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The 351 Books of Irma Arcuri
Metaphysical literary suspense from a compelling new voice in fiction
For most of his adult life—through two marriages and countless travels—the mathematician Philip Mazyrk has carried on a love affair with Irma Arcuri. Now Irma has vanished and left Philip her entire library of 351 books, five of them written by Irma herself. Buried in the text of this library—Cervantes to Turgenyev, Borges to Fowles—lay the secrets of Irma’s disappearance and, in the novels Irma has written, the story of her elusive and romantic past with Philip.
Philip, a math genius who sees equations in every facet of life, reads the novels and begins to sense a more profound and troubling design at work. A mysterious woman appears; his ex-wife reveals a terrible secret; his stepdaughter, Nicole, long troubled by the free-spirited nature of her parents’ lives, approaches a dangerous turn; and Nicole’s teenage brother has fled. As clues, warnings, and implications both inside and outside the library mount, Philip begins to realize that he too is trapped in a narrative. Who is Irma Arcuri? What is really buried in the library? And, most important, whose story is this?
Like the work of Milan Kundera or John Fowles, Bajo’s novel is brazenly passionate, sexy, even transgressive, yet thrillingly mysterious. Addictive, compelling, and clever, The 351 Books of Irma Arcuri will captivate fans of The Time Traveler’s Wife and The Shadow of the Wind.
For most of his adult life—through two marriages and countless travels—the mathematician Philip Mazyrk has carried on a love affair with Irma Arcuri. Now Irma has vanished and left Philip her entire library of 351 books, five of them written by Irma herself. Buried in the text of this library—Cervantes to Turgenyev, Borges to Fowles—lay the secrets of Irma’s disappearance and, in the novels Irma has written, the story of her elusive and romantic past with Philip.
Philip, a math genius who sees equations in every facet of life, reads the novels and begins to sense a more profound and troubling design at work. A mysterious woman appears; his ex-wife reveals a terrible secret; his stepdaughter, Nicole, long troubled by the free-spirited nature of her parents’ lives, approaches a dangerous turn; and Nicole’s teenage brother has fled. As clues, warnings, and implications both inside and outside the library mount, Philip begins to realize that he too is trapped in a narrative. Who is Irma Arcuri? What is really buried in the library? And, most important, whose story is this?
Like the work of Milan Kundera or John Fowles, Bajo’s novel is brazenly passionate, sexy, even transgressive, yet thrillingly mysterious. Addictive, compelling, and clever, The 351 Books of Irma Arcuri will captivate fans of The Time Traveler’s Wife and The Shadow of the Wind.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
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292 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
May 30, 2021
This unassuming novel with enticing quotes on the back promising intrigue and excitement turned out to be one of the most tedious books I have ever read. Granted, the author nailed his settings and Spain was never more beautiful (hence the two stars). That being said, I can summarize the rest of the novel for you (without spoilers). An enigmatic woman named Irma vanishes on purpose leaving her friends and family obsessively bereft. They all sleep with each other constantly while still professing their angst and bitterness toward each other and pretending to love to read. Everybody is overly dramatic and they all like to run. A lot. The end. Hopefully I’ve saved you the exasperation and book-flinging I have gone through over the last month because I’m too stubborn to DNF a book. Visit Spain instead; that was the only thing I was inspired to do after reading this.
November 18, 2008
This first novel by David Bajo is a strange and compelling book about books. And, among many other things, our (potentially interactive) relationship with them.
The 351 Books of Irma Arcuri was not an easy read, but I found myself drawn into its pace and structure. The protagonist is a runner and mathematician---and approaches everything in life in a numbered, analytical way. I found myself reading the book with a somewhat self-consciously measured pace. Did Bajo make me do that? Interesting, and strange.
Reading this, I was reminded of my struggles with two of Umberto Eco's books---the Name of the Rose and Foucalt's Pendulum. 351 Books is not quite as chock-full-of arcane references as Eco---but the story's obsessive quest parallels theirs.
I had a hard time rating this book and gave it four stars because it was provocative. It is challenging to find a contemporary novel that makes you think, or pause and reflect
(about, whatever . . .) BUT THIS BOOK DOES.
The 351 Books of Irma Arcuri was not an easy read, but I found myself drawn into its pace and structure. The protagonist is a runner and mathematician---and approaches everything in life in a numbered, analytical way. I found myself reading the book with a somewhat self-consciously measured pace. Did Bajo make me do that? Interesting, and strange.
Reading this, I was reminded of my struggles with two of Umberto Eco's books---the Name of the Rose and Foucalt's Pendulum. 351 Books is not quite as chock-full-of arcane references as Eco---but the story's obsessive quest parallels theirs.
I had a hard time rating this book and gave it four stars because it was provocative. It is challenging to find a contemporary novel that makes you think, or pause and reflect
(about, whatever . . .) BUT THIS BOOK DOES.
September 6, 2008
David Bajo has produced a brilliant first novel. Like the Miguel de Cervantes masterpiece that plays such a large role in the plot, this is a book about books, the characters therein, and the complicated relationship of fiction and "reality." Perceptions define the world, and perspectives, ever shifting, create those defining perceptions. Sex, mathematics, running, travel, conversation, art, food, literary fiction, the four-dimensional nature of physical books, and love all play their parts. In the end, we are the Knight of the Sorrowful Face or Alonso the Good by choice -- but is it our choice or the choice of Sancho Panza or the choice of Miguel de Cervantes? To find out, we must read, sometimes between the lines.
January 5, 2010
I wanted to love The 351 Books of Irma Arcuri. I really wanted to love this book. The dust jacket is fascinating. The Los Angeles Times hailed David Bajo’s work as “an intellectual thriller. I even suggested it for my book club read. It’s about books! How could it be bad?
In a nut shell, Irma Arcuri has abandoned writing, reading, and seemingly her life. She has left her collection of 351 hardcover books to her on-again, off-again lover, mathematician Philip Mazyrk. It’s up to Philip to use her library to learn about her disappearance and determine where she might be.
It didn’t take long for me for me realize that I was going to hate this book. Page 20 to be exact. That’s the first time a mathematical equation (I’m not even sure that that’s the right word) appeared. Philip was using the sampling of 3, 4, 7 to tackle the volumes. It didn’t make any sense to me and was never explained to math dummies like me.
