Lexicon

A Novel

By: Max Barry

Narrated by: Heather Corrigan, Zach Appelman

Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

At an exclusive school somewhere outside of Arlington, Virginia, students aren't taught history, geography, or mathematics - at least not in the usual ways. Instead, they are taught to persuade. Here the art of coercion has been raised to a science. Students harness the hidden power of language to manipulate the mind and learn to break down individuals by psychographic markers in order to take control of their thoughts. The very best will graduate as "poets": adept wielders of language who belong to a nameless organization that is as influential as it is secretive.

Whip-smart orphan Emily Ruff is making a living running a three-card Monte game on the streets of San Francisco when she attracts the attention of the organization's recruiters. She is flown across the country for the school's strange and rigorous entrance exams, where, once admitted, she will be taught the fundamentals of persuasion by Brontë, Eliot, and Lowell - who have adopted the names of famous poets to conceal their true identities. For in the organization, nothing is more dangerous than revealing who you are: Poets must never expose their feelings lest they be manipulated. Emily becomes the school's most talented prodigy until she makes a catastrophic mistake: She falls in love.

Meanwhile, a seemingly innocent man named Wil Jamieson is brutally ambushed by two strange men in an airport bathroom. Although he has no recollection of anything they claim he's done, it turns out Wil is the key to a secret war between rival factions of poets and is quickly caught in their increasingly deadly crossfire. As the two narratives converge, the shocking work of the poets is fully revealed, the body count rises, and the world crashes toward a Tower of Babel event which would leave all language meaningless.

©2013 Max Barry (P)2013 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"A dark, dystopic grabber in which words are treated as weapons, and the villainous types have literary figures’ names. Plath, Yeats, Eliot and Woolf all figure in this ambitious, linguistics-minded work of futurism." (Janet Maslin, New York Times)

"Imagine, if you will, a secret group of people called Poets who have the power to control others simply by speaking to them. Barry has, and the result is an extraordinarily fast, funny, cerebral thriller." (Time Magazine)

"An extremely slick and readable thriller." (Washington Post)

Not my favorite

A great premise, but a confusing timeline. not one of my favorites, but worth the credit.

Dystopian Thrill Ride With Big Exploding Words

As I began listening to "Lexicon," I couldn't help but draw parallels to "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins. In both books, the protagonist is a disadvantaged teenage girl using her smarts to beat the elite who control the masses in a near future dystopian society. I enjoyed "The Hunger Games" a lot. I enjoyed "Lexicon" almost as much.

The difference is, Lexicon kept me hankering after details and information that would explain exactly where these characters came from and how they tick. Author Max Barry knows how to tell a story - and crafting a tight, exciting plot is clearly his strength. I wonder if he's written screen plays because that's the flavor of this book every once in awhile. And yet I have to concede, Max Barry is a talented wordsmith, so why not use some of those words to explain some "whys" in addition to the "whats" and "whens?" Maybe clue us in on how the characters became who they are before they hit the ground running for the thrill ride of "Lexicon." The characters seemed almost incidental to the story, if that makes any sense. The author's amazingly creative idea of a world where words are weapons and transparency is weakness, intrigued me. However, in his excitement to show the reader all the cool stuff that happens in this world, characterization suffers. Barry glosses over details that would give the story more poignancy and heart. The biggest explosion or gun battle ends up sort of "meh" for me if I'm not significantly invested in the person in peril.

All in all, I liked "Lexicon." The ideas and themes of the novel are worth pondering. The warning bell sounded in response to our society's propensity for sharing information way too easily (but wait a sec! I got 10% off at Macy's just for signing up for their emails!) is ample food for thought. It's just that in the real world, providing personal information for your novel's protagonist elevates the book from "good" to "great."

Good Story, Good Performance

Would you listen to Lexicon again? Why?

I really don’t’ listen to books twice, once is enough- but that’s not to say this wasn’t very enjoyable.

What did you like best about this story?

It’s a new premise, I haven’t encountered a story like this before. Very clever. You really can’t guess where it’s going, but the plot turns are not so bizarre that it seems like the author was just trying to get write themselves out of a corner. It was very enjoyable.

What about Heather Corrigan and Zach Appelman ’s performance did you like?

