The Word Exchange

The last fiction I reviewed was a short story collection; this time it’s a novel. This allows the reader to get a better sense of the characters’ personalities, though a strength of the book is that you are never quite sure what their role is in all of this. I will try to avoid spoilers! This book, especially towards the end when the pieces may be coming into place, even shows the power of love in desperate times and what (some) people may do under extreme circumstances. Some of the chapters are from one character’s diaries, and really are like a journal – trying to jot down ideas for the sake of memory, and the sidetracked conversation one often has with pen and paper – or whatever technology was used in that world. The vocabulary and wide reading (references to obscure authors or philosophers) are sometimes a bit much, but keep in mind that they work for a Dictionary. Presenting things as a definition has almost become a cliché, but the chapter titles here are clever. The use of newspaper clippings, letters, pamphlets and other printed(?) forms are well-done. Footnotes play an especially interesting role, and are handy on an e-reader. Beyond the diary entries, the author did seem to put in perhaps too many details of her own life. It is important for a writer to do so – what else do we write about? – but it threatened to distract from the main plot, which is exciting enough on its own. Please remember, too, that the copy I read was an advance reading proof.

“The Word Exchange” challenges the reader in many ways, which is one thing I like about it. This includes the slow unravelling pace – you think you’ve got it figured out but it never quite states flat out what’s going on; it might even raise more questions. The book is set in the near-future: about five years from now is my guess. Much of the action takes place in New York City. Already technology has evolved at a fast and steady rate. For example, driverless taxis are nothing compared to what’s at the center of this story: the dangerous fusion of devices and our own bodies. The “Meme” is a super-device that takes care of all of your “needs”, whether or not you need them. The next generation, the Nautilus, is kept as a top secret until its release, and really does have the power to change everything. One requirement, and complication, is the use of an implanted microchip. A friend’s dad had told me a long time ago people will one day have chips in their ears so they can understand any language, and I didn’t like that at all. (By the way, I have studied Spanish, which has taken a long time for me to feel in control of, and I think there is an issue of trust when learning any second language.) Again, when reading the book, I couldn’t help thinking “why would anyone want to put a microchip in their body???” Many people choose to cover themselves with tattoos or piercings or plastic surgery, and while those are in general aesthetic rather than functional (and to be fair, a separate issue), the faith placed in unnecessary introduced foreign objects worries me. Maybe I just worry too much. (Another separate issue I can’t understand, one that really frustrates me, is why anyone chooses to NOT vaccinate their children against diseases, and end up causing more harm.)

A few years ago, my computer had a virus and I got sick around the same time, joking I got it from my computer. Five years from now, could that really happen? Now, can you imagine if the very words we use are taken over, trade-marked, monopolized? One corporation in “The Word Exchange” dominates the market, and I think it’s no coincidence that the CEO’s first name is Steve. Their products are manufactured outside the United States, and popular belief is that they don’t get viruses. One of the scary things is the pricing: it’s not a far extrapolation from today’s conditions. They can put a price tag on everything, even the intangible, and they’ll get you to buy more and more, out of dependence.

One mechanism used by the corporation is the “Meaning Master” game. At first the likelihood of a word-based game becoming addictively popular seems a little low, but look how popular some have become, not to the mention social media that thrives on rapid, often truncated communication. In a high school English class, I remember playing what I think we called ‘balderdash’, where we made up fake definitions for real words, with one real definition to be guessed from the choices. “Meaning Master” sounds very similar, but has a monetary system and potential fame for its “lucky” users. Its danger is in its lasting value, and the confusion of words and their meanings, until they are replaced and both lose their meanings. When people in the novel start showing aphasia – slips of tongue, where a nonsense word takes the place of the intended word – it is not clear what the cause is. This epidemic is the most brilliant display of science fiction in the book, in my opinion. Not only are people affected, but e-mail and other future means of communication show similar “symptoms”. Cyrillic letters are sometimes part of this, raising still more questions. The “Alice in Wonderland” allusions throughout might make more sense as the nonsense words become integrated into the text.

Think about how we use words, to express ourselves. I want to improve my vocabulary, but I use the words I am familiar and comfortable with. My e-reader has the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary “built in” and I started using this more towards the end of the book, but even with such convenience, I don’t always take advantage. Maybe I should? What is the best way to learn, anyway? I was also thinking about the ‘Esperanto’ language, and the dilution of centuries of cultural and linguistic evolution. I remembered seeing in the news a few years ago a piece about endangered languages and the extinction possibility or inevitability of some cases. All of these thoughts and many more arose while reading: I am easily distracted, but this is also a clearly thought-provoking work.

The novel invites comparisons to “Mr. Penumbra’s 24-HourBookstore” by Robin Sloan, one of my new favorite books (“The Word Exchange” will be joining that list too, I think). Secret societies, underground adventures, and the clashing of the new against the old are some shared elements. The darker side here is the epidemic: virology but in a new, different sense. I’m glad I recently read “Fahrenheit 451,” too – a book that the narrator even recalls in one fiery scene. “The Word Exchange” is an important book, with a fascinating plot. When I get my own print copy I will give it the second reading it deserves. There is so much in it, when I can read without taking so many notes and fewer resurfacing memories I will enjoy it even more.