Special Topics in Calamity Physics
by Marisha Pessl
|
List Price: Our Price: $4.39 You Save: $10.61 (71%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Special Topics in Calamity Physics
Book Review: Uncontrolled Creative Potential
Summary: 3 Stars
A good creative idea does not always make for a great read. A good plot can be mangled by a literary idea.
Pessl pushed her idea of a book filled with references to the point that it overwhelmed the actual story. My advice, ignore the references unless you are familiar to the work being referred to. The plot gets off to a great start as we discover Blue's unusual life with her father. We are soon connected to Hannah Schneider and the bluebloods that seem to be interesting characters, yet the bluebloods soon become boringly the same even though Hannah plays them up. The long middle of the book wanders through Blue's relationship with the bluebloods for us to only find out in the end that they make no difference what so ever to the plot. They were filler characters that wasted most of our time. The end gets the story rolling again as Blue amazingly, and unbelievably, solves Hannah's death in one night. An open-ended final exam finishes the book leaving questions abound. Yet, I somewhat expected no true conclusions as Blue's father foreshadowed in the middle of the book how most cannot handle a book that is left open-ended. I don't think I would NOT call this book a true mystery since the main murder in the book is really never explained.
I was hoping that the website, which gives some more teasers of visual aides, would help answer some of the open-endedness [...]. Don't hold your breath.
Book Review: It could have been a good book...
Summary: 2 Stars
I was NOT going to let this book get the better of me. I hung on for dear life, carting this 668 page tome around in my bags for nearly 2 months. For nearly 2 months, I endured some rather rotten characters in the first 434 pages to only have those characters nearly disappear in the remaining pages. So much for getting attached to some people I had grown to really dislike.
I kept asking myself as I turned each page, "What's the point in all this?" And after just finishing the book a scant 10 minutes ago, I have to say, "Nothing." Except for a couple of incidents that happen in the first 434 pages that shed some light on the last few chapters, everything is expendable. Pessl's freshman effort could use with some drastic editing, if not for the book's benefit, than at least for the sake of her readers. The last 200 pages zipped along with a couple of twists I rather enjoyed though you can see them coming as the plot slowly unravels. But goodness! Getting to that point where you can actually start enjoying it, is SO tedious.
I'm too fed-up with this book to write more than this: Girl and father move to a new town, to a new school, girl makes unlikely new friends, sees a suicide, loses friends, and uncovers an underground, near-legendary revolutionary group that runs close to home.
Recommended only if you're going to be marooned on a desert island.
Book Review: A Complete Waste Of Time
Summary: 1 Stars
Normally, I love random facts and digressions, and after reading good reviews about this book, I went in with high expectations. By the end, my feelings toward this book were a mixture of utter disappointment and flat-out resentment because of all the time I wasted reading this book.
For about 400 pages, absolutely nothing happens besides Blue (the narrator) going ON and ON and ON about her beloved and oh-so-wonderful father. I kept reading because reviews said that it would get better towards the end, but no, the book just goes on about absolutely nothing until the last 100 pages or so, which are moderately interesting, but definitely NOT worth the effort of going through the previous 400 pages of Blue's pretentiously whiny commentary and annoying narration.
Even though I read very quickly, getting through this book was a painful experience. I had to force myself through the chapters, and the ending lacked closure, which made me dislike the book even more. The twist/revelation at the end was not climatic at all - I had already guessed something akin to what Blue put together - and it just made me even more annoyed at her, her pompous father, and flaky Hannah Schneider.
All in all, I wasted my time, money, and effort by reading this book. I suggest you spare yourself this excruciating experience because this book is REALLY not worth the effort.
Book Review: Wonderfully Entertaining...
Summary: 5 Stars
I've enjoyed this book as much as anything I've read in the past couple years. The intellectual pomposity of the writing is so well done and amusing, that I found myself chuckling throughout. As someone who uses citations for a living, I found the inclusion of random cites thoroughly charming.
I notice that the reviews of the book have been interestingly mixed. But I think many people are missing the point. The book -- whether it's destined to become a literary classic or not -- is simply a lot of fun to read. I'm sure it appeals to egg-head literature professors on some level, but I think the average well-read reader will find it an excellent and not particularly taxing read. Like I said, a fun book.
Having just finished the book, it's also one of those times I really wish I had someone else to discuss it with! I don't think I'm giving anything away to say that the ending is somewhat non-deterministic, and while that's something I usually don't like in a book, I found it extremely well done.
Finally, I've read several reviews discussing whether the book was too long or had too much filler. Ha. The filler is what made the book delightful and I honestly preferred that to somewhat oddly amusing ending.
For those who liked this, I'd also suggest "Cloud Atlas" as a book that plays well with literary conceits.
Book Review: Takes Time, But Worth Getting Into
Summary: 5 Stars
I almost put this book down after reading the first ten pages. Something about the tone did not interest me: maybe I'm tired of authors who think they have to snobbishly pour out a grandiose turn of phrase or simile after every two words (ahem, The Corrections). Or maybe it was because the author started with the somewhat tired cliche of a wise-beyond-her-years college student suddenly realizing she needs to TELL her life story, and the words come gushing forth.
Anyway, I'm absolutely glad I didn't, because this is one of the finest books I've read this year. The characters go from being shallow and one-dimensional to completely realized and heart-breaking, and yet still manage to leave the reader guessing. I was puzzled as to why this was classified as a Mystery for the first couple hundreds of pages, and then it turns into a bizarre, first-class sleuth story that is almost impossible to put down (I kept thinking of it in the same tone as the film "Brick").
The heroine emerges as a totally transformed character by the end, and some of the closing scenes brought tears to my eyes without being cloying or overly-dramatic. Allright, this sounds like a bit too much, but honestly, there's not many young authors in the United States that can capture a story like this. I hope Pessl has it in her to write another.