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A review by graecoltraine
S. by Doug Dorst, J.J. Abrams
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
How do you even describe a book like this? The official term is "ergodic literature". I personally prefer to call them "weird fuckin' books" (affectionate). S. is an absolute delight to read, one that calls me to write in it alongside the characters and get my hands and entire head into the book. Dorst executed this idea wonderfully. I'm not familiar with Abrams, but I appreciate his vision here greatly.
The general breakdown: The book is Ship of Theseus, by V.M. Straka. S. is that book, stolen from a high school library, annotated first by Eric and then by Eric and Jen in tandem, passing the book back and forth as their main method of communication. (And then by me, joining in for fun.) Ship of Theseus follows the amnesiac S. as he is dragged into matters he does not yet understand, and as the book proceeds, Eric and Jen communicate, grow closer, and work together on deciphering the identity of the mysterious Straka, which they believe he encoded into the pages of the book. As the book proceeds, Jen and Eric even tuck in notes and marginalia to one another--I personally used the decoder wheel in the back of the book as my bookmark throughout the reading process.
There's so, so much I could say about this book. The writing is gorgeous. I actively laughed at moments between Jen and Eric. I've begun using [• • ] as a way to write eye-rolling both online and in my own notes for university. I spent a good bit of time copying down passages into my commonplace book to analyze and cannibalize techniques for my own writing. The writing style seems cinematic, the descriptions are some of the best I've ever read... it's like if Murakami were able to write characters that didn't make me want to scalp myself. This book is firmly in my "keep, don't donate" category for returning to again someday. I want to lend it out, but it'll have to be to someone I trust not to rearrange the inserts. Possibly with the stipulation that they explicitly DO write in the margins with me.
The general breakdown: The book is Ship of Theseus, by V.M. Straka. S. is that book, stolen from a high school library, annotated first by Eric and then by Eric and Jen in tandem, passing the book back and forth as their main method of communication. (And then by me, joining in for fun.) Ship of Theseus follows the amnesiac S. as he is dragged into matters he does not yet understand, and as the book proceeds, Eric and Jen communicate, grow closer, and work together on deciphering the identity of the mysterious Straka, which they believe he encoded into the pages of the book. As the book proceeds, Jen and Eric even tuck in notes and marginalia to one another--I personally used the decoder wheel in the back of the book as my bookmark throughout the reading process.
There's so, so much I could say about this book. The writing is gorgeous. I actively laughed at moments between Jen and Eric. I've begun using [• • ] as a way to write eye-rolling both online and in my own notes for university. I spent a good bit of time copying down passages into my commonplace book to analyze and cannibalize techniques for my own writing. The writing style seems cinematic, the descriptions are some of the best I've ever read... it's like if Murakami were able to write characters that didn't make me want to scalp myself. This book is firmly in my "keep, don't donate" category for returning to again someday. I want to lend it out, but it'll have to be to someone I trust not to rearrange the inserts. Possibly with the stipulation that they explicitly DO write in the margins with me.