In the one hundred pages I read, Philip spends most of his time running/jogging, most often with his ex-stepdaughter Nicole. They don’t speak, just run. He meets a woman named Lucia that he spends a lot of time seeking and having sex. Then there’s a character out of one of the books that the Bajo quotes, extensively I might add. So much that sometimes the reader isn’t sure who is telling the story of even what in the heck is being said. Bottom line, the narrative is all over the place with no pattern that I could discern. That’s rather worrisome in a story with a protagonist who thinks in mathematical formulas.
I gave up The 351 Books of Irma Arcuri for three reasons: 1) I didn’t care about any of the characters, especially Irma and Phillip. 2) I was bored. 3) I was flipping through it and on page 200 there is an honest-to-God algebraic formula.
FYI: My book club now hates me for recommending this book.
In a nut shell, Irma Arcuri has abandoned writing, reading, and seemingly her life. She has left her collection of 351 hardcover books to her on-again, off-again lover, mathematician Philip Mazyrk. It’s up to Philip to use her library to learn about her disappearance and determine where she might be.
It didn’t take long for me for me realize that I was going to hate this book. Page 20 to be exact. That’s the first time a mathematical equation (I’m not even sure that that’s the right word) appeared. Philip was using the sampling of 3, 4, 7 to tackle the volumes. It didn’t make any sense to me and was never explained to math dummies like me.
In the one hundred pages I read, Philip spends most of his time running/jogging, most often with his ex-stepdaughter Nicole. They don’t speak, just run. He meets a woman named Lucia that he spends a lot of time seeking and having sex. Then there’s a character out of one of the books that the Bajo quotes, extensively I might add. So much that sometimes the reader isn’t sure who is telling the story of even what in the heck is being said. Bottom line, the narrative is all over the place with no pattern that I could discern. That’s rather worrisome in a story with a protagonist who thinks in mathematical formulas.
I gave up The 351 Books of Irma Arcuri for three reasons: 1) I didn’t care about any of the characters, especially Irma and Phillip. 2) I was bored. 3) I was flipping through it and on page 200 there is an honest-to-God algebraic formula.
FYI: My book club now hates me for recommending this book.
December 3, 2009
I finished this intriguing novel last night and have since spent my sleeping and waking hours revisiting scenes and sorting out details in an attempt to "figure this book out." I've never read a novel quite like this one and applaud David Bajo for his creativity and risk-taking involved with writing a book (especially a first) that doesn't neatly fit into a genre or follow an established pattern. Is it a mystery? A love story? Maybe an Adventure or Travel novel? Who knows besides Bajo? But that doesn't really matter (to me at least) into which category this novel fits. What matters to me is what I learned and what I will take away. . .and that is the part I'm having trouble digesting.
I'll begin with what I can verbalize. The imagery and emotions created from the descriptions of the places the characters visited/ran stands out upon a first look back at this novel. I get the sense that I could easily identify the sites visited by Philip in Spain. The descriptive and compelling prose transports me from my seat to the Cervante's Arch where I can feel the balmy night that causes my shirt to cling to my back and I can see and unfortunately, smell the dark form of an itinerant man recessed in the shadows of the arch urinating onto the cobbled walk. This novel flowed for me and I was able to finished it in three sittings. I had to remind myself a few times of who was speaking (the narrator shifts from character to character in subsequent paragraphs without the benefit of quotes. Surprisingly this didn't lose me; rather it lent to the flowing, dreamlike sequence that presided throughout the novel.
As far as some of the characters go, I still haven't figured them out. I think I have a handle on Nicole, Beatrice, Philip and Sam, but Irma and Lucia still complicate my thoughts. I want to know what makes Irma tick. I get the impression that Irma was a passionate person who enjoyed life throughly, mostly due to the relationships she experience with other people. However, she makes the decision to disappear. Maybe she's secretly watching the events play out as she realizes the impact she had on certain people or maybe she started a new life and left the books, not as clues, but as a legacy to feel comforted that her former life will still exist in some fashion. This would be the first thing I would want to know if I met Irma.
Because we never meet Irma, we only get to know her through the descriptions and memories of her previous interactions with each of the characters and through the edits in the books she has left behind. So we get to know her without actually meeting her, much like Philip gathers the "aboutness" of a book by reading random pages or chapters. He has to put the pieces together to create the story he didn't chronologically read. The character of Lucia also intrigues me and I have lots of questions for her as well that I won't get into here.Questions for our book club:
*Is Irma alive and well, enjoying her life as a voyeur? Is she dead? Has she started a new life? Will Philip ever find her? Will she let him?
*Why didn't the running mathematician just get a second copy of the novels left to him as a means for comparison instead of spending so much of his time deciding if Irma or the author was speaking? He's so analytical with everything else in his life that it seems to me, this would have been his mode of operation.
*Do you agree with the reviewers who opine the "gratuitous sex" and "complicated math" sequences had nothing to add to the story? (I disagree on both accounts, btw.
January 29, 2009
A fascinating book. There are so many layers and tangents that I don't think I even began to understand or unravel all that it holds. It's a puzzle and also a labyrinth. I don't think it's meant to have a solution--the author is taking the both the players and the reader on a journey.
Irma never actually appears in the narrative. We know her through her work--what she's written, the books she's bound and altered--and through the minds, the memories and ruminations, the books, of all the characters whose lives have intersected with hers--and who seem, always, to be affected by those shared experiences, by not only her presence, but by her absence. She is a shadow.
The story begins as Irma disappears. She leaves her hand-bound collection of 351 books to her good friend Phillip, or "Pip" as she calls him. Perhaps Phillip has Asperger's or is even autistic. His first language is mathematics, and he must always translate thoughts, ideas, experiences, into equations. He is sure that the books and their ordering is a puzzle he's meant to solve. The solution will bring Irma back to the world, to life, his life.
But she also left books and clues for others. They seem as oddly placed and uncomfortable in life and the world as Phillip is.
All the characters work at translation of some sort, and books, running, rootlessness and restlessness, music, and sex seem to both bind them and push them apart. The sex (and there's a lot of it) is clinical, almost self-observed rather than emotionally experienced. But it fits with how the characters often fail to really communicate emotionally. They are much closer to each other when running or reading or solving equations together.
