Maybe on account of Zorgamazoo, I’m always interested in novels that do something interesting with language. Octavian Nothing by M.T. Anderson fits the bill. The book’s brimming with arcane language, uncommon sentence structure and archaic dialects of American English.
The story takes shape like something out of a gothic horror tale. Octavian is a young boy who lives with his mother — a princess from a distant, exotic land — and a group of eccentric rational philosophers who educate the boy, quantifying all every minutae of his life. Octavian is even forced to relieve himself on golden platters so the men of science who surround him can compare the weight of his meals to that of his excrement.
Although the book is one of (slightly) alternate history instead of genuine gothic horror, the awful truth that underpins Octavian’s life is indeed horrifying. And the language is stellar!
Highly recommended.
