War of the Encyclopaedists
Christopher Robinson & Gavin Kovite
Hamish Hamilton
Authors typically try to mark their own voice and style in their first novel, often with mixed results. War of the Encyclopaedists is a collaborative effort, and so Christopher Robinson and Gavin Kovite have risked doubly complicating their book for the sake of an original take on form. The story begins in Seattle in 2004, as the writers’ seeming avatars, Halifax Corderoy and Mickey Montauk, prepare for post-college life. Plans to go to grad school in Boston together are foiled by Montauk’s National Guard unit being called up to serve in Iraq. Messy situations with Mani, Corderoy’s ex, and Tricia, his roommate, further test the protagonists’ friendship against the backdrop of George W. Bush’s second term in office.
Having thrown hipster parties in Seattle as ‘The Encyclopaedists’, Corderoy and Montauk stay in touch by editing the Wikipedia page they have made for themselves, reflecting changes in their lives: a postmodern motif that soon begins to wear thin. The prose also shows inconsistency, with well-observed considerations tempered by clumsy brospeak. The Iraq set pieces lend new vibrancy to the plot, but, by the end, you are left wishing that Robinson and Kovite had a more rigorous editor – or, indeed, that the novel had been the work of one engaging – if try-hard – author instead of two.
Words: Stephen Cox
