As She Climbed Across the Table

I have all of Jonathan Lethem's novels, I bought them several years ago with the intent of eventually getting to them. Well eventually has become "now" and this is my first exposure to his work and I have to say . . . it's certainly original. The premise here is that Philip, a professor, is dating a physics professor named Alice. Her department manages to conjure up a type of black hole that tends to be a bit selective in what it wants to devour. Alice sees this as a sign of intelligence and begins to fall in love with it, leaving poor Philip behind. What transpires at that point is the epitome of a bizarre love triangle, with Philip trying to win back Alice even as she tries to get the black hole (now named "Lack") to love her in return. To Lethem's credit he makes this odd premise actually work within the context of the story, so that the characters come across as people and not complete lunatics. Sometimes they don't come off as real people, just strings of dialogue bouncing back and forth, but it feels real enough that I can buy it. Even the two blind guys who show up and start to live in his apartment don't really feel out of place. To my mind, there were two ways Lethem could have screwed this up, one by making the whole scenario just too cute to believe, or by going the other route and drowning us all in dry physics discussions, overstraining itself trying to make the point. Thankfully, he strides a nice middle ground, acknowledging that the situation is absurd without making fun of the characters and using quantum physics in a way that it he can comment on relationships between people and show how there really isn't any difference at all. The end gets a bit weird but there was probably no other way to end it. Not really a campus novel so much as a bizarre romance novel set on campus, it reads quickly (I finished it in a few hours, fortunately he doesn't belabor the point, doing what he has to do and getting out) and goes down easy, raising a lot of interesting points along the way. Not for the people looking for Harlequin books, but if you're looking for something just a little bit off kilter without totally plunging into the murky world of the avant-garde, this may be the book for you. This bodes well for the rest of his oeuvre.

A friend of mine who is a writer slide me the book to read... He said at the time that it was one of those books that people like myself (A chemist) could really appreciate. I took his word for it and dove in... I won't give a synopsis, since that is above, but I will say that the book paints and interesting portrait of what it means to be in a relationship in "modern" times. At times very funny, at times very emotional, but always profound in an introspective sort of way... Writen in a very clear concise style, I would really say read this... I have yet to pick up any of his other books, but I am now very curious about Gun, With Occasional Music...

At the biginning of this book I thought it was not very well written, and that there must be some mistake- could this book have been a "brilliant" bestseller? But Lethem's books are an aquired taste, and the end of this book is spectacular! I would hate for someone to miss out on this masterpiece just because they lost patience.

I rarely review books already acclaimed by others, but this one deserves special praise and a wish to have it widely read. I devoured it in one sitting and immediately ordered another copy to send to a friend. The Twilight Zone atmosphere of the setting, the humor, the play with physics and the strange characters in this story make it memorable. I thought, This guy knows what he's doing! My gift copy is going to a struggling writer friend. I've ordered all the rest of his books. Hooked.

I purchased this book the day it was released because I loved both of Lethem's earlier novels and his short stories, despite the fact that the subject matter of AS SHE CLIMBED ACROSS THE TABLE didn't pique my interest at all. However, Lethem's handling of the subject is brilliant, taking an extremely implausible scenario (boy loves girl, boy loses girl to literally Nothing...) and makes it beatifully, hilariously, painfully real. The characters are very well rounded and the dialog is witty and touching. Thinking back on it, I would have liked to have spent more time with Alice before Lack came into the picture, to get a feel for why Phillip cares about her so deeply, but that is a minor quibble. I loved how Lack himself becomes such a strong character, despite the fact that he is devoid of, well, everything. Lack touches everyone that comes into contact with him, changing them forever. Easily the best novel I've read this year.