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A review by geekwayne
With a Zero at its Heart by Charles Lambert
4.0
'With a Zero at its Heart' is a very deliberately written book. It could come across as gimicky if it weren't so deftly executed.
The book is comprised of 24 themed chapters with titles like Travel or a harp embedded, and Death or a sprig of leaves. Each chapter has 10 numbered paragraphs. Each paragraph has exactly 120 words (I didn't count, so I'm taking the publishers word). Each paragraph themes in with the subject and presents a chronological memory throughout Charles Lambert's life. Each paragraph is concisely and beautifully written, and the whole thing has the feel of memory since we (or at least I) tend to remember events in fragments.
It's linear within each chapter, but not for the whole book, so every chapter resets to an early remembrance. It feels a bit more like poetry than prose, but that works for the fragmentary nature of the book. I really enjoyed this one for it's unique composition.
I received a review copy of this ebook from HarperCollins UK, The Friday Project and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this unique book.
The book is comprised of 24 themed chapters with titles like Travel or a harp embedded, and Death or a sprig of leaves. Each chapter has 10 numbered paragraphs. Each paragraph has exactly 120 words (I didn't count, so I'm taking the publishers word). Each paragraph themes in with the subject and presents a chronological memory throughout Charles Lambert's life. Each paragraph is concisely and beautifully written, and the whole thing has the feel of memory since we (or at least I) tend to remember events in fragments.
It's linear within each chapter, but not for the whole book, so every chapter resets to an early remembrance. It feels a bit more like poetry than prose, but that works for the fragmentary nature of the book. I really enjoyed this one for it's unique composition.
I received a review copy of this ebook from HarperCollins UK, The Friday Project and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this unique book.