We are under an invincible blindness as to the true and real nature of things

Special Topics in Calamity Physics seems to be a reader of this blog.  I complained that the book was wordy without much purpose and the in-text citations were getting annoying and then BAM, story picks up, the wordiness doesn't seem like it was padding and the citations now serve a purpose beyond giving me something on the page to skip over.  Obviously the book changed itself partway through due to my whims.  That's the sort of power I wield.  In my head.

Initially I had trouble focusing on the book.  I took any excuse to stop reading it.  Then it was like a switch was flipped and suddenly I couldn't put the book down.  It was still wordy at times, but the wordiness seemed to serve the story or serve the characters and not be an exercise in meeting some page length minimum.  Blue continues to cite reference after reference, from encyclopedias to her Dad's lecture notes, but these are less clawing, more pertinent to the story.  From the sheer volume you know Blue has essentially a photographic memory, able to quote every book she's come across, but now you learn more from the actual citations.

The book is a coming of age first and foremost with a murder mystery/conspiracy theory thrown in.  After Part One, the book found its balance between these two genres, with the language, with Blue's voice.  The story goes in plenty of directions but it is to the benefit of the story instead of sounding like the author has ADD and was unable to decide what to do next.  Everything fits together and makes you want to go back and reread parts of it as the story progresses, not because of confusion but because there is a lot to take in and I wanted to see how pages I'd already read change with the new information garnered.

There is humor, especially in Blue's father's various bon mots, lectures, discussions, anytime he opens his mouth.  He's pretentious and snobby but he's amusing and because of that he is a character you want to watch.  At one point he is describing the ambiguous ending of a movie

"L'Avventura," Dad said, "has the sort of ellipsis ending most American audiences would rather undergo a root canal than be left with, not only because they loathe anything left to the imagination - we're talking about a country that invented spandex - but also because they are confident, self-assured nation...the idea that none of us can truly know anything at all - not the lives of our friends or family, not even ourselves - is a thought they'd rather be shot in the arm with their own semi-automatic rifle than face head on." (411)

The book has it's own ambiguous ending though perhaps Pessel couldn't leave it totally uncertain (she is American) and the book ends with a Final Exam of True/False, Multiple Choice and Essay question that shed a little more light on the narrative.

This is Pessl's first novel and I'm intrigued enough to check out what else she comes up with.  Special Topics may also be made into a movie at some point, which I'd be interested in checking out.  Mirimax optioned the screen rights at some point in '07 (according to Variety) but who knows when, if ever, it will make it to the screen.

Title quote from page 261

Special Topics in Calamity Physics.  Marisha Pessl.  Viking Press, New York.  2006.

Dad always said a person must have a magnificent reason for writing out his or her Life Story and expecting anyone to read it

My friend sent me Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl in a package containing Vonnegut's Galapagos and Mieville's The City and The City.  Galapagos was my copy he was returning and The City and The City was a mutual friend's copy that I'd wanted to read, and Special Topics was a book my friend thought I should check out.  I don't know that I would have picked it up on my own (it's hardback which is almost enough for me to have passed it by) but I'm always glad to take a recommendation from a trusted friend.

I'm only about a quarter of the way through the book so far and I'm hoping the story picks up soon.  According to the back cover and the intro, the story is a murder mystery.  The main character, Blue, finds Hannah dead and must make sense of what's happened.  After setting this up in a few sentences, the story jumps back in time to give you an introduction to Blue and her father, a travelling university professor and kind of a pretentious dick.  OK, that's my take on him and I constantly want someone to spill something staining on his Tweed jacket.  It hasn't happened yet, but I have my hopes.  I'm ambivalent towards Blue at the moment.  She's extremely intelligent due to the constant  assignments and exercises her father has been giving her for as far back as she details.  For reasons unknown to her (and to the reader because the book is told from Blue's point of view) the high society Blueblood group reluctantly brings her into the gilded circle, lead by the soon-to-be-dead Film teacher Hannah.

The chapters are split into a syllabus of Required Reading titles that subtly relate to the chapters.  You need to be familiar with the required readings in order to see all of the parallels and, to me, the most obvious is the Pygmalion chapter, where Blue gets a mini-makeover courtesy of Jade and her mother's black American Express.  I'm glad this isn't more overt or I think this style would seem gimmicky and would take away from the story.*  One thing that is getting slightly annoying is the constant citations for ever reference she makes.  I suppose in a way it shows you how far into academia Blue is but I've found myself skipping over these.  Point made, move on.

I'm undecided on the book so far.  I'm enjoying it but I haven't been pulled into the story yet.  It's been easy for me to put the book down.  I'm hoping the story moves forward soon.  The writing is interesting, the characters are intriguing but now I need the story to continue on.  I do have high hopes though.  My friend wouldn't lead me astray.

*The other chapters I've gone through so far, in case you're curious are: Othello, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Wurthering Heights, The House of the Seven Gables, The Woman in White, Brave New World, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and Madame Bovary.

Title quote from page 5.  It's the opening line.

Special Topics in Calamity Physics.  Marisha Pessl.  Viking Press, New York.  2006.