‘With a Zero at its Heart’ by Charles Lambert

When a colleague first told me about With a Zero at its Heart, I will admit that I had reservations from the off. “It’s really great – the chapters are all divided up into 10 numbered paragraphs and you can choose how you read them, in sequence or with the other paragraphs of the same number. And there are exactly the same number of words in each paragraph. It’s really clever.” Clever maybe, but enjoyable? I was convinced that I would find the format irritating and fragmented, that the tight structure would detract from the quality of the story. I left With a Zero at its Heart to dwell at the bottom of my reading pile and it was only by chance that I rescued it from that forlorn place, grabbing it in haste as I departed for the airport. I was on my way to the Canadian Rockies and felt that, surrounded by the majestic and imposing beauty of the mountains, only profound literary reads would do. Serious surroundings called for serious reads.

I am delighted to say that my initial impressions of this book were very wrong. With a Zero at its Heart is an incredible read. The first thing readers will be struck by is its unusual structure – 24 themed chapters, each with 10 numbered paragraphs and each paragraph with precisely 120 words. As my colleague said, this is clever, but what is even more clever, striking and impressive is Lambert’s ability to tell the wondrous story of a life – and all of the complex feelings, experiences and relationships that colour a life – within the confines of this structure. The chapters focus on a different aspect in the protagonist’s life, some profound (‘Death or A Sprig of Leaves’) and others less so (‘Cinema or What The Centaur Meant’). It is the diversity of these themes that highlights Lambert’s ability to shed light on a life from all angles. As would be expected, he presents us with an exploration of life’s big issues – death, love, art – but what makes With a Zero at its Heart a convincing tale of a life are those passages that focus on the more trivial moments – a lunch with friends, a joke with a relative. Despite not being life-alterating, these moments are those that we all cherish, these are the memories we keep. The reader feels an affinity with the protagonist and the story becomes engrossing, almost personal. The fact that this exists within what might be considered a restrictive structure makes With a Zero at its Heart an even greater achievement.

This is a book that I will take great pleasure in returning to again and again. The author is undoubtedly a lover of words and his manipulation of language is sometimes moving, sometimes playful, and always impressive. Lambert is a masterful writer and storyteller and With a Zero at its Heart is a testament to his thorough understanding and appreciation of both the human condition and the beauty of words.