I wanted to like "Special Topics in Calamity Physics," just because the title alone kicks ass, doesn't it? This book really gets in your head and doesn't leave it the same again. I was, again, captivated. Let's get my one and only complaint about the book out of the way. And then I read Special Topics In Calamity Physics, about a preciously sophisticated group of prep school kids that get involved in...is it a murder? Special Topics in Calamity Physics (Book) : Pessl, Marisha : This mesmerizing debut, uncannily uniting the trials of a postmodern upbringing with a murder mystery, heralds the arrival of a vibrant new voice in literary fiction. Buy Special Topics in Calamity Physics at Walmart.com. It's not a book you can speed read. Marisha Pessl's debut novel, Special Topics in Calamity Physics, focuses around one year in the life of the protagonist and narrator, Blue Van Meer. (See Ulysses by James Joyce) Sometimes I'll tear through a good book in a couple of days. Brilliant rendition of an unforgettable brainy teen who feels compelled to leave her world of books to solve the mystery of a teacher’s death. Admittedly, I was taken in by the somewhat amusing and engaging first page, but after that...imagine spending 500 pages with a sheltered, socially inept, overly verbose adolescent know-it-all. INTRODUCTION Special Topics in Calamity Physics, the dazzling debut of Marisha Pessl, is a buoyant combination of comedy, tragedy, mystery, and romance, a story of disturbing secrets and the eccentric high school student who uncovers them.In vivid prose sprinkled with literary and cultural references, Pessl weaves a complicated tale of self-awakening in a postmodern world. And yet, the formula was rare and unpredictable. This was a weird case of having high expectations and having no expectations, and being disappointed in one and reasonably well satisfied in the other. This Gen-Nexter novel holds the pulse of the zeitgeist under its overachieving, overintelligent finger and lets it be known: this is the novel for our generation, for the eager me!me!&onlyme!s. (I know the Secret History took place at a college. and it's been on my shelf for 2+ years, so I felt like I had to conquer it. Welcome back. YA about a high school girl named Blue going to a new school for senior year. At the center of Special Topics in Calamity Physics is clever, deadpan Blue van Meer, who has a head full of literary, philosophical, scientific, and cinematic knowledge. This Gen-Nexter novel holds the pulse of the zeitgeist under its overachieving, overintelligent finger and lets it be known: this is the novel for our generation, for the eager me!me!&onlyme!s. I was captivated. Special Topics in Calamity Physics Marisha Pessl The heroine of this dark-as-pitch, coming-of-age/suspense novel is 16-year-old Blue van Meer. But it's only. See all 4 questions about Special Topics in Calamity Physics…, an author who mentioned Proust repeatedly to add credibility to his own writing, SOLVED. Fiction - student murder/death - includes bibliography in its format. See, several years ago, I read Donna Tartt's The Secret History, a dark book about a group of preciously sophisticated, murderous wacked-out Classics majors at a small liberal arts college. ), If the whimsy of "Bonjour Tristesse" met & mated with all that malignant student magic from "The Secret History" this would be their child. (A better one, actually, since this is, in effect, TODAY.). Who knew? From Marisha's Desk. Special Topics in Calamity Physics is a darkly hilarious coming-of-age novel and a richly plotted suspense tale told through the distinctive voice of its heroine, Blue van Meer. It might be gimmicky, but these sort of books are the literary equivalent of walking while chewing gum while playing the cello - the authors are strange maestros of many art forms. The secret, murderous high school club? I was about one-quarter of the way through this book when I had a strange revelation. 528pp, Penguin Viking, £6.99. This Study Guide consists of approximately 23 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - There, Blue meets Hannah Schneider, a film teacher, who brings Blue into a small group of elitist friends who are known as the "Bluebloods.". Some will find this book too gimmicky...the use of a syllabus outline, the visual aids, the fact that the first word of the book is dad and the last word is me (thus encapsulating the entire story arch), the final exam. Tour de Force. but it was about Classics majors, and they are just plain weird. The death might have been a murder or might have been suicide. Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl Reviewed by Ted Gioia The post-modern novel is a slippery thing. [s]. I've learned that apparently it's possible for a large number of fawning reviewers to confuse "pretentious" with "intelligent". Honestly, too many of them tend to not merely touch on but focus on a teen’s sexual awakening, so I’ve become accustomed to saying, No, thanks. A Frankenstein's monster of fast and furious factoids. The Sunday Times - Joan Smith Pessl can write, but she lacks both judgment and a decent editor, who would have slashed this windy novel to half or two-thirds of its inflated length. This book really gets in your head and doesn't leave it the same again. If it is the new trend, I understand why, I suppose. Ms. Pessl has a very unique voice. Overall, though, I didn't like it, and found it to be pretty obnoxious. Most of these things are stylistic and, while annoying to read, can be groomed out with some forethought and good editing. I've read other reviews and I believe the negative reviews have been written by people who didn't take time to really read the book and follow it all the way through. Refresh and try again. A woman with a daughter commits suicide because her husband had an affair? See, several years ago, I read Donna Tartt's The Secret History, a dark book about a group of preciously sophisticated, murderous wacked-out Classics majors at a small liberal arts college. Six months ago I read Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket's) The Basic Eight, about a group of precociously sophisticated, murderous high school students at a San Franscisco high school. I liked this book a lot. I could easily attend a semester-long seminar about this book. I don’t like giving up on books and I’d really enjoyed her 2014 novel. Making it better.”, John Sargent, Sr. First Novel Prize (2006), PEN/Hemingway Foundation Award Nominee (2007), The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize (2006). Better than Night Film. Many will find the book too long with not enough meaningful human action, but I found the world of the lead character’s mind grew on me as a doomed, but attractive, refuge from the narcissistic void facing many youth today. At the center of Special Topics in Calamity Physics is clever, deadpan Blue van Meer, who has a head full of literary, philosophical, scientific, and cinematic knowledge. After a childhood moving from one academic outpost to another with her father (a man prone to aphorisms and meteoric affairs), Blue is clever, deadpan, and possessed of a vast lexicon of literary, The heroine is such a brat, the reader oftens remembers past characters like these: uberegotist humanoids--selfish to the extreme, & SMILES--here is their side of the story (indeed, I know of one or two overachieving, overintelligent high schoolers which still instantly make me cringe). Was it because Pessl had to figure out why none of the teens brought cellphones on their camping trip? Find out more about Marisha Pessl's works, including the bestselling novels Special Topics in Calamity Physics and Night Film. Lecture #1: The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene. What have I learned? . Admittedly, I was ta. Spend your energies on your story. . Yet Special Topics in Calamity Physics is one of the most tightly plotted, carefully constructed narratives that I have read in recent years. After moving across America for years with her … Fans of Gossip Girl and MENSA club meetings. Very unlikely. Struck by a severe attack of the cutes, an over-worked bag of metaphors, and flimsy characterization. Graphic. Start by marking “Special Topics in Calamity Physics” as Want to Read: Error rating book. Upon entering the elite St. Gallway School, she finds some--a … Two years later, after moving to London, I finished the book, which came to be known as Special Topics in Calamity Physics. I read Marisha Pessl's other novel, Night Film, and really liked it. That was really the cha… The feeling is called jealousy - deep, shoulda-been-me jealousy that clouds my ability to judge the book itself. Although that might not be a hole, it might actually be disinformation...perhaps Blue's dad actually killed his wife, but that possibility is never discussed. Think, I only got about 20% of the way through this one. In fact, there are about a million reasons to hate it that most of my fellow reviewers have already touched upon: the gorgeous young It Girl-looking author for one, or the denseness of the writing (some have called it overwritten), the pretentiousness of it all. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. The clever, bookish equivalent of an army brat, Blue has accompanied her much-adored — but still exasperating — father … You have to have a really firm handle on what all of the characters are doing, even if your narrator doesn’t understand. I suspect she is much like the central character Blue, erudite and very well read. A pretty girl of sixteen who is ahead in school because of her profound intelligence, Blue has traveled around the country with her father, Gareth, a visiting professor of political science. Sigh. They all sw. The mesmerizing New York Times bestseller by the author of Night Film Marisha Pessl’s dazzling debut sparked raves from critics and heralded the arrival of a vibrant new voice in American fiction. Based on this novel and her second. This one is going back on the pile. I'd skim whole paragraphs just to find the important, plot-moving parts of the sentences. A mysterious teacher, Hannah Schneider, bumps into her and her father while they're shopping before school starts. There