Special Topics in Calamity Physics

By: Marisha Pessl

Narrated by: Emily Janice Card

Length: 21 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

After a childhood spent 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, political, philosophical, and scientific knowledge. And she is quite the cineaste to boot. In her final year of high school at the elite (and unusual) St. Gallway School in Stockton, North Carolina, Blue falls in with a charismatic group of friends and their captivating teacher, Hannah Schneider. But when the drowning of one of Hannah's friends and the shocking death of Hannah herself lead to a confluence of mysteries, Blue is left to make sense of it all with only her gimlet-eyed instincts and cultural references to guide - or misguide - her.

Structured around a syllabus for a Great Works of Literature class, Pessl's debut novel is complex yet compelling, erudite yet accessible. It combines the suspense of Hitchcock, the self-parody of Dave Eggers, and the storytelling gifts of Donna Tartt with a dazzling intelligence and wit entirely Pessl's own.

©2006 Marisha Pessl (P)2007 Penguin Audio, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. All rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“The joys of this shrewdly playful narrative lie not only in the high-low darts and dives of Pessl’s tricky plotting, but in her prose, which floats and runs as if by instinct, unpremeditated and unerring.... This skylarking book will leave readers salivating for more.” (The New York Times Book Review)

“Gripping and dark, funny and poignant ... Pessl’s talent for verbal acrobatics keeps the pages flipping.” (USA Today)

“Witty and exuberant ... Pessl’s pyrotechnics place her alongside young, eclectic talents like Dave Eggers, Jonathan Safran Foer, and Zadie Smith.” (Vogue)

So much to like but still “meh"

Any additional comments?

I’m a dude. I suspect gender and age plays a lot into how one receives this book. It’s easy to pass this novel off as being for women or young women given the subject matter. I never bought into that line of thinking. A great story is a great story whatever the subject matter. The problem is this isn’t a great story. The writing isn’t even that good as much as it is relentless. I don’t mean that in a good way.

I’m a BIG fan of Pessl’s NIGHT FILM, which is actually not all that different from this book. Both go on and on with layers of densely layered backstory that might seem superfluous until suddenly becoming pivotal by the end. That’s neat. It isn’t isn’t...I mean the “prologue” itself went on for more than 30mins in the audio version. What would that be in novel form? I never figured out how that translates. (And really the point of the prologue seemed more to be about the promise that stuff will happen since not much of interest does for a few hundred pages.)

Confession. I may need to revise my review later because I’m not entirely done. I feel like writing about the novel now. Some thoughts.

Pessl likes middle aged men, it seems. The dynamic between father and daughter is strikingly similar to middle aged father figure and quirky young girl in Night Film (not to mention another hunky, drawing hottie boy in Night Film -- this novel has three so far). Both novels seem to be about cults growing up around charismatic figures who inspire others to do just about anything for them.

I was with Special Topics until my last listen. It might have lost me. *Minor Spoilers* Blue was always a self absorbed brat in her own way. I think Blue is smart enough to know wrong when she does it. We are certainly meant to accept that in other parts of the novel. Yes this is first person narrative, but we’re also meant to accept Blue as a very smart girl who is perhaps mature enough to....well, no spoilers. She sneaks to a study group, a ruse for her father, which we accept as being a white lie. Something she shouldn’t be doing but does because we sense she kind of has to. BUT...what loses me now is how violently (in terms of emotion) Blue regresses when realizing she never fooled her father. She knows something hinky is going on with the film teacher (another Night Film foreshadowing) and that sense of danger increases with Jade’s drunken admissions in the class room at the party where Blue also dismisses a nice, if not geeky young boy just as she in the past might have been abused by fellow students.

i guess I’m not digging the adorable, precious portrayal of Blue as she becomes somebody you begin to desperately want to slap and send to her room to think about what she’s doing. I disagree with her father forcing her way too early into adulthood. But what is happening now I’m on his side.

That’s where this sucker has sorta lost me at the moment.

haha...private personal gripe. Girls are mean! ha. Can you imagine how monstrous a boy would be portrayed if a girl made such a show being into him and then he ditched her without a word? Yikes. That’d be game over for the female readers. Though Pessl tried taking the stink off it by suggesting Zack would be happy no matter what during the limo ride.

Fantastic Book

I loved this audiobook and the narrator made it even better. I was on the edge of my seat and couldn't wait to finish it. I hope the author writes a follow up and tha the narrator has other audiobooks.

funny coming of age story

Well written story full of clever synonyms and metaphors. Interesting characters and plot. Page turner.

More Similes and Footnotes than you will ever see in your life!

Special Topics is brilliantly written despite the fact that the father was a pompous ass and that Blue, our protagonist, never defended herself from the wrongdoings heaved onto by friends and foes. We want her to survive and thrive. Does she? The mystery of Hannah's death (no spoiler) is both beguiling and infuriating in its handling. Read it and talk to me!

Great story with a flat finish.

I'm so glad I stumbled upon Marisha Pessl and her greatly entertaining debut novel. While the characters and plot of the book may be bests suited for young adults, I found I was quickly drawn into narrator Blue's story of high school acceptance and general coming of age punctuated with numerous clever literary references as if her story is written as a term paper. As the plot thickened, I couldn't stop listening.

The only downfall to this novel is the somewhat abrupt and overly fantastical ending that left me wanting for more. While the entire novel builds up to this, the conclusion falls short of expectation and seems more like an easy way out than a carefully crafted ending to a thoughtfully written novel.

Even with a disappointing ending, I'm eager to pick up Pessl's other book "Night Film."

Well done

Interesting writing and full of unusual characters. Sometimes the metaphors are a bit much, but generally good listening. The Reader did well and gave it a realistic voice of a young girl.

Good story

it's a good story, although predictable. the main character is annoying at times for her failure to see the obvious.

Pretentious and problematic

The constant reiteration of good/pretty = skinny and bad/dumb= fat was so incredibly annoying. The intellectualism was under researched and poorly executed, this was an underwhelming read.

Disappointed

Didn't care for it; apparently not my type of thing. Yes, it really was a coming of age story as described, but I didn't really care for the "stream of conciousness" narrative nor the reader. Sorry.

I'm out of here

Would you try another book from Marisha Pessl and/or Emily Janice Card?

Three hours in and I'm out. The writing reminds of what my film teacher said about Altman: "He doesn't like his characters." All the characters in what I managed to get through are one dimensional and nothing but their worst features. She doesn't find one good feature in anybody. The narrator comes across as a young girl with no insight into people despite her supposed intelligence and the hefty reading list imposed by her father.