Marisha Pessl: Special Topics in Calamity Physics

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Liked It

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

Rated 5 stars

“This is one of my favorite books- Marisha Pessl is quite clever setting this up. I love all the literary references and how the chapters are named- and subsequently linked to- different novels.”

Didn’t Like It

3 of 3 members found this review helpful.

Rated 2 stars

“I'm honestly torn -- I wanted to be able to give this book a higher rating, really I did -- but the fact is there's only so much clever I can take. And "clever" began to feel like the point of Pessl's weighty tome less than a quarter of the way through.

I did so love the way she used Major Western Works of Fiction as chapter titles and then married her narrative within said chapters to the themes of those same Works. It was kind of fun to connect the themes, ...”

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Community:

Rated 3.777101 stars

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Rated 3.5 stars

Newest Comments

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jill m said:

“If I said I listened to this book in a jumbled order, as I had it on the mp3 player, listened to it as I fell asleep, woke up and listened some more. Listened to the end. Listened to the questions. Went back to pick up the pieces, important pieces, of the story that I had missed . . . but they don't seem to be there . . . I got so tired of the tortured metaphors and similes. I know it is part of the character to express herself thusly, but oh, did I get sick of it. I think that listening, which forced me to 'read' each and every citation (and I know I would have been skimming right past them if I'd had the book in hand), is very hard for this story - rereading would have been helpful. It was far into the book when I realized that each chapter was a book title. Wish I could answer your question, isadora c., but not sure what you are hunting for. I liked the quiz section, but were we give an essay question??”

posted 2 days ago

isadora c. said:

“So, is there a part of the book when Blue is talking about Hannah, where there's a certain adjective missing? It's in a whole page of my book. And, am I wrong, or there are answers to some of the questions that we have by the end of the book in that Final Exam? I'm going crazy 'cause in my social circle I'm the only one who has read it, so there is anyone to ask.”

posted Saturday, November 22 2008 ( | view 1 reply )

that's ms kitty said:

“I loved this book because of the courage shown by the heroine's painstaking efforts to form relationships, encumbered by the pathetic narcissism of her father. The psychological odds are overwhelmingly against her, as she shows great courage in the face of multiple betrayals. A coming of age novel that flies in the face of "chick lit." ”

posted Friday, March 14 2008

michael t said:

“I'm about 3/4 through, I've been really enjoying it and want to recommend it to my 19-year-old daughter...for whom it seems to be written. College girl looking back on her momentous high school senior year.

Unlike most of the comments here, I love the conceit of her being "home-schooled" by her egghead Dad while criss-crossing the country from one college town to another -- instead of listening to the radio or ipod, she has to read an incredible "syllabus" of books aloud to him, and then discuss the concepts together, making her the most erudite, best-read kid in any school she attends. Six months is the usual timeframe at any given school before moving on the next town -- Dad's a guest lecturer on the small college circuit, his topic being violent uprisings and revolutions throughout history. Mom died tragically when Blue was 3, so she and Dad are best friends that hang out watching film noir on late-night tv in motel rooms and rented houses.

Yes it's a conceit, but pretty original to me, and continually entertaining. Hey, every novel's got a gimmick, it's just that some are more transparent than others.

Anyway, I'm finding the writing fun, the mystery compelling -- I was disappointed to read below someone complaining about the ending. I'll be sure not to read any more of these comments in case there are spoilers.

As I said up top, this review is from a Dad's perspective. I bet most of these reviewers are a lot younger than I am...”

posted Thursday, December 6 2007

ballroom_pink said:

“So the team from Half Nelson (the Ryan Gosling film) are going to adapt the novel into a film. Any thoughts?”

posted Saturday, October 20 2007 ( | view 1 reply )