« When Things Get Nasty | Main | Snip Snap Snorum »
December 02, 2004
Language Gun
The best weird-book ever created by humans? Perhaps. Ben Marcus' first proper novel, 'Notable American Women', is primarily concerned with a family in Ohio that partakes in a separatist linguistic movement (focused on silence- the explanation for this is that, by speaking, any person creates a small instance of weather, which can be harmful to the listener), and the history/development of this school of thought. Cross that with a very intimate and heartrending portrait of main character 'Ben Marcus' and the change in his family (his father, Michael, is buried alive, in the back yard, and is poisoned each day by the venomous speech of one of the Silentists)- the way they were before this cult came into their lives, and what occurs when Ben leaves the house/complex they inhabit- and you've got one of the most compelling and intellectually rich novels of the past, I dunno, 5 or 10 years. If that's not enough to motivate you to read it, keep in mind that Ben Marcus (the author, not the character) is one of the most hilarious writers out there, as evidenced by this review of a power planer he wrote for the Believer.
'Notable American Women' can be somewhat off-putting, if you're not accustomed to Marcus' habit of spitting out neologisms at the rate of about one or two per page. Once you sort of attune yourself to the fact that, yes, it is possible that someone would want to wear a helmet during sex, or perhaps chew on cloth to cleanse their head, the book will grip you and leave fingerprint-shaped bruises (it's that absorbing). Purchase it from L'Amazon here. Marcus is just an unqualified genius, that's all there is to it.
Posted by Kevin at December 2, 2004 01:41 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.greenideasblog.com/movabletype/mt-tb.cgi/346
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Language Gun:
» ii mobile sale sidekick t from ii mobile sale sidekick t
[Read More]
Tracked on December 6, 2006 03:02 AM
Comments
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)