How do you maintain your own freedom and integrity, allow others, especially those you care about, the same, and yet keep the connection strong and vital? For Pip it remains an unsolved problem, though he has not given up on finding the answer.
The 351 books are not all named; at some point in this story Phillip reads, or attempts to read, 10-15 of them. The most important is probably "Don Quixote"; appropriately, since a part of his own quest for Irma takes him through Spain. Some of the books may not be real in our world, and in any case Irma adds her own changes and commentary when she binds her editions, often tailored for the recipient of the volume. What does it mean, and how does it then alter the equation?
If you know all the books and the math and the music and the languages and the locations it would probably add depth to this novel. I'm sure any detail, looked at in the right way, could move you towards a different angle on what occurs. It seems very carefully constructed. As Irma knew well, the reader is as important as the book; each will bring and find a different story.
And so you can also read it wihout any special knowledge and be equally mystified and involved.
Irma never actually appears in the narrative. We know her through her work--what she's written, the books she's bound and altered--and through the minds, the memories and ruminations, the books, of all the characters whose lives have intersected with hers--and who seem, always, to be affected by those shared experiences, by not only her presence, but by her absence. She is a shadow.
The story begins as Irma disappears. She leaves her hand-bound collection of 351 books to her good friend Phillip, or "Pip" as she calls him. Perhaps Phillip has Asperger's or is even autistic. His first language is mathematics, and he must always translate thoughts, ideas, experiences, into equations. He is sure that the books and their ordering is a puzzle he's meant to solve. The solution will bring Irma back to the world, to life, his life.
But she also left books and clues for others. They seem as oddly placed and uncomfortable in life and the world as Phillip is.
All the characters work at translation of some sort, and books, running, rootlessness and restlessness, music, and sex seem to both bind them and push them apart. The sex (and there's a lot of it) is clinical, almost self-observed rather than emotionally experienced. But it fits with how the characters often fail to really communicate emotionally. They are much closer to each other when running or reading or solving equations together.
How do you maintain your own freedom and integrity, allow others, especially those you care about, the same, and yet keep the connection strong and vital? For Pip it remains an unsolved problem, though he has not given up on finding the answer.
The 351 books are not all named; at some point in this story Phillip reads, or attempts to read, 10-15 of them. The most important is probably "Don Quixote"; appropriately, since a part of his own quest for Irma takes him through Spain. Some of the books may not be real in our world, and in any case Irma adds her own changes and commentary when she binds her editions, often tailored for the recipient of the volume. What does it mean, and how does it then alter the equation?
If you know all the books and the math and the music and the languages and the locations it would probably add depth to this novel. I'm sure any detail, looked at in the right way, could move you towards a different angle on what occurs. It seems very carefully constructed. As Irma knew well, the reader is as important as the book; each will bring and find a different story.
And so you can also read it wihout any special knowledge and be equally mystified and involved.
December 4, 2009
I thoroughly enjoyed this debut novel by David Bajo. I can't stop thinking about it or talking about it; I think as a way to sort it out and keep the details fresh. I can't wait to discuss this in book club. Some questions/discussion points I would like to hear everyone's thoughts on:
1) Why did Irma "disappear"?
2) Where is Irma, do you think?
3) What do you think of Irma and Lucia's "global" lifestyle? How does this lifestyle choice affect others in their lives? Lucia claims to know maybe 4 others who choose to live this way, including Philip, which comes as a revelation to him at the time. Do we know who the 4 others are?
4) Who is narrating the novel? Do you think the shifts into second person allude to a narrator we know, or is this just a literary device aimed at drawing the reader into the novel, as Irma draws Philip into her book collection?
5) Discuss the affects that Irma's disappearance has on the main characters: Philip, Lucia, Beatrice, Rebecca, Sam, and Nicole.
6) Do you like Irma?
7) How do the books Philip chooses from Irma's collection mirror what he's currently going through in the novel? Why do you think Bajo chose these particular books?
8) I love the idea of rebinding a book and making it your own, but I'm not sure how I feel about altering the actual work. What do you think?
9) Why don't we hear from Irma's other 3 books?
I also like Jessica O's points and questions - especially the one about other reviewers finding the sex and the math formulas gratuitous. Like Jessica, I don't agree with these reviewers.
1) Why did Irma "disappear"?
2) Where is Irma, do you think?
3) What do you think of Irma and Lucia's "global" lifestyle? How does this lifestyle choice affect others in their lives? Lucia claims to know maybe 4 others who choose to live this way, including Philip, which comes as a revelation to him at the time. Do we know who the 4 others are?
4) Who is narrating the novel? Do you think the shifts into second person allude to a narrator we know, or is this just a literary device aimed at drawing the reader into the novel, as Irma draws Philip into her book collection?
5) Discuss the affects that Irma's disappearance has on the main characters: Philip, Lucia, Beatrice, Rebecca, Sam, and Nicole.
6) Do you like Irma?
7) How do the books Philip chooses from Irma's collection mirror what he's currently going through in the novel? Why do you think Bajo chose these particular books?
8) I love the idea of rebinding a book and making it your own, but I'm not sure how I feel about altering the actual work. What do you think?
9) Why don't we hear from Irma's other 3 books?
I also like Jessica O's points and questions - especially the one about other reviewers finding the sex and the math formulas gratuitous. Like Jessica, I don't agree with these reviewers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 7, 2008
I don't think I've ever read a book with so much totally gratuitous sex in it before. I don't believe any of it enhanced the book or deepened the characters' relationships at all.
While Philip, around whom the story centers, is an interesting and intriguing character, the mysteries and "terrible secrets" alluded to on the jacket cover are never fully delivered. Philip spend the whole book searching for his missing lover, Irma, while having sex with his ex-wife and a woman he meets in a bar who reminds him of Irma. Philip drinks, reads, runs, has sex, fantasizes about sex and tries to put everything that happens in his life into mathematical equations. Is Irma dead? Has she gone missing on purpose? Is she trying to tell Philip something in the 351 books she left to him...and in the books she left to others...and why has Irma also seduced and had sex with every single person important to Philip?
I also felt that the ambiguous ending was sloppy and melodramatic, contradicting the care taken during the rest of the book.
