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A review by thecurseofchris
S. by Doug Dorst, J.J. Abrams
4.0
For those wondering how to read this: full "Ship of Theseus" text, then margins (read those in order too, by color; look online for the correct order). If you need help reading "Ship of Theseus," try the e-book or audiobook, which should be standalone.
I'm not going to waste time talking about what "S." is, as there are plenty of other explanations of it that do a better job at it than I could. So I'm just going to talk about the different aspects of "S."
SHIP OF THESEUS: For the most part, I found this novel to be rather boring, from a plot perspective. Had it been a real thing, I don't see how Jen or Eric (the margin writers) could be so captivated by it. There is potential there, but it's overly long and the narrative is just so slow that it makes it a chore to get through. That said, I think the novel is *supposed* to be boring/written in a specific way, because of things that are eventually revealed about it in the margins. I do wish it was more entertaining though.
ERIC & JEN: this was by far the more interesting part of "S." I found myself fully engaged in their story and their relationship, so much so that I really didn't care about their motivations (i.e. Who is Straka?). I just wanted to get to know them and see what their fate was. While many answers are explained by the end, be prepared to not learn everything and not have a solid conclusion (which I think is the point). It was pretty easy to follow their story by reading the colored writing in chronological order, so I recommend you do multiple passthroughs of the book for each set of colors rather than reading them all at once.
My gripe with the margin storyline is that I feel like it could have been presented much better/more smoother than what we got. Sure, it's understandable, but it requires a lot of "filling in the gaps" for events that the characters go through and know about in their universe, but aren't fully elaborated on to the reader (again, this makes sense because from their perspective, no one is supposed to be reading their notes, so therefore they have no reason to elaborate on something that would only benefit a third-party reader, aka us).
INSERTS: these are cool, but most of them really didn't offer much to me personally.
AFTER FINISHING: this book has been out for close to 10 years now, so there are real-world materials and resources out there that talk about some of the mysteries, clues, etc. that were left for the reader to discover. I've looked at some things and I'll admit they are pretty cool. It's just not my cup of tea to solve some of these codes and ciphers when there are so many other books out there to read.
"S." is not a traditional book. It is a multimedia experience. The concept itself is neat, and while I don't think the presentation is perfect, I don't regret it. "S." is definitely not for everyone, but if you want something different, give it a try.
I'm not going to waste time talking about what "S." is, as there are plenty of other explanations of it that do a better job at it than I could. So I'm just going to talk about the different aspects of "S."
SHIP OF THESEUS: For the most part, I found this novel to be rather boring, from a plot perspective. Had it been a real thing, I don't see how Jen or Eric (the margin writers) could be so captivated by it. There is potential there, but it's overly long and the narrative is just so slow that it makes it a chore to get through. That said, I think the novel is *supposed* to be boring/written in a specific way, because of things that are eventually revealed about it in the margins. I do wish it was more entertaining though.
ERIC & JEN: this was by far the more interesting part of "S." I found myself fully engaged in their story and their relationship, so much so that I really didn't care about their motivations (i.e. Who is Straka?). I just wanted to get to know them and see what their fate was. While many answers are explained by the end, be prepared to not learn everything and not have a solid conclusion (which I think is the point). It was pretty easy to follow their story by reading the colored writing in chronological order, so I recommend you do multiple passthroughs of the book for each set of colors rather than reading them all at once.
My gripe with the margin storyline is that I feel like it could have been presented much better/more smoother than what we got. Sure, it's understandable, but it requires a lot of "filling in the gaps" for events that the characters go through and know about in their universe, but aren't fully elaborated on to the reader (again, this makes sense because from their perspective, no one is supposed to be reading their notes, so therefore they have no reason to elaborate on something that would only benefit a third-party reader, aka us).
INSERTS: these are cool, but most of them really didn't offer much to me personally.
AFTER FINISHING: this book has been out for close to 10 years now, so there are real-world materials and resources out there that talk about some of the mysteries, clues, etc. that were left for the reader to discover. I've looked at some things and I'll admit they are pretty cool. It's just not my cup of tea to solve some of these codes and ciphers when there are so many other books out there to read.
"S." is not a traditional book. It is a multimedia experience. The concept itself is neat, and while I don't think the presentation is perfect, I don't regret it. "S." is definitely not for everyone, but if you want something different, give it a try.