A strange but compelling book

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

I hereby demand that all people who are good at math make the world free of illness. The rest of us will write you epic poems and staple them together into a booklet.

I tried out the Mount Pleasant branch of the DC public library the other day, and one of the books I picked up was Adverbs by Daniel Handler. I picked it up because, seriously, it had a very colorful cover. That’s how I often pick books at the library. It has worked surprisingly well so far. I didn’t realize this was the Lemony Snicket guy. I didn’t see that movie, and I don’t really know anything about the books. I’m not sure if knowing would have influenced my decision to read the book.

Anyway, I like it so far. It reminds me of Chuck Palahniuk, the guy who wrote Fight Club, except with a softer edge. Palahniuk likes to lead you in circles and then punch you in the gut. Handler leads you in circles and then kind of jabs you in the ribs, hard enough so you rub them, but it doesn’t really hurt.

It’s a little strange - each chapter is not exactly connected to the previous chapter, and he uses first-person narration that is not always the same person.  But it often seems as if it could be the same person.  Except the gender changes.

I’m only about 65 pages in, though, so I can’t give a full review. But I will when I finish it.

Posted in: Anti complaint , Book Review