While Philip, around whom the story centers, is an interesting and intriguing character, the mysteries and "terrible secrets" alluded to on the jacket cover are never fully delivered. Philip spend the whole book searching for his missing lover, Irma, while having sex with his ex-wife and a woman he meets in a bar who reminds him of Irma. Philip drinks, reads, runs, has sex, fantasizes about sex and tries to put everything that happens in his life into mathematical equations. Is Irma dead? Has she gone missing on purpose? Is she trying to tell Philip something in the 351 books she left to him...and in the books she left to others...and why has Irma also seduced and had sex with every single person important to Philip?
I also felt that the ambiguous ending was sloppy and melodramatic, contradicting the care taken during the rest of the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 22, 2008
An intriguing portrait of a free spirit, if a portrait where the figure can't be seen, while its shape is precisely defined by the "negative" space around it. So why two stars -For one thing I was put off by the author's continual reference to his mathematical, running, and sexual prowess. Perhaps a reader who understands the math would not find it a somewhat contrived and, despite the erotic aspect, overly intellectual piece of work. (And I confess to not having the necessary knowlege of Don Quixote.)
March 2, 2009
This book was most disappointing for its potential. I slugged through three-quarters of the novel before giving up. While the prose is captivating, and so many passages, dreamlike and mysterious, compel the reader forward, this book failed, for me, in setting up anything of consequence to be resolved. Ultimately, I couldn't invest anything more in what were increasingly solipsistic characters. What mystery there was aimed at expressing the ineffable and philosophic became, in the end, masturbatory.
December 13, 2008
Separately from reading, I collect books and have a deep appreciation of the book as an object. Because of this, I love to read books about books, and this one looked interesting and had quite a lot of good buzz going on about it. I got through it, but just couldn't get into it. Lots of sex, running, and even some books thrown in for good measure, but in the end just lots of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
July 2, 2008
Very impressed with the first 100+ pages. Interesting use of sex and math and storytelling in.... telling a story. Was expecting something more complicated and was pleasantly surprised it's not. Looking forward to the rest of the novel. Well done, David! You're old school chums from St. Charles are proud of you!
February 27, 2008
This is a book about books: their construction, the ways in which we communicate through text, and the influence they have on our lives. It's a pretty brilliant and emotionally-wrought debut, all in all.
February 22, 2009
This is an ok book, fairly complicated with a lot of math and the characters spend a lot of time running.
December 15, 2025
I gave it 1 star because minus 3 wasn't an option. This book was annoying. Philip the mathematician is searching for the ex-lover who left him 351 books. Do we get a sense of why those books? No, because Philip refers mostly only to one, Don Quixote, and occasionally to 1 or 2 others. Meanwhile, he translates social interactions into mathematical equations, and he runs. And runs. He runs to the brink of dangerous exhaustion and injury. He drinks coffee and bourbon but rarely eats, sometimes a handful of olives or a piece of fruit. He travels to Spain and other places where he thinks Irma has been. Several different women are his sexual partners, but Philip never initiates the sex with them. Mostly as I read I just kept envisioning the miniscule Venn diagram of readers who would understand the literary references, and the higher math (although I have no idea if the equations make mathematical sense), and the often obscure travel destinations, and the untranslated Spanish and maybe sometimes Portuguese. Ugh. It took me nearly a year to finish because I could only endure small doses.
I checked the box for 'I own a copy of this book' - but not for long; it's destined for a thrift store donation.
I checked the box for 'I own a copy of this book' - but not for long; it's destined for a thrift store donation.
April 20, 2023
Nice anecdotal novel, but just found that one of the anecdotes, Robert Taylor was always filmed waist up when Elizabeth Taylor was around to avoid his erection is baseless. There is a popular rumor that Robert Taylor was always filmed from the waist up when Elizabeth Taylor was around due to his shorter height. However, there is no evidence to support this claim, and it is likely a false rumor that has been perpetuated over time. Both Robert Taylor and Elizabeth Taylor were prominent actors during their time, and they appeared in several films together, including "Conspirator" (1949) and "Ivanhoe" (1952), without any apparent restrictions on camera angles. Therefore, there is no reason to believe that Robert Taylor was deliberately filmed in a certain way when Elizabeth Taylor was present.
November 29, 2023
Manic pixie dream girl, but make her middle aged. Not only is she unattainable, she’s also obsessed with you! So much that she will screw every person in your life (even if they’re underaged teenagers?!) just to get your attention. And despite how titillating that makes it sound, it was also very boring to read. Put me straight to sleep every time I picked it up.
September 24, 2021
I read about 100 pages of this book and couldn't get into it. The characters were annoying. Every other page had a long passage about going for a run and the plot didn't move at all. I won't be finishing this one.
June 7, 2017
If you can read beyond some of the ambitious mathematics in this book, this is beautifully written work about the human spirit and love.
June 12, 2019
Een boek dat veel te hard probeert en daardoor niet overeind blijft, ondanks het goede uitgangspunt. Enkel uitgelezen omdat ik mezelf dat opleg. Uiteindelijk vooral 'meh'.
January 29, 2026
If you enjoy hearing about people’s sex lives and random tangents about calculus (which may or may not be correct, I don’t know enough to be sure) ad nauseum, well then this is the book for you
November 5, 2009
The 351 Books of Irma Arcuri is a rich and incredibly sensuous story about books, love, and the equations that make up our lives.
Philip Masryk is a brilliant mathematician/investment consultant who often finds himself scribbling mathematical formulas to represent the interactions and events around him. While he finds this to generally be a helpful way of viewing the world, people often become variables that are hard to predict. He's been married twice and has two ex-step-children, in whose lives he still plays a very minor role, but the only constant in his life has been his friend and lover, a book-binder named Irma Arcuri. The book opens as Philip is notified of her disappearance and the fact that she has bequeathed to him her collection of 351 books, all of which she had bound herself and a few of which she has written. No one seems to believe that Irma is actually dead, simply that she has chosen to disappear from her life and perhaps embark on some other adventure, but Philip wants to find her and believes that the secret to doing so lies within his newly inherited library.
