Lit Fic Annotation: Divide Me By Zero

Divide Me By Zero

by Lara Vapnyar

Published October 15th 2019
by Tin House Books
ISBN: 194779342X
Hardcover, 360 pages

Synopsis:


Katya's view of her childhood in Russia, her immigration to the United States, and her many relationships are all skewed through her mother's belief that math will answer every question, if you just look for an answer like it's a word problem.  This intelligent, sarcastic, and brutally honest examination of modern femininity comes with a twist of learning the language, and how math and language can be keys to happiness, if you know how to problem solve through grief and loss.  As Kayta reviews her life, and its many interesting and inane events she takes readers on a journey of self-discovery, growth, change, and what it means to be outside the establishment for immigrants who just want to have a normal life- whatever that is.

Key Elements of Literary Fiction:

  • Language and Style: Having a consistent style of language with elevated words, ideas, and concepts tends to be a hallmark of the Literary Fiction genre.  In Divide Me By Zero Vapnyar utilizes mathematical terms and theories to present the sections of the novel while also utilizing Russian idioms and lingual concepts to elevate the language of the novel.
  • Character Driven: As Katya narrates this novel in the first person past tense her POV is strong and written by Vapnyar with a distinct and smart tone that cuts, bites, and enlightens at the same time.  As a coming of age novel this works because readers root for and can empathize with Katya as she makes choices, mistakes, and changes in her world.  
  • Tone:  The tone in Divide Me By Zero feels sarcastic, and serious as it handles major life changes such as immigration, marriage, divorce and death, but places their importance often behind the emotional and personally minor day-to-day contrivances of Katya.  This tone leads readers to fall back into the character of Katya and examine her motivations and reliability as a truthful narrator. 
  • Story Line: While the focus of the main character Katya places the importance of her relationships (familial and love life) over the other areas of her life, this story follows a smart and empowering journey of immigration, self-discovery, and grief.  These heavy topics are the true balance of this tale and while occasionally told in a dismissive manner by Vapnyar, are still deep and important aspects of the story.   
  • Pacing:  Divide Me By Zero unwinds in with a leisurely conversational pace in which there are new discoveries regularly, and items that keep the reader turning pages without there ever really being anything urgent occurring.  Katya’s narration draws the reader through quiet sections and provides a perfect level of urgency and even anxiety when the moment calls for it.  
  • Frame/Setting: The novel begins in Russia, and then moves with the characters to New York where the life-changing frame of immigration pulls the reader through the narrator’s other life-changing discoveries of self and her world. 

MY THOUGHTS

I was a fan of this one- and found the narrator highly compelling.  I read a lot of Lit Fic, and tend to prefer female-driven stories for their characterization and narration, but what I liked most about Katya was that even though she acknowledged that she was a messed-up human, she didn’t give up.  We all need to read things that remind us, no matter what, that even with things going out of control around us, we can power through and not give up.  

Read-Alikes:

Literary Fiction:
These titles are all a little different, but focus on the connections and relationships at the heart of everyday life.  They are set in different areas but all provide a sense of worldliness similar to that in Divide Me By Zero. 

Small Days and Nights
by Tishani Doshi
Published January 21st 2020 
by W. W. Norton Company 
ISBN: 1324005238
Hardcover, 263 pages


The Regrets
by Amy Bonnaffons
Published February 4th 2020 
by Little, Brown and Company
ISBN: 0316516163
Hardcover, 296 pages

 Normal People
by Sally Rooney
Published April 16th 2019 by Hogarth Press 
ISBN: 1984822179
Hardcover, 273 pages
Nonfiction:

 Because Divide Me By Zero has so many fun and quirky connections to non-fiction with math and cultural references, these two Non-fiction titles provide the perfect companion tones to follow up this novel. 


Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything
by Joshua Foer

 Published March 3rd 2011
by Penguin Press HC
ISBN: 159420229X
Hardcover, 307 pages


 The Wrong End of the Table: A Mostly Comic Memoir of a Muslim Arab American Woman Just Trying to Fit in

 by Ayser Salman
Published March 5th 2019 
by Skyhorse
ISBN: 1510742077
Paperback, 288 pages

References: 
Vapnyar, L. (2019). Divide me by zero. Portland, OR: Tin House Books.
Wyatt, N., & Saricks, J. G. (2019). The readers advisory guide to genre fiction (Third Edition). Chicago, IL: ALA Editions.


Comments

  1. LibrarishannApril 11, 2020 at 8:24 AM

    "We all need to read things that remind us, no matter what, that even with things going out of control around us, we can power through and not give up." Oof, isn't that the truth. I love character-driven lit fic from a female perspective. Math as a literary device is fascinating and something new to me. Definitely going to check this one out!

    ReplyDelete
  2. SusanApril 11, 2020 at 11:26 PM

    This book sounds both heavy and offbeat. Would you say this book is mostly serious, or does it have some humor to it as well? I also really liked your readalike choices. Do you think a book strictly about math would be a good option for a nonficiton readalike as well, or would that be too on the nose? Great annotation!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BC RunionApril 12, 2020 at 8:57 AM

      Divid Me By Zero is sarcastic throughout, even as it deals with dark issues, and so has a funny tone. I found myself laughing out loud a number of times. And it is one of my favorite tonal styles to read. As to the math, Vapnyar uses math theories and concepts as literary devices, but there's not much actual math on the page. I chose to focus on tone more for read-alikes, but I am sure there are some non-fiction math books out there that might follow the same likes. Maybe Freakonomics or Astrophysics for People in a Hurry might be comparable reads with more math, but Moonwalking with Einstein, while being about memory competitions, has quite a bit of math in it too.

      Delete
  3. Sabrina R.April 12, 2020 at 1:34 PM

    This sounds like a very touching story. I tend to steer away from Literary Fiction because I associate the genre with forced High School readings. I might have to check this one out. Thanks for the great annotation!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Erin CataldiApril 13, 2020 at 12:48 PM

    This book sounds wonderful! You really dove deep and provided an excellent summary and appeals. Fantastic job and full points!

    ReplyDelete

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