They were both very good, able to distinguish between a multitude of characters. The only thing that grated a bit was the female Austrian accent, it just did not seem right, and it was distracting. The male accent was perfect, not overdone, but very distinguishable.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No, but I did finish it in record time because it was very interesting.

great premise + twisty plot = amazing!

Valcor. Vartex. Mannik. Wissik. Buy this book.

Ok, it won't work on you, but what if, if you knew the right words, you could persuade anyone to do anything. That's the premise here. Specially trained Poets can manipulate just about anyone. But when a single word is discovered that could potentially destroy civilization, withstanding 'compromise' becomes the most important thing.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I bought this book, I had optimism but so many books let me down. This wasn't one. Right from the get-go, this book gets you hooked and just keeps running. Usually, I can see where a book is going pretty early on, but this one just kept changing things up. Every time you think you have a handle on what's going to happen, everything changes. Good guys might be bad guys. Bad guys might be good guys, or they might be super evil guys. Barry keeps you guessing. It was great!

Don't let the trite "she falls in love" in the plot synopsis make you think that this books is a fluffy thing about romance. It's more about Emily's consistent lack of ability to follow the rules. Sure love is one of those things, but I think the synopsis rather overstates it. This book is about so much more!

As some of the other reviews have pointed out, the female narrator's Australian accent is a bit sad, but I try not to get too hung up on that kind of thing if the rest is quality.

Awesome speculative fiction

I'm picky about books, and I was very hesitant to read Lexicon when I saw that Max Barry had also written Jennifer Government (which I had read as an abridged audiobook years ago and found disjointed and preachy), but it was recommended to me by an extremely intelligent friend of mine whose opinion I trust, and so I thought I'd give it a try. It was totally worth it. This book has everything I want in a great work of fiction- amazing world-building, awesome characters that I get to know and love, compelling action and a premise that makes you lay awake at night. The narration was brilliant and let me experience the book fully, and I feel as though I was there experiencing it all. Now I will have to go back and read the unabridged Jennifer Government, because Barry is a genius and the only explanation for my previous impression must be that something was lost in the abridgement.

Terrible accent

Great story, keeps you guessing until the end. I just wish the female voice didn’t have such a terrible Australian accent!

Unputdownable!

If you could sum up Lexicon in three words, what would they be?

Neurolinguistic Killer Poets!

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

YES. I finished this listen in a day or so - I couldn't stop! I'm terrible at multi-tasking and never listen to an audiobook while doing anything but running, driving or walking my dog. Interestingly, though, I was easily coerced into "studying" chemistry and calculus while listening!

The ideas Barry puts forth are absolutely fascinating to think about and, even when I wasn't listening, I found myself pondering some of these notions: that words are essentially neurochemical signals; that certain word combinations and sounds short-circuit the normal workings of the brain; that we can easily be "compromised" by those who are gifted poets of persuasion.

Which character – as performed by Heather Corrigan and Zach Appelman – was your favorite?

Oh I loved Emily Ruff because she don't take no guff. There's always a part of me that groans inaudibly whenever a character does the "right" thing, the "moral" thing. Emily does what she wants.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Sticks and stones may break your bones but a single word can end the world.

Any additional comments?

I loved Ready Player One and if you did too, I think you'll like this book. It's referential in the way RP1 is, smart and incredibly well written. Heather Corrigan's narration of Emily is a little annoying at first and her Australian accent is terrible (it, more often than not, sounds Welsh) but it rounds out quickly as Emily comes into her own.

I have never listened to an audiobook so quickly and I have no doubt I will read it again. I highly recommend!

Great Again

Love Max Berry's stories. This one has a great, original idea, great characters, adventure, romance, intrigue. Always fun.

great concept fuzzy finish

I feel like this has been my mantra of late, but this feels like alot of the sci-fi I've been reading lately. really interesting thought provoking basic idea with a very boring story shoved in at the end. Any story with such a loving homage to TS Elliott is worth it, there is alot of literary humor that is right on the line of awesome and eye rolling corny, but I'm siding with this book being well worth it when it's all said and done.

Didn’t understand 90%of it

But couldn’t stop reading. That said, the ending was a big anti-climatic bummer. 3rd act
Got pretty messy.