Philip's search spans literature and continents, though many of his revelations are found within the people that make up Philip's life. The narrative goes back and forth in time, concerned not only with Philip and Irma's relationship but with Philip and Irma's individual relationships with others... such as Philip's two ex-wives, his best friend, Philip's two ex-step-children, and perhaps even a woman Philip meets in a bar after Irma has already disappeared. Philip, who has not read much of anything contained within Irma's library, selects which book to read next in a very calculated manner, believing that Irma has planned this.
The 351 Books of Irma Arcuri is clearly an homage to literature and the role it plays in our lives. Bajo chooses a very intriguing mix of titles to highlight here (including Borges, Cervantes, Camus, Sebald, and others), and makes things all the more interesting when Philip realizes that in re-binding these books, Irma may have made adjustments to the text within, too. In addition to presenting something that treats books as precious touchstones in our lives, Bajo has also captured the sensual experience surrounding literature and the intimacy of sharing stories with another. This is a very sexual book and Bajo doesn't shy away from dealing with sex quite directly. I never found it to be too ridiculous, though... just quite prevalent. (It was so very sensual, in fact, that even though I usually pass books along to my mother, I told her that this was unsuitable for parents and if she wanted a copy, she'd have to go and get one herself. My significant other, however, has already been told to move this up to the top of his list.)
For a true book lover, it's hard to not find something deeply seductive about the allure of books. And when you add a beautiful and sexy woman into the mix... well... let's just say that I would have crumbled just as easily as any other of Irma's conquests. There are some truly beautiful passages and ideas being expressed... in addition to the steamy sex scenes mentioned above. There were a few flaws within the narrative and I'm not entirely sure that the ending left me satisfied, but as I believe this is Bajo's first novel, I consider myself quite impressed. Selections from Philip's reading have the habit of flowing into the text without too much notation, so the reader must keep on his or her toes to understand just which writer is responsible for what he/she is reading. There were moments when it came to Philip's relationship with his ex-step-children where I wasn't convinced of the storyline's necessity, or at least of its prominence, but nothing too severe. The only thing that truly irked me with this book was the fact that nearly all of the characters in the novel are runners... and Philip seems to run so often that I was convinced his heart would burst. Is it possible for someone to run that often every day and still stand? Let alone participate in all those sex scenes? Sure, he was raised by steeplechaser parents, but even so! I felt like quite a sedentary creature as Philip sprinted through towns in multiple countries, no matter his occasional complaints about getting older. It seemed excessive.
On the whole, I loved this novel -- when you find yourself as a reader being seduced by the main characters, it's hard not to connect with it. If you're looking for a luscious read and you're up to being challenged by a twisting and turning storyline, then I sincerely recommend a comfy chair beside a fire, a glass of wine, and this novel. You'll find it to be a pleasurable experience.
Philip Masryk is a brilliant mathematician/investment consultant who often finds himself scribbling mathematical formulas to represent the interactions and events around him. While he finds this to generally be a helpful way of viewing the world, people often become variables that are hard to predict. He's been married twice and has two ex-step-children, in whose lives he still plays a very minor role, but the only constant in his life has been his friend and lover, a book-binder named Irma Arcuri. The book opens as Philip is notified of her disappearance and the fact that she has bequeathed to him her collection of 351 books, all of which she had bound herself and a few of which she has written. No one seems to believe that Irma is actually dead, simply that she has chosen to disappear from her life and perhaps embark on some other adventure, but Philip wants to find her and believes that the secret to doing so lies within his newly inherited library.
Philip's search spans literature and continents, though many of his revelations are found within the people that make up Philip's life. The narrative goes back and forth in time, concerned not only with Philip and Irma's relationship but with Philip and Irma's individual relationships with others... such as Philip's two ex-wives, his best friend, Philip's two ex-step-children, and perhaps even a woman Philip meets in a bar after Irma has already disappeared. Philip, who has not read much of anything contained within Irma's library, selects which book to read next in a very calculated manner, believing that Irma has planned this.
The 351 Books of Irma Arcuri is clearly an homage to literature and the role it plays in our lives. Bajo chooses a very intriguing mix of titles to highlight here (including Borges, Cervantes, Camus, Sebald, and others), and makes things all the more interesting when Philip realizes that in re-binding these books, Irma may have made adjustments to the text within, too. In addition to presenting something that treats books as precious touchstones in our lives, Bajo has also captured the sensual experience surrounding literature and the intimacy of sharing stories with another. This is a very sexual book and Bajo doesn't shy away from dealing with sex quite directly. I never found it to be too ridiculous, though... just quite prevalent. (It was so very sensual, in fact, that even though I usually pass books along to my mother, I told her that this was unsuitable for parents and if she wanted a copy, she'd have to go and get one herself. My significant other, however, has already been told to move this up to the top of his list.)
For a true book lover, it's hard to not find something deeply seductive about the allure of books. And when you add a beautiful and sexy woman into the mix... well... let's just say that I would have crumbled just as easily as any other of Irma's conquests. There are some truly beautiful passages and ideas being expressed... in addition to the steamy sex scenes mentioned above. There were a few flaws within the narrative and I'm not entirely sure that the ending left me satisfied, but as I believe this is Bajo's first novel, I consider myself quite impressed. Selections from Philip's reading have the habit of flowing into the text without too much notation, so the reader must keep on his or her toes to understand just which writer is responsible for what he/she is reading. There were moments when it came to Philip's relationship with his ex-step-children where I wasn't convinced of the storyline's necessity, or at least of its prominence, but nothing too severe. The only thing that truly irked me with this book was the fact that nearly all of the characters in the novel are runners... and Philip seems to run so often that I was convinced his heart would burst. Is it possible for someone to run that often every day and still stand? Let alone participate in all those sex scenes? Sure, he was raised by steeplechaser parents, but even so! I felt like quite a sedentary creature as Philip sprinted through towns in multiple countries, no matter his occasional complaints about getting older. It seemed excessive.
On the whole, I loved this novel -- when you find yourself as a reader being seduced by the main characters, it's hard not to connect with it. If you're looking for a luscious read and you're up to being challenged by a twisting and turning storyline, then I sincerely recommend a comfy chair beside a fire, a glass of wine, and this novel. You'll find it to be a pleasurable experience.
