As She Climbed Across the Table: A Novel (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Particle physics, false vacuum bubbles, an alternate universe--this is the stuff of Jonathan Lethem's novel As She Climbed Across the Table. The tale echoes Alice in Wonderland in its mad tumble through a rearranged reality. Narrator Phillip Engstrand is a university professor who has made a career out of studying academic environments. Engstrand is in love with Alice Coombs, a particle physicist engaged in a bold attempt to replicate the origins of the universe. The result of the experiment is Lack, a very selective black hole that sucks some things into its void--a cat, a pair of socks, a strawberry--and rejects others, namely, a love-struck Alice. As Alice's unrequited obsession with Lack grows, Phillip becomes so desperate to save his beloved from this empty rival that he risks a journey down the metaphysical rabbit hole.

Here the language of physics becomes the language of love: describing physics' "observer problem," Alice says, "Some people think the observer's consciousness determines the spin or even the existence of the electron." Later, as he stumbles to explain Alice's importance to him, Phillip tells her, "I'm not sure I really exist except under your observation." In this memorable little book, Lethem explores the cosmic possibilities of love. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

In this witty but telling new work from the author of The Wall of Sky, the Wall of Eye (LJ 8/96), our hapless narrator has completed his dissertation on "Theory as Neurosis in the Professional Scientist" and landed a job at the University of North California at Beauchamp (pronouced beach 'em), where he studies academic envirorments, producing "strong but irrelevant work" and falling for physics professor Alice. But Alice is too caught up in Professor Soft's notorious experiment with a vacuum intelligence called Lack to pay her lover much heed, and soon Lack is the real love of her life. This is not your typically insular campus comedy; Lethem has something bigger in mind, and he succeeds admirably in skewering our pretensions, technological or not, in language that gently mocks the way we hide behind jargon. An ironical book that is, ironically, quite poignant; for public and academic libraries.?Barbara Hoffert, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (February 24, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375700129
• ISBN-13: 978-0375700125
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #278,098 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well, that was different, January 8, 2006

By	Michael Battaglia - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I have all of Jonathan Lethem's novels, I bought them several years ago with the intent of eventually getting to them. Well eventually has become "now" and this is my first exposure to his work and I have to say . . . it's certainly original. The premise here is that Philip, a professor, is dating a physics professor named Alice. Her department manages to conjure up a type of black hole that tends to be a bit selective in what it wants to devour. Alice sees this as a sign of intelligence and begins to fall in love with it, leaving poor Philip behind. What transpires at that point is the epitome of a bizarre love triangle, with Philip trying to win back Alice even as she tries to get the black hole (now named "Lack") to love her in return. To Lethem's credit he makes this odd premise actually work within the context of the story, so that the characters come across as people and not complete lunatics. Sometimes they don't come off as real people, just strings of dialogue bouncing back and forth, but it feels real enough that I can buy it. Even the two blind guys who show up and start to live in his apartment don't really feel out of place. To my mind, there were two ways Lethem could have screwed this up, one by making the whole scenario just too cute to believe, or by going the other route and drowning us all in dry physics discussions, overstraining itself trying to make the point. Thankfully, he strides a nice middle ground, acknowledging that the situation is absurd without making fun of the characters and using quantum physics in a way that it he can comment on relationships between people and show how there really isn't any difference at all. The end gets a bit weird but there was probably no other way to end it. Not really a campus novel so much as a bizarre romance novel set on campus, it reads quickly (I finished it in a few hours, fortunately he doesn't belabor the point, doing what he has to do and getting out) and goes down easy, raising a lot of interesting points along the way. Not for the people looking for Harlequin books, but if you're looking for something just a little bit off kilter without totally plunging into the murky world of the avant-garde, this may be the book for you. This bodes well for the rest of his oeuvre.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Almost 'pataphysique, January 17, 2000

By	Catherine Weaver (Queens, NY) - See all my reviews

It wasn't awful; it had it's good points: some striking metaphors, a couple of really fresh and interesting characters. But overall, it was shallow and full of holes.

The "physics" were mythical to say the least -- but not whimsical enough to be jarryesque. The semiotics were downright dumb. The psychology was glib. And the characters were mostly flat and as dull as a good deal of the prose.

Oh well. There were the two blind co-dependants who captured the heart and the imagination and who would have made a good book in themselves. And, like I said, Lethem does show off a talent for metaphor.

But that's the trouble with so much contemporary fiction: the authors show very specialized talent and no respect for their own higher sensibilities.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bizarre yet very moving love story, April 25, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: As She Climbed Across the Table (Hardcover)

I purchased this book the day it was released because I loved both of Lethem's earlier novels and his short stories, despite the fact that the subject matter of AS SHE CLIMBED ACROSS THE TABLE didn't pique my interest at all. However, Lethem's handling of the subject is brilliant, taking an extremely implausible scenario (boy loves girl, boy loses girl to literally Nothing...) and makes it beatifully, hilariously, painfully real. The characters are very well rounded and the dialog is witty and touching. Thinking back on it, I would have liked to have spent more time with Alice before Lack came into the picture, to get a feel for why Phillip cares about her so deeply, but that is a minor quibble. I loved how Lack himself becomes such a strong character, despite the fact that he is devoid of, well, everything. Lack touches everyone that comes into contact with him, changing them forever. Easily the best novel I've read this year.