ABC is about a dad named Gerard Chauvin whose son dies in a freak accident in an old abandoned house while vacationing at a lake. Just moments before his son’s tragic accident, Gerard finds a random piece of paper on the floor containing Sanskrit alphabet. This mysterious paper guides Gerard through his mourning, as Gerard uses it to look for meaning in his son’s death.
Over the course of the book, Gerard becomes obsessed with learning about the history of the Sanskrit alphabet. He tries desperately to find some correlation or coincidence between his son’s accident and the alphabet, or the history of the “ABCs.”
ABC is one of the most original and unique books I’ve ever read, but only half of it is memorable while the other half is not.
In the beginning, immediately after the accident, the novel mostly describes Gerard’s mourning and grief. Then, it takes an interesting turn. Gerard revisits the scene of the crime to find that Harry’s accident was actually not an accident. It was set up and rigged on purpose by local kids who use the old deserted house as a hangout.
After Gerard learns the piece of paper with the Sanskrit alphabet was left behind a local girl who uses the old house for study hall, the novel is brought back to life.
This book is loaded with dictionary entries and blurbs about the alphabet, which gets tedious and tiring. But ABC redeems itself when it comes to mourning and on coping with death.
Other books by David Plante include:
What did you think about ABC by David Plante?
Last Updated on December 1, 2025 by Sarah Ann
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