brilliantly orchestrates questions of colonialism, sexual identity and the nature of genius' Manil Suri

January, 1913, Cambridge. G.H. Hardy - eccentric, charismatic and considered the greatest British mathematician of his age - receives a mysterious envelope covered with Indian stamps. Inside he finds a rambling letter from a self-professed mathematical genius who claims to be on the brink of solving the most important mathematical problem of his time.

Hardy determines to learn more about this mysterious Indian clerk, Srinivasa Ramanujan, a decision that will profoundly affect not only his own life, and that of his friends, but the entire history of mathematics.

Set against the backdrop of the First World War, and populated with such luminaries as D.H. Lawrence and Bertrand Russell, The Indian Clerk fashions from this fascinating period an utterly compelling story about our need to find order in the world.

In 2016 a film, The Man Who Knew Infinity, inspired by the same life on which this book is based, was released, starring Dev Patel and Jeremy Irons.

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David Leavitt is the author of several novels including The Lost Language of Cranes, three story collections and, most recently, The Body of Jonah Boyd. He lives in Gainesville, where he teaches at the University of Florida and edits the literary journal Subtropics.