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Special Topics in Calamity Physics Marisha Pessl 9780670916115 Books

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Special Topics in Calamity Physics Marisha Pessl 9780670916115 Books

I read another review where the person had trouble choosing between three and four stars, and I can relate. But then, I received an eBook credit and therefore didn't pay for the book. And, compared to several novels I've purchased based on reviews, this book is a 4-star.

I read Marisha Pessl's other novel, Night Film, and really liked it. Unlike Calamity, Night Film has a mostly linear plot, captured in a fairly concise manner (dragging some in one chapter). Based on Night Film, I'd considered ordering Special Topics in Calamity Physics for some time, and so:
My only real problems with Special Topics: I could have done with half the similes, along with far less of the real or fictive references. This isn't Infinite Jest, after all, and a lot of the parenthetical references don't add much real depth to the characters or situations. While the book is --well-written, funny, and with "clever"-taken-to-over-the-top-- I kept wanting more from the characters, less from the narrator and/or author.
But then again, the main character is 16 or 17, and the book is, in many ways, a coming of age story with dark elements. I did like the book, and it kept me entertained. Readers who get impatient with overly verbose style will be frustrated, I think, but the story is ultimately interesting and does have continuity interspersed throughout (even if I did keep wondering how Raymond Chandler would have written it).


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Special Topics in Calamity Physics Marisha Pessl 9780670916115 Books Reviews

I have read many books twice, some three, four, five times. Yet never in my half-century of reading have I turned immediately from the last page to begin a book again. With highlighter in hand.

Ms. Pessl deserves praise and lots and lots of book sales for this stunning debut novel. Even though multiple clues shone like stars through the entire book, I did not guess the ending (a terrible habit of mine, which I dislike but usually do). In retrospect, I underestimated Ms Pessl's cleverness in weaving a yarn. The voice of her heroine is as brilliant and confused as only a teenager can be - it rings with truth, hope, and self-loathing.

I normally avoid novels with teenagers as protagonists, but I encourage you to give this one a try. I can't remember when I've enjoyed a book more (twice!).
The shining star of this book is the author's ability to craft surprisingly unique similes and metaphors to describe things in a way that eschews the more traditional, mundane methods of describing things like a treeline or rain. I found myself using my 's highlight function more frequently than I ever have so that I could remember my most favorite examples.

The book's biggest flaw is its verbosity. The narrator references books, periodicals, quotes, and so forth with such great frequency (and often at such great lengths) that the reader is shoved headlong out of the narrative flow. At least half of these asides are unnecessary and create mental disruptions far more than they enhance the reader's experience.

This is probably due in large part to the fact that nearly all of these references are 100% fictional. I love how imaginative and fascinating the author is, but these abrupt asides prevented me from getting - and staying - fully immersed in a story that was frankly already a slow, meandering tale to start with.

And that leads me to my other primary complaint pacing. The book opens by telling us quickly what the climax of the novel includes (someone's death). And yet we spend 3/4 of the novel leading very slowly up to that point. Perhaps the pacing was sluggish because of the fabricated references I mentioned above. Perhaps the story itself dragged where it could have at least walked or jogged.

That said, the book's climax and denouement more than make up for a lot of the above. I've never before read a novel with so many unexpected twists and turns in such rapid fire. Wallop after wallop after wallop before the final nuclear bomb of a twist on which the book ends. What's wonderful about this whiplash ending is how many clues and hints and winks the author peppered throughout the entire novel that readers were oblivious to until the big reveals.

My final gripe is the ending's muted mood. Despite the earth-shattering twists, our beloved narrator wraps up her story in a way that reminds me of a goose down feather floating slowly in the wind. I wish I could go into detail here without spoiling, but I can't. Ultimately, for the profound and impactful twists, it feels as though the author (or the narrator) ran out of steam and wasn't sure how to resolve the emotions hanging in the air.

Let it be a testament to the wonderful story and the beautiful writing that despite those two major gripes, I am still confident in my 4-star rating.
I read another review where the person had trouble choosing between three and four stars, and I can relate. But then, I received an eBook credit and therefore didn't pay for the book. And, compared to several novels I've purchased based on reviews, this book is a 4-star.

I read Marisha Pessl's other novel, Night Film, and really liked it. Unlike Calamity, Night Film has a mostly linear plot, captured in a fairly concise manner (dragging some in one chapter). Based on Night Film, I'd considered ordering Special Topics in Calamity Physics for some time, and so
My only real problems with Special Topics I could have done with half the similes, along with far less of the real or fictive references. This isn't Infinite Jest, after all, and a lot of the parenthetical references don't add much real depth to the characters or situations. While the book is --well-written, funny, and with "clever"-taken-to-over-the-top-- I kept wanting more from the characters, less from the narrator and/or author.
But then again, the main character is 16 or 17, and the book is, in many ways, a coming of age story with dark elements. I did like the book, and it kept me entertained. Readers who get impatient with overly verbose style will be frustrated, I think, but the story is ultimately interesting and does have continuity interspersed throughout (even if I did keep wondering how Raymond Chandler would have written it).