In Ben Marcus’s newest novel, ‘The Flame Alphabet,’ the words of children can lead to death.

The award-winning author described and read from his novel Wednesday night in Huntington Beard Crouse Hall’s Gifford Auditorium. The reading followed a Q-and-A session and was sponsored by Syracuse University’s creative writing program as a part of the Raymond Carver Reading Series.

David Nutt, a third-year graduate student, introduced Marcus with praise, calling ‘The Flame Alphabet’ a ‘medical thriller’ that sets an example for contemporary literature.

‘Ben Marcus has been mixing new horizons of awe and dread,’ Nutt said. ‘I am drawn to the sheer strangeness of it.’

Marcus, currently an associate professor of writing at Columbia University, read from three scattered sections of his novel, describing the perspective of a father’s struggle to keep his wife and himself alive in a world where children, including his own daughter, spread a deadly disease to adults through their speech.

”People were noticing that among the ill, there were no children,” he read. Marcus also read from a scene where children bark toxic language through megaphones as a way to exercise their power over adults.

His writing style for the novel, he said, was more dialogue-heavy compared to his other novels.

‘I’ve always been fascinated with language and seen it as something that can be very potent,’ he said.

But despite his dark writing, Marcus’s humor shone throughout the reading. Toward the end of the reading, his microphone broke. He drew some chuckles when he joked, ‘Did I run out of time?’

Many students said they enjoyed Marcus’ sense of humor and found seeing him in person was both similar and different from how they imagined him while reading his novel.

Oscar Cuevas, a graduate student studying creative writing, said Marcus is an inspiration for his own writing and that he was very pleased to get an idea of Marcus’ actual personality beyond his work.

‘It was cool seeing how Marcus is really personable and humorous since his writing is often intense and serious,’ Cuevas said.

Jack McGowan, a sophomore illustration major, said he thought Marcus was more entertaining than previous speakers. He also said he thought hearing Marcus read made it seems less foreign and serious.

‘You could understand better the parts that are tongue-and-cheek,’ McGowan said.

Marcus has received numerous awards for his work, including one from the National Endowment for the Arts and three Pushcart Prizes, according to a press release from the College of Arts and Sciences. He said he has done similar readings at Cornell University, Brown University and Yale University.

‘It’s a great opportunity,’ Marcus said. ‘I feel lucky there are students who have read and enjoyed my book.’

smhazlit@syr.edu 

Published on March 21, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Shannon: smhazlit@syr.edu