The+Number+Devil

Enzensberger, Hans Magnus, (1998). //The Number Devil.// New York: New York.

Summary: This novel picture a boy named Robert, who hates math, and during his twelve fantastic dreams, he meets a Number Devil, who leads him to discover the amazing world of numbers: infinite numbers, prime numbers, Fibonacci numbers, and numbers that magically appear in triangles. As I read this novel, I feel like I am dreaming with him as well. My mind is taken further and further into mathematical theory, where ideas eventually take flight, until everyone from those who fumble over fractions to those who solve complex equations in their heads-winds up marveling at what numbers can do. Hans Magnus Enzensberger is an authentic polymath, the kind of superb intellectual who is obsessed in thinking and marshals all of his charm and wit to share his passions with the world.

Critique: In “The Number Devil,” the author brings together the surreal logic of Alice in Wonderland and the existential geometry of Flatland with the kind of math everyone would love, if only they had a number devil to teach it to them. And personally, this is an excellent novel for all the students, especially for those who hate or feel boring in learning math. To be more specific, the novel first demonstrates that Robert is tired of dreaming and illustrates a vivid picture of his nightmare, which is appealing to the readers, for they would curious about that dream as well as the following ones. In other words, the novel utilized a unique and creative way to make a boring issue attractive and interesting, which I assert is one of the most crucial and essential characters for a successful book.

From this novel, the students are able to at least master a general idea towards certain concepts of math, like infinite numbers, prime numbers and the like. For instance, the number devil mentioned the “gum” as an example to clarify the definition of infinite number, which I firmly believe it could make the concept easier and vivid for the students to understand. Moreover, this novel could also contribute significantly for students’ reading and writing skill. As I mentioned early, this novel utilized a very exquisite and delicate writing style to illustrate the details happened between Robert and the number devil, therefore, by reading this novel, the students are able to progress on their choice of words and building of sentence when working on their assignment.

Content Area Uses: Math: The utilization of this book shall help students to master the definition and theories of infinite and finite numbers, prime numbers, Fibonacci numbers, numbers that magically appear in triangles, and numbers that expand without.

English/Literacy/Writing: This area could take advantage of the vocabulary, which is understandable for the middle grades’ students, besides, students could benefit from the context and structure of this novel under the aspect of literacy.

Art Art teachers could apply this novel to their courses to ask students to draw the pictures or dreams mentioned in this novel, and through this way, students are able to grasp the essential aesthetic idea as well as to learn how to make the description more vivid on their paper.