are currently 7 reader reviews for Special Topics in Calamity Physics. It's not a book you can speed read. Her senior year of high school, Blue is happy to learn that she will get to stay in one place for the entire year - Stockton, North Carolina, where she will attend the culturally-refined Saint Gallway School. I very likely got what I deserved when I chose to ignore a clear warning, namely the so called "Glossary of Terms" inside the dustjacket which introduced our 16 year old heroine, Blue van Meer, as "a brainy, deadpan, preternaturally erudite girl who...has a head crammed full of literary, scientific, and philosophical knowledge." A multiple choice test that asks you to weigh in on whether you believe what Blue believes she has discovered. I made it over 100 pages this time. But there is so much in this book that you have to take your time to really comprehend it and get the good stuff out of it. I agree with much of what Callie had to say in Round One about Special Topics in Calamity Physics.I agree that parts of the book drag on and … A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. Yuck. “Calamity Physics: The resulting explosion of energy, light, heartbreak, and wonder as Blue van Meer enters a small elite school in a sleepy mountain town.” Right upon opening Physics, you can tell it’s a little different than your average work of fiction. It was, basically, kind of formulaic. Special Topics in Calamity Physics Marisha Pessl, 2006 Penguin Group USA 528 pp. 25 people found this helpful Overall 3 … ... She meets a collection of unusual characters, most notably Hannah Schneider, a film studies teacher at the high school with a somewhat mysterious past. I held out hope for this one because I chose it for book club (sorry, friends!) But this book made me feel the way I did during a college lecture on Lolita, where the professor broke down Lolita by numbers, the numbers of the license plates, the hotel room numbers, etc. The constant literary allusions and pop culture references, mixed with the didactic and wordy writing style kept pushing me out of the story. And yet, the formula was rare and unpredictable. And I thought, is this some sort of new trend in fiction? And so I've concluded that Nabokov is the silent, invisible uncle of "Special Topics", Pessl's patron saint, and not just because of the butterflies and the old professor/precocious girl pairing. Generally I avoid books that are touted as being “coming-of-age” novels. The constant literary allusions and pop culture references, mixed with the didactic and wordy writing style kept pushing me out of the story. It would be easy to do. I'd skim whole paragraphs just to find the important, plot-moving parts of the sentences. I gave it 150 pages, and at this moment in time I just can't get into it. anyone who wants more details as to why i despise the book that everyone else is raving about might need to buy me a drink first. This is a unique book in that you really won’t understand the point of anything until you finish. Order Reviews by: Write your own review! Read More. anyone who once loved The Secret History, spawn of academics, over-readers. Order our Special Topics in Calamity Physics Study Guide, teaching or studying Special Topics in Calamity Physics. After moving across America for years with her charismatic and intensely educated father as the only constant in her life, Blue van Meer finally gets to spend a solid year in a single town to finish high school. Review of: "Special Topics in Calamity Physics" By Marisha Pessl This is a murder mystery. everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of Special Topics in Calamity Physics. But it's only day 3 of 2017, and I don't want to start off my year forcing myself to read a book I'm not enjoying—even if that means quitting on the first book of the year. There’s a special cold black place in my heart for writers under thirty who come out of nowhere with a best-selling much-praised first novel for which they receive huge advances and instant fame. My favorite part of this job is the creation—building a universe from scratch, populating the planet with characters, landmarks, and hidden tunnels. Trailer video for Marisha Pessl's novel Special Topics in Calamity Physics Marisha's writing technique is totally unique with her hundreds of references to great works of fiction, movie stars, reference books, and other explanations of behavior. And yet, for sheer impact, I don't think I could come up with a single thing to top it. ISBN-13: 9780143112129. Since the death of Natasha, Blue's mother and Gareth's wife, both father and daughter have never stayed in the same place for more than a few months. Great characters, a compelling plot, and for the most part, beautifully written. Kids, especially smart ones, notice everything going on with their parents at an early age, and I do not believe he could have fooled her by faking employment at so many places. In Special Topics in Calamity Physics, there are also five charismatic studentsone of whom even has the same name as a character in The Secret … Writing from the standpoint