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Wordplay: Special Topics in Calamity Physics
Old-fashioned mystery, brainy academia collide in Physics
By Spencer Essey
sessey@mscd.edu

Special Topics in Calamity Physics By Marisha Pessl $25.95

Blue van Meer, the erudite protagonist of Special Topics in Calamity Physics, recites a Spanish adage that stands as an apt metaphor for her personal journey: “El perra que no camina, no encuentra hueso,” which translates as, “The dog that does not walk, does not find a bone.”

The debut novel of author Marisha Pessl charts the progress of her brainy and lovable protagonist, Blue, as she struggles to find fulfillment and independence. Pessl fuses academic pretension with film-noir suspense, creating a story that is both challenging and entertaining.

Physics tells the story of Blue’s senior year in high school at the prestigious St. Gallway School. Here she falls in with the intellectual elites of her class and becomes a favored pupil of eccentric teacher Hannah Schneider. As the year progresses, strange events unfold, culminating in the unexplained death of Hannah. Blue is left to unravel the clues and solve the mystery.

The characters, especially Blue and her recalcitrant father, Gareth van Meer, are instantly enjoyable. Blue begins the story by recapping a childhood spent driving from one university to the next for her father’s guest professorships.

The car rides are spent reciting the sonnets of Shakespeare or discussing the politics and people of Botswana. Blue and her father emerge as a tightly knit father-daughter team. The latter is capable of any feat, while the former is too obsessed with himself and the nature of guerilla warfare in the Congo to be truly effective.

The pair eventually settles in a small North Carolina town where Blue will spend her senior year in high school. The decision to stay in one location gives Blue the ability to make and keep friends, and ultimately puts her in the position to solve the mystery.

Physics disguises itself as a bubbly book written for teens, with its tales of cliques and homework. But Pessl’s deft style and the dark subtexts of her story make it stand out as a literary triumph.

The sharp plot twists keep the reader entangled in Blue’s life as Pessl artfully and slowly reveals each part of the story. Plot concerns often take a backseat to Pessl’s clever and artful style, which echoes that of Vladimir Nabokov.

Physics blends references to literary novels, Hollywood classics and science theorems to create what is at once educational, enlightening and highly entertaining.

The chapters themselves are named after literary classics, from Pygmalion to Che Guevara Talks to Young People. Each chapter aptly pertains to its literary moniker in a special way.

With the delight of Nabokov and the severity of Chandler, Pessl has created a truly great piece of fiction and developed a horde of fans waiting to see what else she can do.