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screen_memory's review against another edition
5.0
This is a codex of history and guidelines for a reality that is other than the one we know. The Age of Wire and String is completely divorced from this world; devoid of sense. The signifiers are all familiar, but what is signified cannot be understood until the reader, having first reviewed an incomprehensible diagram, studies the following glossary of terms (pictured). The language in this book (titled as a collection of stories; a misleading subtitle) is all Marcus' own; it corresponds to a world we are not familiar with, a world into which only a glimpse is allowed through a (no doubt perplexing) reading of the book.
I first caught wind of Marcus through some excerpts of the Flame Alphabet posted by another user and, some time later, in a moment of blind serendipity, thumbed through an old issue of The White Review to find it contained an interview with Marcus, but I settled for Wire and String since the bookstore I visited didn't have The Flame Alphabet.
This is a damn strange book which at first glance presents itself as mere stories or perhaps essays on certain apparently hum-drum themes: sleep, God, food, the house, animal, weather, persons, etc. Also pictured is one of my favorite chapters (Brian, Treated to a Delicate Meal; second picture) which is so absurd it nearly made me laugh out loud.
I haven't read through anything like this. It was a fascinating and quick read (the pages are full of all sorts of arcane sketches and diagrams), and I had only read through twenty or so pages before I made a trip to another local bookstore that stocked The Flame Alphabet to read once I was finished with this. What a trip.
I first caught wind of Marcus through some excerpts of the Flame Alphabet posted by another user and, some time later, in a moment of blind serendipity, thumbed through an old issue of The White Review to find it contained an interview with Marcus, but I settled for Wire and String since the bookstore I visited didn't have The Flame Alphabet.
This is a damn strange book which at first glance presents itself as mere stories or perhaps essays on certain apparently hum-drum themes: sleep, God, food, the house, animal, weather, persons, etc. Also pictured is one of my favorite chapters (Brian, Treated to a Delicate Meal; second picture) which is so absurd it nearly made me laugh out loud.
I haven't read through anything like this. It was a fascinating and quick read (the pages are full of all sorts of arcane sketches and diagrams), and I had only read through twenty or so pages before I made a trip to another local bookstore that stocked The Flame Alphabet to read once I was finished with this. What a trip.
matthewcpeck's review against another edition
4.0
A really odd book to which it's difficult to assign a star rating, 'The Age Of Wire And String' is a technically a book of short stories in the way that 'Revolution 9' is technically a Beatles song. It's written like an almanac or encyclopedia of the rituals, history, and jargon of an America in a parallel dimension. The idea of a normal sentence or image is tossed out into the abyss as one reads clinical descriptions of musical legs and angels in the grass. (I read the 2013 Granta version with abstract illustrations by Catrin Morgan that make everything that much more disorienting.)
In between the short, encyclopedia-entry-like works are 2 longer pieces that are more recognizable stories, albeit really weird stories. 'The Weather Killer' recounts an apocalypse-cum-origin myth in spare, Biblical prose that heightens the hallucinatory madness of the events described. And 'The Animal Husband' is a distorted, seemingly personal account of childhood that maybe is a key to understanding the whole of the book, in which nighttime is when the 'bird eats black air' and writing is 'scratching away the white'.
'Wire And String' is hard to describe - at times it reminded me of the playful Irish genius triptych of Samuel Beckett, James Joyce, and Flann O'Brien. At other times it reminded me of LSD-fueled 60s rock lyrics. But one of Marcus's greatest feats is making this book a lot of fun to read, from start to finish. I even laughed out loud at times, simply at the surprise of a word or name used in a unorthodox way. I can only hope that a thousand years from now, after some kind of cataclysm has erased all traces of our society, an archaeologist will dig up 'The Age Of Wire And String' and believe it to be a historical document.
In between the short, encyclopedia-entry-like works are 2 longer pieces that are more recognizable stories, albeit really weird stories. 'The Weather Killer' recounts an apocalypse-cum-origin myth in spare, Biblical prose that heightens the hallucinatory madness of the events described. And 'The Animal Husband' is a distorted, seemingly personal account of childhood that maybe is a key to understanding the whole of the book, in which nighttime is when the 'bird eats black air' and writing is 'scratching away the white'.
'Wire And String' is hard to describe - at times it reminded me of the playful Irish genius triptych of Samuel Beckett, James Joyce, and Flann O'Brien. At other times it reminded me of LSD-fueled 60s rock lyrics. But one of Marcus's greatest feats is making this book a lot of fun to read, from start to finish. I even laughed out loud at times, simply at the surprise of a word or name used in a unorthodox way. I can only hope that a thousand years from now, after some kind of cataclysm has erased all traces of our society, an archaeologist will dig up 'The Age Of Wire And String' and believe it to be a historical document.
i_masad's review against another edition
I AM FINALLY FINISHED WITH THIS BEAUTIFUL THING OF STRANGE LANGUAGE.
meganmilks's review against another edition
3.0
in many ways this book is brilliant, but it's only rarely enjoyable and hey, i like character -- this book has none. oh, sure, character is replaced by a million other interesting things but still.
case tentatively rested until i finish, if i do.
case tentatively rested until i finish, if i do.
sarahconnor89757's review against another edition
5.0
I don't know any of any other work from Marcus but this book seems to me to be a novelist who has been reading a lot of Artaud.
Lots of great short pieces that you can just flip through whenever you need something to keep your attention.
Lots of great short pieces that you can just flip through whenever you need something to keep your attention.
commander_zander's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Possibly the most unique book I've ever read. A surreal, unrecognizable world where humans behave differently. A wasteland of group passion & insanity. Incredibly creepy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Dementia, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Self harm
Minor: Abandonment
The whole book is a surreal nightmare world involving strange behavior, sex acts, psychology, & eating inedible things