Special Topics In Calamity Physics

When a new year begins I like to also begin reading a new book - ok I knooow I already have um, quite a few on my currently reading list, but well, I've *almost* finished two of them already so that makes room for a new one I think... And I very much want that first-book-of-the-year to be a special one. A novel that hopefully sets the standard of the book-year-of-undersigned.

So, the first novel of 2008 is a book I've kind of glanced at since last summer, mainly because of it's "very-Pia" cover, actually - Special Topics In Calamity Physics. And sometimes you can very much judge a book by its cover, I mean I have stumbled over books I've never heard of and got them just because their amazing covers and had a fabulous time reading them. So in this case I'm just fine with being so superficial.

And, well, even if I've just read about 50 pages of 670 I'm simply mesmerized. It's for sure not a book you can, or should, read casually or absentmindedly. Not a book for killing time - but what kind of book nerd wants that? - and it surely keeps you quite alert. In fact it demands your full attention form page one - and with its required reading-list you realize you are but a mere pleb when it comes to literature and reading. Kind of. From this book's central figure's point of view at least.

From that list I've read about a third since junior high, and I can't say I remember all that much from any of them... I let it be unsaid if that depends on the literary qualities of the books or my phase in life when reading them... Or perhaps they just weren't my cup of word(l)y tea.

This piece of überintellectual witty book nerdiness has just been translated into Swedish. However I chose to read it in English, since I usually think it's the perfect way to expand one's literary horizons and perhaps also the vocabulary. Besides, some wittiness and oomf often get lost in translation - though in the case of this book the Swedish title sounds, to me, exceedingly more interesting for some odd reason. Odd since it basically is a word-for-word translation... Parts of the American-English language wittiness in the novel is most probably just bypassed me, but I think that for all that's not it'll be well worth the read of this aspiring brick-novel. I hope I'm able to stand by these words when reading the last sentence on page 670...

I will return with a proper review á la me when I've read the whole book - for now I'll just refer to the book's/author's very Harry Potterish website and leave you with an interesting calamity- physics-question to ponder; what kind of Jane are you?