Max Barry
Hardcover | Pages: 390 pages Rating: 3.9 | 30144 Users | 4013 Reviews
Declare Books Toward Lexicon
| Original Title: | Lexicon |
| ISBN: | 1594205388 (ISBN13: 9781594205385) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Literary Awards: | John W. Campbell Memorial Award Nominee (2014), ALA Alex Award (2014), Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (2013), Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Science Fiction (2013) |
Rendition Conducive To Books Lexicon
At an exclusive school somewhere outside of Arlington, Virginia, students aren't taught history, geography, or mathematics--at least not in the usual ways. Instead, they are taught to persuade. Here the art of coercion has been raised to a science. Students harness the hidden power of language to manipulate the mind and learn to break down individuals by psychographic markers in order to take control of their thoughts. The very best will graduate as "poets", adept wielders of language who belong to a nameless organization that is as influential as it is secretive.Whip-smart orphan Emily Ruff is making a living running a three-card Monte game on the streets of San Francisco when she attracts the attention of the organization's recruiters. She is flown across the country for the school's strange and rigorous entrance exams, where, once admitted, she will be taught the fundamentals of persuasion by Bronte, Eliot, and Lowell--who have adopted the names of famous poets to conceal their true identities. For in the organization, nothing is more dangerous than revealing who you are: Poets must never expose their feelings lest they be manipulated. Emily becomes the school's most talented prodigy until she makes a catastrophic mistake: She falls in love.
Meanwhile, a seemingly innocent man named Wil Jamieson is brutally ambushed by two strange men in an airport bathroom. Although he has no recollection of anything they claim he's done, it turns out Wil is the key to a secret war between rival factions of poets and is quickly caught in their increasingly deadly crossfire. Pursued relentlessly by people with powers he can barely comprehend and protected by the very man who first attacked him, Wil discovers that everything he thought he knew about his past was fiction. In order to survive, must journey to the toxically decimated town of Broken Hill, Australia, to discover who he is and why an entire town was blown off the map.
As the two narratives converge, the shocking work of the poets is fully revealed, the body count rises, and the world crashes toward a Tower of Babel event which would leave all language meaningless. A brilliant thriller that connects very modern questions of privacy, identity, and the rising obsession of data collection to centuries-old ideas about the power of language and coercion, Lexicon is Max Barry's most ambitious and spellbinding novel yet.
Particularize Based On Books Lexicon
| Title | : | Lexicon |
| Author | : | Max Barry |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 390 pages |
| Published | : | June 18th 2013 by Penguin Press (first published January 1st 2013) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Science Fiction. Thriller. Fantasy. Mystery. Adult. Science Fiction Fantasy |
Rating Based On Books Lexicon
Ratings: 3.9 From 30144 Users | 4013 ReviewsCommentary Based On Books Lexicon
More like 1.5 stars?As a lover of language - how we use it to not only communicate but change the world around us - this book was immediately interesting to me. Words are important, a sentiment uttered more than once in this book and implied throughout. To put it bluntly, words mean things, and should be chosen with care and respect. I'm not even quite sure what I was expecting of this book anymore, but it does start out running - and you better be prepared to chase after to keep up. You'reYou may also read my review here: http://www.mybookishways.com/2013/09/...Theres something intriguing yet downright terrifying about a group of people that can employ mind control just with the use of a few nonsense words, but thats the basis of the superb Lexicon.When the book opens, Wil Parke is being held down by two men and having a needle driven through his eye at an airport bathroom. He has no idea why, only that he needs to get away. The snippets of their conversation that he can grasp
So anyone whose mother ever taught them 'sticks and stones may break my bones..." knows that words DO hurt and they influence people and the pen is mightier than the sword and yadda yadda so Mr. Barry is not exactly breaking new ground here...we are READERS, Mr. Barry, who are reading this book, so, you know, give us some credit. Words be some pow'ful shit. Anyway, the premise of the book is interesting - persuasive young people are taught mysterious words to use on a variety of personality
I feel somehow wrong giving a so-so review to a book that I enjoyed and read really quickly, but part of me wishes there was just a little more "oomph" to this book. Barry does a nice job with the structure, giving us pieces that fit together more and more clearly over time (though some of the twists are easy to guess, I was genuinely surprised more than once in the book) and flesh out the world of the Poets in some really nice ways.But honestly, there should have been more. What's here feels
Lexicon From Book Description: Lexicon is a brilliant thriller that explores language, power, identity, and our capacity to lovewhatever the cost.I'm not sure about the novel actually exploring language--in spite of the book's premise. Language/Lexicon is only explored in the sense of the power words can yield, but not in any particular detail. Nor can I truly get into the power of nonsense words that aren't magic. That distinction is emphasized but not really clarified. Frrrrkkkiki. Or
Out of contextSeveral years ago, I heard author Chuck Palahniuk read a story so disturbing that a woman in the audience fainted. She wasnt the first. Palahniuk summed it up thus: The power of words.I couldnt help but think of the above as I delved into Max Barrys fifth novel, Lexicon. Ive been a fan of his work since Syrup, so Im old school. I tend to think of Barry as a satirist first and foremost, so I was surprised when Lexicon opened very much like a thriller. Readers are thrown straight
RE-READTake the Lexicon quiz at: http://maxbarry.com/lexicon-quiz/ And discover your personality traits. Four months ago, Virginia Woolf releases a bareword in Broken Hill, Australia, population three thousand. Now population zero. Official story, explosion in the ore refinery plant causing a catastrophic toxic leak. Town is fenced off at a radius of five miles. Scary signs promise death to all who enter. The funny part is the signs don't lie. We send people in and they don't come out. Hence the
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.