Special Topics in Calamity Physics

by Marisha Pessl

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
6,487	303	1,386	(3.63)	339
A darkly funny coming-of-age novel and a richly plotted suspense tale told through the distinctive voice of its heroine, Blue van Meer. After a childhood moving from one academic outpost to another with her father (a man prone to aphorisms and meteoric affairs), Blue is clever, deadpan, and possessed of a vast lexicon of literary, political, philosophical, and scientific knowledge--and is quite the cinéaste to boot. In her final year of high school at the élite (and unusual) St. Gallway School in Stockton, North Carolina, Blue falls in with a charismatic group of friends and their captivating teacher, Hannah Schneider. But when the drowning of one of Hannah's friends and the shocking death of Hannah herself lead to a confluence of mysteries, Blue is left to make sense of it all with only her gimlet-eyed instincts and cultural references to guide--or misguide--her.--From publisher description.… (more)

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172
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The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart (zhejw)
zhejw: I loved both books, but Pessl's is a notch up in language, character development, and plot. Lockhart's is the place for teens to start.
10
The Likeness by Tana French (samalots)
samalots: Also about a group of elite school friends dealing with a mysterious death in their circle
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The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews (SqueakyChu)
SqueakyChu: Both books offer in-detail insights into life as a young adult when interacting with others.
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Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff (beyondthefourthwall)
beyondthefourthwall: Families that seem close on the surface but under the surface turn out to have a lot of multilayered mysterious secrets.
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SqueakyChu: Both books offer sharp humor offered by a student.
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sarahemmm: This is worth trying if you like the unusual format of Pessl's book.
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The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman (Lillydarlene)
Lillydarlene: The intensity of friendship that comes with being in high school, and with being an isolated group, with a dark secret in the background. Both of these are good if you've read The Secret History and are hungry for a similar feel.
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Showing 1-5 of 288 (next | show all)

A classic coming of age tale meets a conspiracy theory thriller roughly at its peak and the two spark an entirely new type of story. Compelling and shockingly good. (

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settingshadow | Aug 19, 2023 |

DNF. i wanted to like this and on some level it connected with my "inner teenager," i know i would've loved it when i was like 15 - but unfortunately as an adult i just found it insufferable. i also didn't think the main character was particularly fleshed out, she just seemed to constantly define herself in terms of her father and her devotion to him - and i found the father character utterly annoying and frustrating. i got my friend to spoil the ending for me so i do get what she was going for, but it did NOT work for me.

i. | Jul 24, 2023 |

A quirky, wordy, bookish novel. It started out with a slow but enjoyable build up to. . .a lengthy expositional section that seemed to be lost and wondering just where it belonged. It went off the rails at the end and came to a ho-hum rest that betrayed the reader (me) more than a little given the initial promises made by the author. Wonderfully entertaining, nonetheless, so I couldn't give it less than four stars out of five. (

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judeprufrock | Jul 4, 2023 |

Sono arrivata fino a pagina 129 e non so nemmeno come. È stata una lettura (seppur parziale) estenuante. Dei personaggi non ce n'è uno che sia anche solo lontanamente credibile. (

)

HelloB | Apr 11, 2023 |

Could have been a decent book but it was just too much. Too long, too descriptive, too pretentious. Could have cut 30% out by removing half the over the top metaphors and useless references. I liked the book at the beginning but very quickly started skimming for dialogue only. (

)

AngiCox | Mar 20, 2023 |

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thingScore 100

Her exhilarating synthesis of the classic and the modern, frivolity and fate — “Pnin” meets “The O.C.” — is a poetic act of will. Never mind jealous detractors: virtuosity is its own reward. And this skylarking book will leave readers salivating for more.

added by jlelliott | editNew York Times, Liesel Shillinger (Aug 13, 2006)

▾Other authors

» Add other authors (10 possible)

Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Pessl, Marisha	—	primary author	all editions	confirmed
Card, Emily Janice	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Devaux, Laetitia	Traduction	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Belongs to Publisher Series

Dwarsliggers (24)

Gallimard, Du monde entier

Gallimard, Folio (4835)

Has as a student's study guide

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl l Summary & Study Guide by BookRags

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Canonical title

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

People/Characters

Jade Churchill Whitestone

(show all 8 items)

Important places

Stockton, North Carolina, USA

North Carolina, USA

Important events

Awards and honors

New York Times Notable Book of the Year (Fiction & Poetry, 2006)

New York Times Best Books of the Year (2006)

New York Times bestseller (Fiction, 2006)

Salon Book Award (2006)

NPR's Complete Holiday Book Recommendations (2006)

(show all 7 items)

Epigraph

Dedication

For Anne and Nic

First words

Dad always said a person must have a magnificent reason for writing out his or her Life Story and expecting anyone to read it.
"Unless your name is something along the lines of Mozart, Matisse, Churchill, or Bond—James Bond—you best spend your free time finger painting or playing shuffleboard, for no one, with the exception of your flabby-armed mother with stiff hair and a mashed-potato way of looking at you, will want to hear the particulars of your pitiable existence, which doubtlessly will end as it began—with a wheeze."

Quotations

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Franzen, Jonathan

Shreve, Susan Richards

Original language

English

Canonical DDC/MDS

813.6

Canonical LCC

PS3616.E825

▾References

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Wikipedia in English (3)

File:CalamityPhysicsBookCover.jpg

Marisha Pessl

Special Topics in Calamity Physics

▾Book descriptions

A darkly funny coming-of-age novel and a richly plotted suspense tale told through the distinctive voice of its heroine, Blue van Meer. After a childhood moving from one academic outpost to another with her father (a man prone to aphorisms and meteoric affairs), Blue is clever, deadpan, and possessed of a vast lexicon of literary, political, philosophical, and scientific knowledge--and is quite the cinéaste to boot. In her final year of high school at the élite (and unusual) St. Gallway School in Stockton, North Carolina, Blue falls in with a charismatic group of friends and their captivating teacher, Hannah Schneider. But when the drowning of one of Hannah's friends and the shocking death of Hannah herself lead to a confluence of mysteries, Blue is left to make sense of it all with only her gimlet-eyed instincts and cultural references to guide--or misguide--her.--From publisher description.

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Book description

Special Topics in Calamity Physics, the dazzling debut of Marisha Pessl, is a buoyant combination of comedy, tragedy, mystery, and romance, a story of disturbing secrets and the eccentric high school student who uncovers them. It is a coming-of-age tale and a disturbing mystery. a snapshot of the dark relationship between ideology and violence but also the poignant tale of a young woman learning to stand on her own.

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