S.

author: J.J. Abrams

name: Wayne

average rating: 3.84

book published: 2013

rating: 5

read at: 2014/03/17

date added: 2014/03/17

shelves:

review:

S. by J. J. Abrams and Doug Dorst is a love story to printed books. It's a multi-layered story and it was a fun book to read. I believe it is available as an ebook, but you would lose much of the tactile enjoyment of this book. It's really an amazing work of publishing and a treat to pore over.



The book arrives in a sealed slip cover. When you break the seal, it appears that what you have is an old library book. This is born out by the library sticker on the spine, the yellowing pages and the library checkout stamp on the back page. You also notice the pages have things tucked into them and there is writing in the margins on almost all of the pages. The first thought might be how to even begin tackling this work. I'll reveal how I did later for those interested in knowing.



The story is layers within layers within layers. The first layer is the book itself. It is called Ship Of Theseus and it's written by an author known as V. M. Straka. It tells the story of a man shanghaied aboard a strange pirate ship, where the crew have sewn their mouths shut. They have their own dark purpose for this passenger.



The second layer is with the translator's footnotes. There is insight into the mysterious author and there seems to be a relationship between author and translator. Who is the translator and are there coded messages in the footnotes?



The final layer is between Jennifer and Eric. Eric has been studying this book for years and writing notes in the margins in pencil. Jennifer discovers it and begins a written conversation with Eric. The two bond over the mysteries of the book. They also leave all kinds of things inside . There are postcards, letters, old photographs, maps on napkins, obituaries.



It's a great story. I was given the book as a Christmas gift by a friend that knows I love books and puzzles and it was the perfect gift. I absolutely enjoyed it.



You could just read straight through and piece things together, but there seems to be an order. I'll tell you how I approached this, but if you want to unlock the puzzle and discover for yourself, just skip the rest of this review.

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First, I took everything out of the book and documented the page numbers they were in. I even photographed them and put them in a cloud account (in case the items were misplaced). The margin notes by Eric and Jennifer are written at different times, but different color ink is used, so it's easy enough to decipher. Blue & black, then green and orange, then red and purple and finally black and black. I first read a chapter with Eric's older pencil notes and footnotes, then went back and only read the blue & black notes and any extra items that were found on pages. Then when I finished the book, I went back and read the green and orange, the went back and read red and purple, then black and black.

There is a chronology to the notes, but even within colors they jump around. Just be patient and you can piece things together.







via Wayne's bookshelf: read http://ift.tt/1iXe4qd