of an unreliable narrator, you as the author have to know exactly what’s going on at all times. . It also seemed like bullshit that Blue wouldn't notice her father not actually working at colleges as they criss-crossed the country. We learn of the mysterious death of one of the main characters early in the book. [How come none of the teens had cellphones throughout the entire novel? "Special Topics in Calamity Physics" In an interview with Marisha Pessl and an excerpt from her book, we meet Blue van Meer, this year's most appealing teen. This is a story told through books themselves, a whodunnit, a coming-of-ager. I'm excited to be a part of the Special Topics Round Table, and many thanks to Callie for having me over to play. Technically, Marisha Pessl’s debut, Special Topics in Calamity Physics, is in part a coming-of-age novel (with very little… ), What have I learned? I've read other reviews and I believe the negative reviews have been written by people who didn't take time to really read the book and follow it all the way through. I was captivated. High School can murder anyone's soul, and it's tightly knit cliques that tend to do the most murdering. This is a story told through books themselves, a whodunnit, a coming-of-ager. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published The most memorable and enchanting part of this book is … Unlike Calamity, Night Film has a mostly linear plot, captured in a fairly concise manner (dragging some in one chapter). August 3rd 2006 Certainly not 21-year-old Me. That rang quite false. But this book sucked major balls. i read about 30 pages before announcing (to the book's cover), "I HATE YOU, BOOK. mysterious 85% dark 57% challenging 28% emotional 21% funny 21% tense 21% adventurous 14% reflective 14% sad 14% informative 7% lighthearted 7% It would be easy to do. Six months ago I read Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket's) The Basic Eight, about a group of precociously sophisticate, I was about one-quarter of the way through this book when I had a strange revelation. Praise for Special Topics in Calamity Physics “A whirling, glittering, multifaceted marvel, delivered in an irrepressibly smart and flamboyant new voice. It's hard to pinpoint the plot of Marisha Pessl's "Physics," which is part of its problem (its … I tried with this book. Thanks for exploring this SuperSummary Plot Summary of “Special Topics in Calamity Physics” by Marisha Pessl. Special Topics in Calamity Physics is a darkly hilarious coming-of-age novel and a richly plotted suspense tale told through the distinctive voice of its heroine, ... its characters, its "celebrated" twists and turns pretentious, tedious, annoying AND predictable. That the young characters loathe and are still wholly attracted to the poor, poor teacher--that the ending is as bleak and miserable as an empty box...this is the new B. E. Ellis for sure. The chapter headings and references may suggest a book that goes off in various directions, plays with a range of discourses, and breaks all the rules; but Pessl Blue Van Meer is the main character, chief protagonist, and narrator of the novel Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl. SHUT UP!" Special Topics in Calamity Physics is a coming-of-age tale and a disturbing mystery, a snapshot of the dark relationship between ideology and violence but also the poignant tale of a young woman learning to stand on her own. Special Topics in Calamity Physics could have used some judicious editing, some attention to scene choreography, and a little more glue to hold the plot together. Special Topics in Calamity Physics: Author: Marisha Pessl: Genre: Novel: Written: 2006: Length: 514 pages: Availability: Special Topics in Calamity Physics - US: Special Topics in Calamity Physics - UK: Special Topics in Calamity Physics - Canada: Special Topics in Calamity Physics - India: La physique des catastrophes - France Please jump into the comments and add to the discussion. Report from the Gifted & Talented program: there was much brilliance on display in the novel in question. It was awful. The dialogue is unnatural and in most cases unfitting for the characters (Dee and Dum's conversations in particular strike me as unreal for high schoolers). I held out hope for this one because I chose it for book club (sorry, friends!) Based on Night Film, I'd considered ordering Special Topics in Calamity Physics for some time, and so: At first they are wary... Get Special Topics in Calamity Physics from Amazon.com. I almost returned it a chapter or two in because the book is about the size of your standard dictionary and it was madness to begin it going into final exams. Nabokovian-Joycean experimentation. This novel wasn't set in the 90s, every teen has a cellphone especially rich ones and it's not like there's no reception in the woods. This may be the best book I've read all year, which isn't to say it's perfect. In the mind-twisting mystery Night Film, a dogged investigative reporter pursues a reclusive horror director, whose life and all-too-real films are... To see what your friends thought of