Interesting Format...

The book that I'm reading for our final project, My Most Excellent Year, by Steve Kluger, is unique in that it is layed out in a very unusual fashion. The entire book is written in e-mails, notes, instant messages, and letters. As I was reading I kept waiting for the actual novel to begin, because I simply couldn't believe that the whole story was a compilation of these things. However, after reading further into the book I began to realize just how much I loved it. What better way to get to know what someone is thinking? You are able to view the occurances in the novel from many perspectives, which is extremely helpful. For instance, the parents of the characters constantly email eachother about their children's lives, as do the students' teachers. Being able to see all of these things enables you to view how they see the events, rather than just the students' take on things. I have never read a book that was set up this way, or anywhere close to it for that matter. Besides this, the next most unusual syntax that I've found would have to be a tie between the footnotes in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and the constantly switching narrators in Sometimes a Great Notion. What differs from these texts is that My Most Excellent Year isn't anywhere close to confusing, it's simply creative. Unfortunately, when other authors try to achieve this creativity, they end up with something so confusing that you have no idea what's going on. (Note: while I would choose Ken Kesey over Junot Diaz any day, I can't help but admit that I was thoroughly lost at the beginning of his above-mentioned novel). Props to Steve Kluger for being creative and clear.