The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.<\/p>\n
This fun novel is also a puzzle and a fairly impressive display of linguistic virtuosity. The book is a progressive lipogram – it starts off normally, but its alphabet shrinks as the story goes on. It’s not too hard to write without using Z, but things get more interesting as letters like D, A and even E vanish. We see more and more creative synonyms being used and invented.<\/p>\n
This book consists entirely of letters written by the characters to each other. I like the way the sentences are written – the story is set in a land that esteems words and literature above all, and it shows in the way the characters play with language.<\/p>\n
With the cute story and clever wordplay, the first half of the book is a delight. A little after this, the author cops out a bit as he has fewer and fewer letters to work with, and it all gets a bit harder to read. The story continues though, as the characters work against the clock to save their country – by solving a word puzzle.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, I spotted the solution to the puzzle quite early on, when a clue is dropped into the text. (Not because I’m brilliant, but just because I had seen it before.) Still, I enjoyed seeing how everything would come out. I’m sure the ending would have much more impact for you if you don’t see the clue.<\/p>\n
In the end, it’s a nice allegory about individuality and oppression. The epilogue inspired me to write a computer program to solve the puzzle – watch this space for solutions. (I estimate the program will take 5-10 years to find all solutions, not counting the time it takes me to check the results, so don’t hold your breath.)<\/p>\n
After you’ve read this, you might want to tackle its more famous forebear: George Perec’s dense, E-less “La Disparation” (ingeniously translated into English by Gilbert Adair as “A Void<\/a>“).<\/p>\n Link to website<\/a><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. This fun novel is also a puzzle and a fairly impressive display of linguistic virtuosity. The book is a progressive lipogram – it starts off normally, but its alphabet shrinks as … Continue reading