Emberton

by Peter Norman

Lance Blunt, despite the best efforts of his parents and teachers, has never been able to read. Even if he stares at a word until his corneas bleed, the letters remain indecipherable rubble. When an anonymous postcard offers him a job at Emberton Dictionary and suggests that there he will find the resolution to his “particular difficulty,” he goes for an interview, hoping that someone at this prestigious repository of words can finally teach him. Behind the revolving doors of the Emberton Tower, Lance finds only more mysteries, like the pretty young etymologist who works there one day and is gone the next, and the company’s private hospital hidden behind frosted glass on the third floor, not to mention what is possibly the world’s worst company cafeteria. With the fate of human language itself at stake, Lance must confront what is hidden in the Tower and discover the cost of harnessing the power of words.

Emberton is a literary gothic novel aimed at lovers of books and language who also appreciate a dose of genre and a dash of humour. From satire of a doldrum workplace to horror-tinged mystery, in Emberton Peter Norman creates a world in which it is dangerous to be curious.

Genres: Fiction, Canada, Books About Books

296 pages, Paperback

First published March 3, 2014

About the author

Peter Norman is the author of two poetry collections, Water Damage and At the Gates of the Theme Park (shortlisted for the 2010 Trillium Poetry Book Award), and a novel, Emberton. His fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, including The Walrus and two editions of Best Canadian Poetry.

Reviews

[Debra Komar · Rating 3 out of 5]

A truly unusual book. The author is a poet and the prologue shows strong signs of that - the writing is lyrical and evocative. Then it becomes a very straightforward (at least in terms of prose) story, although with a healthy dollop of magic realism. A little uneven and a few rather heavy-handed attempts at 'quirky' characters but interesting and I would certain read another by Peter Norman.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is this a serious first novel exploring the power of language or simply a horror story? Yes. The book begins slowly, doubtless frustrating those readers whose sense of dramatic time comes from theatrical movies which establish, complicate and resolve, all in ninety minutes. It doesn't get much faster near the end. The language used tends to be delicious, evocative, surprising, and witty, perhaps because the author was first a poet. It is apparent that there are "spots" in which he indulged the Muse fully and others which are much more sparsely written. Much good can be said about his development of Lance, the protagonist, but much less about Elena the etymologist and the other characters. Peter Norman is not known as a satirist but there is sufficient mocking humour about office work in a stratified enterprise to suggest that the book balances horror with humour intentionally. The conclusion is satisfying but not too satisfactory. While I wouldn't queue in the rain to buy his next book, I do wonder what he may attempt.

[Nancy Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mishmash of genres from sweet love story to comic gothic horror. Read my podcast review of this book at https://soundcloud.com/user-279403780...

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very interesting and is a good read. I recommend

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an unusual book, and hard to describe. Other reviews say that it was off to a slow start, but I disagree. Yes, the first 15 pages “set the stage” but I found it immediately engaging and right away I liked the main character, Lance, who is painfully illiterate, but intelligent.

Lance, though illiterate, gets a job at Embertons, a company that has published dictionaries since the 1600’s. He received a postcard in the mail requesting that he come in for an interview, followed up by a phone call. For what reason would a dictionary company want to hire an illiterate man? He gets the job interview, and gets the job on the spot. In fact, here is where I fell in love with this book:

“When we wrote the classified ad,” continued Mrs. Shillingsham, “we may as well have said this: ‘the successful candidate will arrive for the interview no more than sixteen hours late, demonstrate reasonable personal hygiene (deodorant optional), refrain from referring to the female president of the department as Sir…’ “
“Ha! Ho!” Mr. Furlanetti gave a reasonable imitation of someone choking, one by one, on a series of wine gums.
“ ‘….and will not appear at the interview wearing a machete blade through each ear.’ So far, Lance, you’re in the lead.

Shortly thereafter, Mr. Furlanetti (who is not a pleasant character, and who has NOT taken a shine to Lance) tells Lance that Mr. Emberton, the old man himself, has requested that Lance be hired. Therein lies the mystery of this book.

Why does the building shake from little earthquakes? Why is there black mould everywhere? Why is everyone who works there over age 60? Why do the radiators sound like they are breathing? Why does Mr. Furlanetti have stomach troubles so loud and gassy that it is cringeworthy to read about? Why is there an onsite infirmary that Lance is told he should avoid at all costs?

Enter: a beautiful young woman who pushes Lance to help her find out “what’s really going on in the building”.

We learn to appreciate how difficult it must be to live in a modern world without the ability to read. Lance must continually hide from his colleagues the fact that he cannot read....avoiding such a simple task as being asked by the Tech department to type in a password when email is being set up.

The glorious thrust to this book is the discussion about words, and language. The prose itself is a pleasure to read, and the discussion about words and their meaning – though not primary to the book – weave a delightful adjunct to the mystery.

Nearer the end the story becomes horrifying and disturbing. The shift in mood put me right off the book. That said, the unique mix of language, mystery and horror really do come together, and, while this ends up being a horror story of sorts, the ending is happy. I’m not sorry I read it. After shutting the book, and thinking about it for 5 minutes, I picked it up and began reading from the beginning. No, not to read the whole book again, but to revisit the early euphoria I felt at the wondrous feeling I had when I started this book the first time. It brought back the glories of this book, and my satisfaction at having read it. Excellent read!!! If you love reading or language and have an interest in something a little strange, give this book a try.

[Jenna (Falling Letters) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick review originally posted 18 September 2014 on Falling Letters.

I finished this book just before I left for Japan (end of July). I started to outline a review because I really enjoyed this book and I think it could use a signal boost, but I ran out of time!Although this looks like a full review, it's really just a bits and pieces one...I had all the formatting done before I left Japan, though, so I've left it in :P

I loved the noir atmosphere of this book, even if it got a bit twisted towards the end (see next paragraph). I loved the mystery of an old school dictionary company going out of their way to hire an illiterate man. What's the catch?! I enjoyed the writing style and wish I had a copy of the book still so I could post a quote or two. I think this is a good debut novel and I will be intrigued by what Norman publishes next.

The ending of the book felt a bit slow and drawn out. I did like the strangeness of it all, but it gave me a weird feeling. It unsettled me? It was an odd feeling, one I haven't really encountered while reading. I like the idea of how everything played out, but it was definitely a bit odd and maybe even creepy for me. The last forty or fifty pages took a shift in mood that made me feel off. The unique mix of mystery, language, humour and horror really comes to a head in the book's ending. Ack, hard to describe...

I really liked Lance (the main character) as a person. I don't usually think that about characters - how much I like or dislike them - but with Lance, I did think "Wow, he is a really likeable character!" I would like to be friends with Lance. I thought Norman portrayed Lance's illiteracy very well, in a manner that broke my heart to realize what being illiterate means for many people. Some of the other characters are less interesting (Elena failed to really capture my interest) but I think Lance makes up for that.

The Bottom Line: If you love reading or language and have an interest in something a little strange, give this book a go.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible.

[Emilie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Addictive story, but a little bulk in some places and not well explained in others. Over all a fun read.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, it was bizarre and well written.