Quick reminder: The deadline to participate in my giveaway from the Adult Book Fair is Wednesday, August 5. There's an easy-peasy Google form to fill out to participate. The orange cat package has a lot fewer entries than the purple bookshelf package if that will help you make a decision!
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So far it looks fun.
Ella is a girl living on an island off the coast of the United States that was the home to Nevin Nollop, the man who created the pangram "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog." The memorial to Nollop starts falling apart and as the letters on the memorial fall, the imperialistic town council begins banning the letters in writing and speech. The first time you violate the ban, you receive the warning; the second time, a public punishment; and the third time, you are banished from the island.
The book is told through letters and notes that people on the island are writing to each other and people in the United States, including people who have been banished.
The back of my copy of this book has Kirkus Reviews calling this book "lighthearted" and Publishers Weekly calls it a "whimsical fable."
Ummm.
This is a dark dystopian.
The town council begins by shutting down the town library and destroying all the books.
When citizens say that the letters falling off the memorial isn't really a sign from Nollop that he is unhappy, but rather is about how the adhesive is just not meant to be holding on for that long, the town council starts denying the truth of the science in favor of superstitious nonsense.
Meanwhile, literacy starts going down and people have to start subbing in letters and sound homophones. Communication starts to fail as people do not have synonyms for words with banned letters in them.
As people leave town, either because of banishment or because they can no longer make a living on the island, the town council begins taking their land and homes, saying that is has been abandoned. The people who are left struggle to communicate at all.
I thought this was brilliant in theme and execution. But I found it horrifying and terrifying. I certainly did not find it "whimsical" or "lighthearted." Some of the wordplay was pretty fantastic and the writing was clever, but the reason behind it was so dark that I'd never apply comedy to this.
Maybe it's hitting differently in 2026 instead of 2001 when this was published. The Trump administration's rapid dismantling of higher education and cultural products is shocking. Maybe in 2001, I wouldn't have worried so much about a dictatorial government. I don't know.
It's an interesting book. A prophetic book. But maybe not the fun book I thought it was going to be. Or, alternately, I don't have a sense of humor or whimsy. (I don't think that's the case, but maybe!) 5/5 stars
Lines of note:
...with the prohibition, the reading of all books containing the unfortunate letter will have to be outlawed as well. (page 9)
Right. Start by attacking books and education.
They shut the library down today. (page 17)
Librarians are truly protectors of free speech and liberty. Thank a librarian.
Today The Tribune published the names of fifty-eight of the sixty men, women, and children charged this week with first offense. (Two names were unpublishable due to the presence of a particular letter within.) All were speakers of banned words - words overheard upon the lanes, in schoolyards and church pews, and on the common greens. Neighbor turning in neighbor, perpetuating old grudges and grievances with this new weapon...(page 21)
Hm. Have we seen this playbook before?
Someone is relaying threats to the Council. Each counciliteur has gotten a copy: "Cease the insanity or you will perish." As a result, the - I must now call them what I am only too happy to call them: police goons - the police goons have gone house-to-house in their investigation, yet have yet to turn up anyone except the usual suspects - that is, virtually everyone on in the isle...the Council has put crepuscular-to-auroric house arrest upon all Nollop citizens not in league with the cult. (page 125)
Heavy, heavy sigh.
Things I looked up:
cenotaph (page 3) - an empty tomb or a special monument built to honor a person or group whose body is buried in another place
bandiford (page 5) - is a made-up fictional noun from the novel used to describe a architectural base, pedestal, or tier featuring inscription tiles
sarilla geese (page 9) - fictional phrase from the novel. It is used metaphorically by a character to describe unthinking, conformist crowds.
aposiopesis (page 17) - a figure of speech where a sentence is left unfinished, implying unwillingness or inability to continue; suddenly breaking off in speech
partete (page 48) - I don't know this one? It's made of lace, so clothing or home decor? Do you know?
Hat mentions (why hats?):
orange hat (x2 on page 142, 148)
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Do you know what a partete is? Do you want to read a book about a crumbling society in 2026? Have you ever heard of this book?
I have heard of this book, and kind of dismissed it (experimental fiction tends to irritate me). But now that I've read your review, I really want to read it. I am all for dystopian fiction. It sounds like it hits way too close to home though, so... (<--- aposiopesis in action??? or is it something else, since I'm assuming the meaning of the missing portion of the sentence is clear to most readers???)
ReplyDeleteI don't know what a partete is, I'm sorry!
God no, I am out on any society crumbling dystopian books!
ReplyDeleteThat's funny- I JUST READ this book! I finished it on the plane on the way to Indiana. I agree with you- it's dark. But I also found it funny. Like when the letter D is banned, they have to use new names for the days of the week, and "Saturday" becomes "Satto-gatto." That cracked me up for some reason. And I liked the ending. I normally don't like dystopian books, but this one had enough humor to counteract it, for me.
ReplyDelete