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alexiscartwheelThis weekend I finally finished my first book of the year, Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl. I became interested in the book when I picked it up in Chapters in Ottawa—I ultimately bought Twilight instead—and read the table of contents. The contents are presented as a required reading list, starting with Shakespeare’s Othello and ending with Ovid’s Metamorphoses. I’m always game for a novel full of literary allusions, so even though I didn’t buy the book, I put it at the head of my to read list.
From the beginning, I found Special Topics in Calamity Physics fascinating, but I quickly got bogged down. The opening chapter reveals the “mystery” of the novel, Hannah Schneider’s death. After that, the narrative steps back in time to Blue van Meer’s final year of high school. Blue is an intelligent and interesting narrator, but at times she’s almost too intelligent. At times the frequency of her obscure citations to real and invented scholarly works got to be a bit intimidating. It didn’t help that I was in the mood for a story, and felt like I was getting meandering recollections instead. Forget the quirky, the random, the everyday… where’s the plot, eh?
Hannah is an enigma from the point in which she first appears in Blue’s death, and Hannah’s death is the real catalyst for the plot to begin. Or rather, Hannah’s death draws the plot to the surface, bringing together all the quirky, random, everyday events and making them part of something important. The unraveling of mystery of Hannah in the second half of the novel made my struggle through the first half worth it, and the conclusion was both surprising and delightfully vague. The library labels the book as “Mystery” with a handy Sherlock Holmes sticker, but I’m not sure it can be so easily pigeonholed into the world of genre fiction. Certainly there is a crime and an investigation, but those take up the only the second half of the novel. In truth, it’s Blue van Meer’s history, both of the life she though she had and her even stranger reality.
If you aren’t discouraged by 500+ pages packed with literary allusions and figurative language, and would like to read an unusual sort of mystery, complete with visual aids, then I suggest you give Special Topics in Calamity Physics a go.
From the beginning, I found Special Topics in Calamity Physics fascinating, but I quickly got bogged down. The opening chapter reveals the “mystery” of the novel, Hannah Schneider’s death. After that, the narrative steps back in time to Blue van Meer’s final year of high school. Blue is an intelligent and interesting narrator, but at times she’s almost too intelligent. At times the frequency of her obscure citations to real and invented scholarly works got to be a bit intimidating. It didn’t help that I was in the mood for a story, and felt like I was getting meandering recollections instead. Forget the quirky, the random, the everyday… where’s the plot, eh?
Hannah is an enigma from the point in which she first appears in Blue’s death, and Hannah’s death is the real catalyst for the plot to begin. Or rather, Hannah’s death draws the plot to the surface, bringing together all the quirky, random, everyday events and making them part of something important. The unraveling of mystery of Hannah in the second half of the novel made my struggle through the first half worth it, and the conclusion was both surprising and delightfully vague. The library labels the book as “Mystery” with a handy Sherlock Holmes sticker, but I’m not sure it can be so easily pigeonholed into the world of genre fiction. Certainly there is a crime and an investigation, but those take up the only the second half of the novel. In truth, it’s Blue van Meer’s history, both of the life she though she had and her even stranger reality.
If you aren’t discouraged by 500+ pages packed with literary allusions and figurative language, and would like to read an unusual sort of mystery, complete with visual aids, then I suggest you give Special Topics in Calamity Physics a go.
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