this book, Blue is referring to what a thoughtful, attentive listener Hannah is; the gaps are meant to show how Hannah would sit and listen to you without talkin. A description of tropes appearing in Special Topics In Calamity Physics. and it's been on my shelf for 2+ years, so I felt like I had to conquer it. i didn't really read this. Just finished this book and so enjoyed it. by Marisha Pessl. by Penguin Books Ltd. I've learned that apparently it's possible for a large number of fawning reviewers to confuse "pretentious" with "intelligent". Blue is referring to what a thoughtful, attentive listener Hannah is; the gaps are meant to show how Hannah would sit and listen to you without talking. My report from detention: some qualities of it irritated the hell out of me and one glaring structural element weakened it. “Always live your life with your biography in mind.”, “But most critically, sweet, never try to change the narrative structure of someone else's story, though you will certainly be tempted to, as you watch those poor souls in school, in life, heading unwittingly down dangerous tangents, fatal digressions from which they will unlikely be able to emerge. Pickup & delivery Walmart.com. As Greene shows us, divisiveness exists first and foremost in our own warped perception. [s], Special Topics in Calamity Physics - Marisha Pessl 4/5, SOLVED. Moods. It was, basically, kind of formulaic. About Special Topics in Calamity Physics. Reading it was like meeting a very charismatic person for the first time and being dazzled by their larger-than-life not-afraid-of-anything personal style, seduced by their erudition and left … They all swirled and anagrammed their way into a ridiculous formula at the end. But there is so much in this book that you have to take your time to really comprehend it and get the good stuff out of it. The debut novel of Marisha Pessl. Resist the temptation. Holy "coming of age with murder, suicide, conspiracy theories, and turns you don't see coming because you aren't worthy to walk in the same light as Marisha Pessl" shit, this book was great. (Full review can be found at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. But do keep in mind that it’s a big book: over 500 pages or 21 hours of listening. A suicide? DJ Cayenne from Baby Got Books weighs in for Round Two: (See also Round One). A homemade goulash of parlor romance, teen coming of age, and Agatha Christie. I couldn't bring myself to postpone reading the rest though, because it was just too good to set aside. It easily collapses into self-parody or even an attack on its own sustaining principles. Marisha Pessl grew up in Asheville, North Carolina, and now lives in New York City. Special Topics in Mixed Feelings. Why are some words deleted when Blue describes Hannah? Death (1 reviewer) Moderate. "Special Topics In Calamity Physics" is a book with a personality all of its own. That's something, right? Pessl wrote three drafts of the book, telling Kenyon Review that "each draft took about a year. I laughed and enjoyed perhaps 60 percent of these and whipped through some of them, not quite following but knowing they'd be worth studying if I were retired and had more time. The heroine is such a brat, the reader oftens remembers past characters like these: uberegotist humanoids--selfish to the extreme, & SMILES--here is their side of the, If the whimsy of "Bonjour Tristesse" met & mated with all that malignant student magic from "The Secret History" this would be their child. We’d love your help. 23 likes. And yet, for sheer impact, I don't think I could come up with a single thing to top it. In fact, there are about a million reasons to hate it that most of my fellow reviewers have already touched upon: the gorgeous young It Girl-looking author for one, or the denseness of the writing (some have called it overwritten), the pretentiousness of it all. Ultimately, I polished off the last quarter or so of the book in a single night too gripped by the suspense to put it down until I found out how things resolved themselves. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. And so it turned out, that not only was Nabokov churning out a literary masterpiece, but a mathematical formula as well. My initial interest in this book was mainly down to the fact that I had read numerous reviews comparing it to Donna Tartt's, This may be the best book I've read all year, which isn't to say it's perfect. This detailed literature summary also contains Topics for Discussion on Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl. But she could use some friends. Reworking it. The book, as has been acknowledged by other people, could easily be a hundred pages shorter than it is. Special Topics in Calamity Physics. As the story develops, we learn that the victim is one of a cast of extraordinary characters. Scythe. Some will find this book too gimmicky...the use of a syllabus outline, the visual aids, the fact that the first word of the book is dad and the last word is me (thus encapsulating the entire story arch), the final exam. 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