| Product: |
E. (A Novel) - Matt Beaumont |
| Date: |
26/03/01 (37 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Very funny
Disadvantages: Kept me reading 'til 2AM
I initially approached this book with a great deal of suspicion. A "novel" written entirely in emails? Hmm. Doesn't sound promising. In fact it sounds like an attempt to cash in on the trend towards "e-everything" without actually needing any writing skill.
I needn't have worried. "e" is an excellent novel, well written and very, very funny. It begins on Monday 3rd Jan 2000 (don't worry, there's nothing explicitly millennial here) and covers a period of approximately two weeks. The setting is the London branch of the multinational Miller Shanks advertising agency and the story follows them as they pitch for their biggest ever client: Coca Cola.
Needless to say things go terribly wrong, not just on the Coke pitch but also the other jobs that the agency is working on. One of these involves flying out to a tropical island to film an advert for a cable sex channel; a dream job that rapidly turns in to a nightmare for those involved.
These and the other stories of the two weeks are told in a collection of emails between the parties concerned. A lot of humour derives from the two-faced nature of these, for example an email to one person being followed by a totally contradictory email to that person's boss. There is also fun to be had seeing who is blind copied on various emails. In Miller Shanks, backs exist to be stabbed. Just to add to the chaos, the CEO finds his emails being inadvertently cc'd to his counterpart in Finland!
The cast of characters from the agency includes a bullying CEO, incompetent middle management, over-sexed creatives and bitchy secretaries. There's even the dull workaholic who is always in the office offering to lend people pens. I've never worked in advertising, however from years spent in corporate offices I recognise them all. Given the limitations of the medium, Beaumont does a wonderful job of bringing them to life. In a book su
ch as this it is even more important than usual that each have a distinct "voice". It doesn't take long before you can identify the characters from their emails alone without needing the headers.
I suppose that the concept of "e" isn't really *that* new. Stories based on an exchange of letters have been around for years, though these are rarely longer than novellas. Perhaps the reason for this is that this form breaks the fundamental rule of writing: "show don't tell". Almost by definition, an exchange of communications can only ever tell us what happened not show it. It shouldn't work - yet it does. email has an advantage over traditional letters here in that it is believable for people to be exchanging short, sharp emails rapidly as a situation unfolds, bringing an unexpected sense of immediacy. Beaumont does occasionally have to stretch credulity a little to explain why people are emailing things rather than telephoning, however he generally gets away with it.
"e" is part comedy of manners, part satire and much farce. Overall it's a hilarious novel.
ISBN: 0-00-710068-X
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