An Initial Appraisal of Gadsby: Champion of Youth

Thanks to a kind gift, I am working my way through a singular book.  A book that was an inspiration for this blog, Gadsby: Champion of Youth, by a man I will call Sir Wright (can't so much as do his initials, which is fitting).  Calling him "Sir" may sound pompous, but I think such a skillful man warrants august titling.  Authoring a fifty-thousand word story without using such a common symbol is no small thing.

A fourth of my way through his book, though, I am sad to say it's a tad disappointing.  Possibly, that's unjust on my part; as I just said, that particular stylistic goal trumps all in this work, and criticism should account for that difficulty.  My adoration for Sir Wright and his arch-goal notwithstanding, my two primary thoughts thus far:

First, witty turns of phrasing occur, no doubt, but Gadsby's plot is basically just a chain of public works to this point.  Build a hospital.  Plant oaks and firs.  Build an airport.  Start a night-schooling program.  Build a zoo.  Not too thrilling.  Writing in 1939, it is not too surprising that Sir Wright sounds highly in favor of big FDR-ish social programs.  "A town can accomplish anything with a sound civic focus of mind" is our author's basic assumption.  Nothing wrong with that sort of optimism, but, man, Wright will just push and push it without stopping.  Solving any difficulty is just a function of mobilizing a handful of altruistic activists.  Wright lays it on thick.  Any conflict in any upcoming subplots will find my arms radiating outward, but I am not optimistic, as only faux antagonists show up, and only occasionally.

Um, sub-first, Wright oddly, in my opinion, broadcasts his handicap continually within his story.  As an illustration, this short quotation about stocking a zoo. 

Now, you know that all animals can't find room in this orthographically odd story; so, if you visit Lucy Zoo, you'll miss a customary inhabitant, or two.  But you'll find an array worthy of your trip.  (35*)

An astounding listing of animals follows just a paragraph down.  Why not allow said list to talk on its own?  Fracturing that fourth wall can work, but doing things subtly is usually a good way to go.  And that's just an individual illustration.  I found many similar quotations.  Although, if a word such as "orthographically" is in your vocabulary, why not throw it out now and again, right?

All this, as I said, is about a partial scan of this book, so a lot of its plot is still unfolding.  Conflict may start soon, who knows?  If Gadsby's story wins this critic at last or not, such an ambitious book will support many posts with its myriad thought-provoking and/or humorous quotations.

* Additional annotation is proving difficult.