The Flame Alphabet by Ben Marcus is quite the step up from his last novel, Notable American Women, which while cool at points really remains a curiosity piece for anyone who touts the need for avant-garde literature. Marcus himself is very much falls into that category through what he has published in the past. In a way, his career trajectory and how critics and fans view him, reminds me a lot of Chris Adrian, although he is far better adept at storytelling, even though both of their books have unneeded flights of confusing weirdness that will alienate the normal reader, which I consider myself to be. Together, they are kind of like the Ol’ Dirty Bastard of the book world: they are very distinct from everyone else and are doing things very differently, but that unique output does not always mean it is good or genius, as some would say. Now this book, while I liked it a lot more than Notable American Women, falls into the same kinds of writing that the previous novel did, but at least we get something that hints at a cohesive story. We follow Sam, and his wife Claire in a little Jewish community, as a plague of toxic language from kids and adolescents is literally tearing adults apart. Their daughter, Esther (really unfortunate name) is affected by this, and we watch as Sam tries desperately to find a new way of speech, all the while his family is being torn apart. There are interesting moments, like who Sam eventually goes to work for when he is left alone, but it is all just too convoluted and over written (Rue Morgue said it was “obtuse” which is a good description) to be interesting, which is said, because the unique premise had an amazing amount of potential, if it was written by someone who is actually interested in story. In an interview, Marcus said he writes with the idea in mind of what people want and do not want to read; it seems he is not following his advice. Not great, but passable.
Rating: 4/5
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