WARNING: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS BELOW
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| “Death and Birth, Nothingness and Being, the Zero and the One. The same things . . . only different.”- The Zero and the One, Ryan Ruby |
A shy, bookish scholarship student from a working-class family, Owen Whiting has high hopes of what awaits him at Oxford, only to find himself adrift and out of place among the university's dim aristocrats and posh radicals. But his life takes a dramatic turn when he is assigned to the same philosophy tutorial as Zachary Foedern, a visiting student from New York City. Rich, brilliant, and charismatic, Zach takes Owen under his wing, introducing him to a world of experiences Owen has only ever read about.
From the quadrangles of Oxford to the seedy underbelly of Berlin, they practice what Zach preaches, daring each other to transgress the boundaries of convention and morality, until Zach proposes the greatest transgression of all: a suicide pact. But when Zach's plans go horribly awry, Owen is left to pick up the pieces in the sleek lofts and dingy dives of lower Manhattan. Now he must navigate the treacherous boundary between illusion and reality if he wants to understand his friend and preserve a hold on his once bright future.
From the quadrangles of Oxford to the seedy underbelly of Berlin, they practice what Zach preaches, daring each other to transgress the boundaries of convention and morality, until Zach proposes the greatest transgression of all: a suicide pact. But when Zach's plans go horribly awry, Owen is left to pick up the pieces in the sleek lofts and dingy dives of lower Manhattan. Now he must navigate the treacherous boundary between illusion and reality if he wants to understand his friend and preserve a hold on his once bright future.
Despite the fact that I don't really like intense female friendship stories, I do like intense male friendship stories because I see those less and, well, one of my favorite books of all time is one. But it wasn't just because of that I picked it, no, it was because last month, I read a little book called The Secret History and decided that it was one of my favorite books ever. I was enchanted by the story, the characters, the writing, and couldn't get enough of it. Happily, there are tons of books that are labelled as being "in the tradition of The Secret History" and this month will likely be peppered with such books. The Zero and the One is one of them.
In sharp contrast to Marlena, which I read right before this one, I was instantly glued to The Zero and the One. I couldn't stop thinking about it when I wasn't reading it, and actually had to pry myself away from it when I had to do other things. Even when I took a break to eat dinner (I kind of forced myself to do that, I wasn't too keen on what this book was doing to my brain) I still couldn't stop thinking of it. You know a book has a stern hold on you when not even Law and Order can distract you.
Really, this should be a slam dunk for me, The Secret History crossed with Brideshead Revisited. Still, I can't quite bring myself to wholly condone this novel. There's an overarching pretension about it that I disliked, and I had a hard time believing in Zach and Owen's friendship. There was no chemistry, for lack of a better word, between them, much to my annoyance. Likely, this was due to the short length, which is something I never say. I also felt the timeline was very sped up, and that's why I couldn't quite grasp what either of these two saw in each other.
Also, Tori and Claire are only around just so we don't think Zach and Owen are in love. That's probably why they have little personality.
But there's a lot of good in it, too. I liked the philosophical stuff. I liked Vera and Zach's relationship and how absolutely twisted it was. I liked the suicide pact stuff, and I loved the ending. The writing is very pretty once you can stomach the pretension.
At the same time, though, the more I think about it the more I don't really like it. When I first finished it, I was blown away, now, I don't know. In that respect, it's like the opposite of Running, a book where I wasn't really sure I liked it while reading it but the more time I put between myself and the book the more I liked it. Both books had the same surreal hold on me, but one aged better in my head then the other.
So, do I recommend The Zero and the One? I don't know. If you loved The Secret History and Brideshead Revisited and have a strong stomach for philosophy, go for it. If not, skip it.
8 out of 10
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