August 29, 2008
Author and bookbinder Irma disappears, leaving her collection of 351 books to Philip, mathematician and her longtime friend and lover. Reading the books, Philip discovers that Irma has left him hidden messages which may aid him in his attempt to discover where she isor perhaps simply who she was. The 351 Books of Irma Arcuri is a dense combination of Philip's search for Irma, his history with her, and the stories in her books, filled with literature, mathematics, and sex. The book has an intriguing and intelligent concept, and its focus is character motivation and themes more than plot progression. But, with an undeveloped plot and constant scene changes, the book is difficult to readand neither the characters nor themes redeem its difficulty. I don't recommend it.
351 Books is dense and difficult to read. The plot moves slowly: ostensibly, Philip searches for Irma in and out of her books, but much of the plot is dedicated to mundane events as Philip wanders through cities and goes on dozens of long runs. The plot is interrupted by flashbacks, recaps of the books in Irma's collection, and second person descriptions of the setting; these numerous scene changes come without warning, confusing the reader and yanking him out of the story to force him to reread and regain his bearings. The plot doesn't go much of anywhere, and it is largely a vehicle to convey characters and themes. No doubt, this dense story style is intentional, and it mirror Irma's messages for Philip, hidden within the pages of her books. The text grows marginally easier to read over time, but it never becomes a book to get lost in.
By no means does a book need to be easy to consume in order to be good or enjoyable. However, a difficult book needs to have somethingwriting, characters, themesto make the reader's time and effort worthwhile. 351 Books never manages to reward the reader for its difficulty. Bajo's narrative voice is competent but entirely unremarkable. For all that the plot is a mere vehicle for the characters, those characters are distant and, though they're nuanced to excess, their esoteric details only render them unbelievable. Worst of all, despite all its rich source material, the book says nothing of note. It does say somethingof how Philip and Irma view the world, of relationships and the expectations they hold, of the codes and meanings present within lifebut none of these themes or messages is brilliant, bold, or memorable.
Bajo intends well, and his novel has a certain charm: the messages hidden within books are intriguing, and Irma is unusual and engaging. But the novel is laboriously slow and frankly unenjoyable to read, and nothingnot characters nor themes nor Philip's revelationsredeems it. Rather than difficult and fulfilling, The 351 Books of Irma Arcuri is merely difficult and disappointing. It is an unnecessarily complex and confusing combination of scenes and styles without the compelling characters or themes to reward the effort of reading it. I liked the premise, and wanted to like the book, but I simply couldn't enjoy it. Therefore, I don't recommend 351 Booksnot to the causal reader, nor to the reader that wishes to be challenged and rewarded for his work.
351 Books is dense and difficult to read. The plot moves slowly: ostensibly, Philip searches for Irma in and out of her books, but much of the plot is dedicated to mundane events as Philip wanders through cities and goes on dozens of long runs. The plot is interrupted by flashbacks, recaps of the books in Irma's collection, and second person descriptions of the setting; these numerous scene changes come without warning, confusing the reader and yanking him out of the story to force him to reread and regain his bearings. The plot doesn't go much of anywhere, and it is largely a vehicle to convey characters and themes. No doubt, this dense story style is intentional, and it mirror Irma's messages for Philip, hidden within the pages of her books. The text grows marginally easier to read over time, but it never becomes a book to get lost in.
By no means does a book need to be easy to consume in order to be good or enjoyable. However, a difficult book needs to have somethingwriting, characters, themesto make the reader's time and effort worthwhile. 351 Books never manages to reward the reader for its difficulty. Bajo's narrative voice is competent but entirely unremarkable. For all that the plot is a mere vehicle for the characters, those characters are distant and, though they're nuanced to excess, their esoteric details only render them unbelievable. Worst of all, despite all its rich source material, the book says nothing of note. It does say somethingof how Philip and Irma view the world, of relationships and the expectations they hold, of the codes and meanings present within lifebut none of these themes or messages is brilliant, bold, or memorable.
Bajo intends well, and his novel has a certain charm: the messages hidden within books are intriguing, and Irma is unusual and engaging. But the novel is laboriously slow and frankly unenjoyable to read, and nothingnot characters nor themes nor Philip's revelationsredeems it. Rather than difficult and fulfilling, The 351 Books of Irma Arcuri is merely difficult and disappointing. It is an unnecessarily complex and confusing combination of scenes and styles without the compelling characters or themes to reward the effort of reading it. I liked the premise, and wanted to like the book, but I simply couldn't enjoy it. Therefore, I don't recommend 351 Booksnot to the causal reader, nor to the reader that wishes to be challenged and rewarded for his work.
June 16, 2009
The basic premise of this story is that Philip Masryk, a mathematician, is looking for his friend/lover who has disappeared from her own life, bequeathing to Philip her collection of 351 books. What makes this collection so special is that Irma, the disappeared, is a book conservator of sorts who sometimes enhances the texts with her own additions, renderings, and special bindings. Through the collection of books, Irma leaves clues for Philip to come find her. Philip uses his mathematical intellect to solve the puzzle and... well, I'm not entirely sure what the outcome is supposed to be.
I really wanted to enjoy this book. First of all, my husband got it for me as a gift, and it's always nice to enjoy a gift. When I read the back cover I became doubly excited, since George Singleton has declared that "It's as if Stranger Than Fiction were codirected by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Gottlob Frege." Doesn't that sound fantastic? Doesn't that make you want to dive right in? And with an image of a page from Don Quixote on the cover, it's a bibliophile's dream. Or so it would seem.
The problem, though, is that the story is really jumbled and doesn't seem to come to any logical conclusion. There's a certain element of suspense that guides the plot, but it falls rather flat and seems to be developed almost as an afterthought. For example, when Philip interacts with some of the other main characters in the novel, he will suddenly reveal information that he has figured out -- stating rather than developing his sudden understanding. In a good mystery, the reader gets to play super sleuth right along with the main character, figuring out tiny details as each works their way through the plot. In this book, however, Philip's sudden announcements leave the reader consistently one step behind.
There's also a problem of overburdened text. Need a metaphor for running away, as Irma seems to be doing? Look no further than every page of the text! Every few paragraphs, it seems, Philip is getting set to go for another run. (Philip pretty much does three things throughout the text, with or without the help of a variety of other characters: 1) have sex, 2) look for Irma, and 3) go running.) The mathematical elements of the text are also highly unnecessary. After Bajo makes his point that every human action can be mapped out mathematically, usually with a corresponding equation, he really should have left the point alone. Or, if he really needed to include all the mathematical calculations, he should at least have been clearer on the conclusion the reader is to draw from these calculations. Sometimes it seems that Philip is doing math just for math's sake, without any real relevance to, well, anything. Even The Celestine Prophecy does it better.
