The Hard Problem
by Tom Stoppard

Name: The Hard Problem
Brand: Tom Stoppard
SKU: 9780571322930
Rating: 3.49 (578 reviews)

The Hard Problem Book Cover — The Hard Problem Cover

Highlights

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Large Cast

Female

Male

British

What readers are saying

Readers have mixed feelings about the play's exploration of consciousness and scientific themes. While many appreciate Stoppard's intellectual engagement and clever dialogue, some criticize the lack of character depth and the play's convoluted arguments. Overall, it is seen as thought-provoking but somewhat inferior to his earlier works.

Intriguing exploration of consciousnessClever dialogue throughoutPhilosophical depthCharacters lack depthConvoluted arguments at times

Synopsis

Above all don't use the word good as though it meant something in evolutionary science

Hilary, a young psychology researcher at a brain-science institute, is nursing a private sorrow and a troubling question at work, where psychology and biology meet.

If there is nothing but matter, what is consciousness

This is 'the hard problem' which puts Hilary at odds with her colleagues who include her first mentor Spike, her boss Leo and the billionaire founder of the institute, Jerry

Is the day coming when the computer and the fMRI scanner will answer all the questions psychology can ask?

Meanwhile Hilary needs a miracle, and she is prepared to pray for one

The Hard Problem by Tom Stoppard premieres at the National Theatre, London, in January 2015.