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A review by justinkhchen
The Delivery by Peter Mendelsund
5.0
5 stars
Being a graphic designer myself, the name Peter Mendelsund conjures up his impressive catalog of book cover designs. Having not read his previous literary effort, I'm pleasantly surprised to find his writing also evokes the same 'aesthetic' as his visual work—deceivingly simple at first glance, but upon inspection is extremely layered with purposeful intricacy.
Peter Mendelsund not only writes his story, but also takes its visual form into consideration; you can literally see the narrative scope expanses as pages getting progressively filled. The Delivery opens on a minimalist note (Chapter 1 has less than 5 words), and closes with a seemingly endless passage spanning over 20 pages. Typesetting is an invisible design decision with substantial psychological impact on the reader; large text with generous line spacing makes you turn pages faster (thereby feeling like you're reading quicker), and small text with little to no spacing can be anxiety-inducing. It's an enlightening exercise seeing principles of graphic design being incorporated as a part of the storytelling.
Narratively speaking, The Delivery evokes fable storytelling in the likes of Italio Calvino, focusing on a delivery boy as he goes through the motion in an agnostic urban city. The simple premise gradually builds upon its foundation, layering in discussion on immigration, suppression, and optimism. As if that's not enough, the story ultimately goes surreal and 'meta', breaking the fourth wall and becomes a commentary on storytelling itself. This rule-bending plot structure might frustrates readers seeking a clear three acts read, and rightly so, even I find the (intentional) meandering writing in the last section a little dense to comprehend fully. But as a commitment to what the book sets out to be, I think it pulled it off quite flawlessly.
Perhaps I'm a little bias, being someone who had devoted his master degree thesis on exploring the physical book as a storytelling device. But I find The Delivery a very compelling execution of this concept, where word, and form of word, aligns and informs the story.
***This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!***
Being a graphic designer myself, the name Peter Mendelsund conjures up his impressive catalog of book cover designs. Having not read his previous literary effort, I'm pleasantly surprised to find his writing also evokes the same 'aesthetic' as his visual work—deceivingly simple at first glance, but upon inspection is extremely layered with purposeful intricacy.
Peter Mendelsund not only writes his story, but also takes its visual form into consideration; you can literally see the narrative scope expanses as pages getting progressively filled. The Delivery opens on a minimalist note (Chapter 1 has less than 5 words), and closes with a seemingly endless passage spanning over 20 pages. Typesetting is an invisible design decision with substantial psychological impact on the reader; large text with generous line spacing makes you turn pages faster (thereby feeling like you're reading quicker), and small text with little to no spacing can be anxiety-inducing. It's an enlightening exercise seeing principles of graphic design being incorporated as a part of the storytelling.
Narratively speaking, The Delivery evokes fable storytelling in the likes of Italio Calvino, focusing on a delivery boy as he goes through the motion in an agnostic urban city. The simple premise gradually builds upon its foundation, layering in discussion on immigration, suppression, and optimism. As if that's not enough, the story ultimately goes surreal and 'meta', breaking the fourth wall and becomes a commentary on storytelling itself. This rule-bending plot structure might frustrates readers seeking a clear three acts read, and rightly so, even I find the (intentional) meandering writing in the last section a little dense to comprehend fully. But as a commitment to what the book sets out to be, I think it pulled it off quite flawlessly.
Perhaps I'm a little bias, being someone who had devoted his master degree thesis on exploring the physical book as a storytelling device. But I find The Delivery a very compelling execution of this concept, where word, and form of word, aligns and informs the story.
***This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!***