And what of the ending? The narrative seems to drop off rather suddenly, as if Bajo changed his mind about how he wanted to end it but didn't get around to writing the new revised ending. It's cute, but a lot of the meaning is lost. The tilting-at-windmill's theme is enticing, but it doesn't go anywhere, and doesn't even end in a broken lance.
Again, I really wanted to like this book, but I found the characters vacuous, the prose ponderous, and the ending highly dissatisfying. It has a great premise, but unfortunately the execution is rather insufficiently polished.
I really wanted to enjoy this book. First of all, my husband got it for me as a gift, and it's always nice to enjoy a gift. When I read the back cover I became doubly excited, since George Singleton has declared that "It's as if Stranger Than Fiction were codirected by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Gottlob Frege." Doesn't that sound fantastic? Doesn't that make you want to dive right in? And with an image of a page from Don Quixote on the cover, it's a bibliophile's dream. Or so it would seem.
The problem, though, is that the story is really jumbled and doesn't seem to come to any logical conclusion. There's a certain element of suspense that guides the plot, but it falls rather flat and seems to be developed almost as an afterthought. For example, when Philip interacts with some of the other main characters in the novel, he will suddenly reveal information that he has figured out -- stating rather than developing his sudden understanding. In a good mystery, the reader gets to play super sleuth right along with the main character, figuring out tiny details as each works their way through the plot. In this book, however, Philip's sudden announcements leave the reader consistently one step behind.
There's also a problem of overburdened text. Need a metaphor for running away, as Irma seems to be doing? Look no further than every page of the text! Every few paragraphs, it seems, Philip is getting set to go for another run. (Philip pretty much does three things throughout the text, with or without the help of a variety of other characters: 1) have sex, 2) look for Irma, and 3) go running.) The mathematical elements of the text are also highly unnecessary. After Bajo makes his point that every human action can be mapped out mathematically, usually with a corresponding equation, he really should have left the point alone. Or, if he really needed to include all the mathematical calculations, he should at least have been clearer on the conclusion the reader is to draw from these calculations. Sometimes it seems that Philip is doing math just for math's sake, without any real relevance to, well, anything. Even The Celestine Prophecy does it better.
And what of the ending? The narrative seems to drop off rather suddenly, as if Bajo changed his mind about how he wanted to end it but didn't get around to writing the new revised ending. It's cute, but a lot of the meaning is lost. The tilting-at-windmill's theme is enticing, but it doesn't go anywhere, and doesn't even end in a broken lance.
Again, I really wanted to like this book, but I found the characters vacuous, the prose ponderous, and the ending highly dissatisfying. It has a great premise, but unfortunately the execution is rather insufficiently polished.
January 3, 2015
A book about books? Yay! When that book includes lots of math? Uh, not-so-yay. Irma Arcuri is an author, book binder, relatively free spirit and the decades-long friend/lover of Philip. She disappears (possibly for good, possibly suicide) and leaves Philip her library of 351 books.
Philip is a twice-divorced math genius who runs for fun (he's worked out how many steps and breaths it takes to run the 3000) and who has downsized into a small apartment, little furniture and bookshelves to hold his legacy. His goal? To read all the books, not necessarily in order and not necessarily all the way through. One night he meets Lucia, with whom he starts a physical relationship - in part because she reminds him of Irma. Lucia points out that the books have not only been rebound by Irma, but that Irma has created content (a new story by Borges or paragraphs of Cervantes).
Added to this is his learning that his former stepson, Sam, has gone missing and that his two former wives and his stepchildren have had physical relationships with Irma. Philip goes to Spain looking for Sam and Lucia, hoping to also find Irma. Things get a little weird from there, with coincidences and memories colliding.
In some ways Irma and Philip's relationship like that of Hilde and Sophie in Sophie's World, or that of Griffen and Sabine. The math confused me (I'm not a math person) and that's when the book lost me; the books, the conversations about them and the bindings drew me in.
Philip is a twice-divorced math genius who runs for fun (he's worked out how many steps and breaths it takes to run the 3000) and who has downsized into a small apartment, little furniture and bookshelves to hold his legacy. His goal? To read all the books, not necessarily in order and not necessarily all the way through. One night he meets Lucia, with whom he starts a physical relationship - in part because she reminds him of Irma. Lucia points out that the books have not only been rebound by Irma, but that Irma has created content (a new story by Borges or paragraphs of Cervantes).
Added to this is his learning that his former stepson, Sam, has gone missing and that his two former wives and his stepchildren have had physical relationships with Irma. Philip goes to Spain looking for Sam and Lucia, hoping to also find Irma. Things get a little weird from there, with coincidences and memories colliding.
In some ways Irma and Philip's relationship like that of Hilde and Sophie in Sophie's World, or that of Griffen and Sabine. The math confused me (I'm not a math person) and that's when the book lost me; the books, the conversations about them and the bindings drew me in.
November 4, 2011
It's kind of impossible for me to give this a fair review. I bought this book about four years ago, when I lived in Ohio. I read the first chapter and set the book aside. Something about the narrative style irked me, but I couldn't quite figure out what it was. I always intended to give the book a second chance, though, because I thought the premise sounded so interesting. I picked the book up again because, in an attempt to save money, I've been raiding my shelves for books I haven't gotten around to reading. I forgot that this book was set primarily in Philadelphia.
I moved to the suburbs of Philadelphia for graduate school three years ago, and I've stayed here simply because I have a well-paying job here and not somewhere else. There are A LOT of things that I strongly dislike a lot about the culture and personality of this area, and the narrative voice of this book embodies all of it. I know it's irrational, but it's comparable to how a friend starts to get on your nerves just a little, then it steamrolls until everything she does makes you murderous with rage.
There are some other issues aside from my petty dislike of the heavy Philadelphia tone of the writing. I had a hard time trying to sort out the plot because Bajo did little to help guide the reader between past and present, real-life and Irma's writing. Even the inconsistent use of quotation marks made it difficult. I felt there was an intriguing mystery underneath, but it was just too hard to follow.
I moved to the suburbs of Philadelphia for graduate school three years ago, and I've stayed here simply because I have a well-paying job here and not somewhere else. There are A LOT of things that I strongly dislike a lot about the culture and personality of this area, and the narrative voice of this book embodies all of it. I know it's irrational, but it's comparable to how a friend starts to get on your nerves just a little, then it steamrolls until everything she does makes you murderous with rage.
There are some other issues aside from my petty dislike of the heavy Philadelphia tone of the writing. I had a hard time trying to sort out the plot because Bajo did little to help guide the reader between past and present, real-life and Irma's writing. Even the inconsistent use of quotation marks made it difficult. I felt there was an intriguing mystery underneath, but it was just too hard to follow.
February 17, 2011
Quite honestly if I did not have a policy of, "Once I start a book, I must finish it regardless of how bad it is", I would not have finished this book.
I read the synopsis on the inside of the dust jacket before I read the book, and after reading the book I felt I must have missed something. I went back and read the inside synopsis again. Guess what!!! I still could not figure it out. Possibly, its me, but you are welcome to read it and come to your own conclusions.
The basis of the story is Irma Arcuri who restores book and in several books she has restored she leaves clues as to her disappearance and tells of her romance with Philip Masryk. Philip is a genius who tries to sort out life by using mathematical equations.
The story tracks their lives through his former marriage with Beatrice, his love affair with Irma, another love affair with Lucia, and the troubled lives of his two teenage children, Sam and Nichole.
I would add more but I really don't know what to add.
This book may well have been beyond me, so there may be those out there, on a higher plain, that may find this book intriguing and provocative.
I certainly am not the final say on this or any other book, but I would highly recommend that you look at other reviews of this book before making the purchase.
I read the synopsis on the inside of the dust jacket before I read the book, and after reading the book I felt I must have missed something. I went back and read the inside synopsis again. Guess what!!! I still could not figure it out. Possibly, its me, but you are welcome to read it and come to your own conclusions.
The basis of the story is Irma Arcuri who restores book and in several books she has restored she leaves clues as to her disappearance and tells of her romance with Philip Masryk. Philip is a genius who tries to sort out life by using mathematical equations.
The story tracks their lives through his former marriage with Beatrice, his love affair with Irma, another love affair with Lucia, and the troubled lives of his two teenage children, Sam and Nichole.
I would add more but I really don't know what to add.
This book may well have been beyond me, so there may be those out there, on a higher plain, that may find this book intriguing and provocative.
I certainly am not the final say on this or any other book, but I would highly recommend that you look at other reviews of this book before making the purchase.
June 26, 2012
Although the lack of chapters seems like more of a stylistic preference to me, Blackwell did follow the structure which dates back to the days of Aristotle's Poetics; the three act structure. Most commonly used in screenplays, the system uses setup, confrontation, and a resolution phases, which the author of Cypress Parish seems to employ. It can work, and did in this novel. Even though this piece is not a screenplay, this system is still a form of structure and helps establish a follow-able method to bring the reader from beginning to end. One popular series that was meant to be a three act structure was The Lord of the Ring, by Tolkien. This was initially supposed to be one giant tomb, but was then broken up into three sections, or novels, and written over I believe twelve years.
This three act structure was later evolved into a five act structure where the second act, confrontation, was just broken down more to include, rising action, climax, and falling action before continuing into the resolution phase. Blackwell's choice of omitting chapters and using the three sections, or any author's creative choice for that matter, may never be truly known, and all we can do is speculate as to why the decision was made or what in their life may have influenced the structure.
This three act structure was later evolved into a five act structure where the second act, confrontation, was just broken down more to include, rising action, climax, and falling action before continuing into the resolution phase. Blackwell's choice of omitting chapters and using the three sections, or any author's creative choice for that matter, may never be truly known, and all we can do is speculate as to why the decision was made or what in their life may have influenced the structure.
October 20, 2013
More often than not picking a book by its cover has worked out well. More often than not picking a book based on the fact that it was about books has worked out well. This is that other time the exception to the rule. Of the books I don't like there are usually two kinds, the ones I think are just a horrendous waste of time with no redeeming qualities and I can't imagine anyone liking it and the ones that I can imagine being liked by someone but that really don't work for me. This book was the latter. Among its redeeming qualities there are some very impressive turns of phrase, some genuinely good writing, tangible passion for written word and its bindings, but overall it was much too muddled, verbose, odd and exhausting to enjoy. It seems that the author has spent so much time making his characters interesting, that he forgot to make them realistic or likable. He mixed mathematics and books and copious amounts of sex into a strange slow and sadly boring brew. It was primarily set in Philadelphia and to a philadelphian the details were ever so slightly askew. I wonder if that was the case with the spanish sequence. I finished the book purely by virtue of being a completist, but it never seemed to really entertain or engage. Someone out there might really enjoy this one, but for me it has been pretty much a waste of time.
October 25, 2010
This book was well written and something of a challenge to put together, much like the relationship mystery at the heart of the book. But in the end, I was disappointed and, frankly, a little disgusted by the mess of relationships in this book.
The main character, Philip, wasn't sympathetic or likable. He carries on this relationship with a woman he appreciates, but never marries, then becomes obsessed with finding her when she finally gives him the boot with one last mind fuck. He's one of those super-smart, misanthropic, narcissistic guys with a penchant for making easy money, marriages that don't work out, and elusive lovers he almost, but not quite, appreciates.
He's a dope and I really failed to see the allure of Irma. She seduces each of his wives and his stepchildren, but no one notices she's toxic to everyone in his life? These people deserved each other. May they all disappear like Irma.
The main character, Philip, wasn't sympathetic or likable. He carries on this relationship with a woman he appreciates, but never marries, then becomes obsessed with finding her when she finally gives him the boot with one last mind fuck. He's one of those super-smart, misanthropic, narcissistic guys with a penchant for making easy money, marriages that don't work out, and elusive lovers he almost, but not quite, appreciates.
He's a dope and I really failed to see the allure of Irma. She seduces each of his wives and his stepchildren, but no one notices she's toxic to everyone in his life? These people deserved each other. May they all disappear like Irma.
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