Has anyone read "S" by JJ Abrams and Doug Dorst

quote:

---

S

---

STAHP

i have a friend who read it and said it's exceptional.

JJ is in the camp of people who really doesn't do much wrong in my book though. I like just about everything he's done.

quote:

---

One book. Two readers. A world of mystery, menace, and desire.


A young woman picks up a book left behind by a stranger. Inside it are his margin notes, which reveal a reader entranced by the story and by its mysterious author. She responds with notes of her own, leaving the book for the stranger, and so begins an unlikely conversation that plunges them both into the unknown.

---

quote:

---

the unknown

---

quote:

---

JJ Abrams

---

This makes nervous that there would be no resolution at the end.

Should you read the story first or read both at the same time?

quote:

---

Should you read the story first or read both at the same time?

---

I asked the same question. I'm pretty sure I don't have the discipline to read them separately. You almost have to read it at the same time, just human curiousity.

My interest = officially peaked

quote:

---

I'll admit: when I opened the book for the first time, the second thought that went through my mind (after "How frigging cool is this?") was, "How the heck am I gonna read this?"

So, for those of you asking that same question, let me tell you how I went about it:

As cool as all the inserts are, trying to keep them from falling out of the book as you're reading is a pain, so take them out and use post-it notes to mark what page they came from, then put them in an envelope that you can easily access.

Now, J&E's notes are not entirely in chronological order. You can generally go by the color of the ink between them to tell what phase of their story you're at.

First, there's Eric's pencil notes to himself about the actual book. Then, the convo between J&E begins when Jen picks up Eric's book and sees his notes and begins commenting on them in the margins. He sees this and writes back. Those early messages are Jen: Blue Ink - Eric: Black Ink

At some point after they go through the book a first time, they go through again. This time Jen: Orange Ink - Eric: Green Ink.

Then a third time Jen: Purple Ink - Eric: Red Ink

Finally, a fourth time (which seems to be after the denouement, in which they retrospectively discuss what has transpired). These are less frequent, and both Jen and Eric are in Black Ink.

***Read each chapter of the main text of SoT, ignoring all of Jen & Eric's notes. Upon finishing each chapter, you're going to want to go back and read only the blue/black notes and any referenced inserts. Then, move on to the next chapter. After you finish the whole book, go back and read only the orange/green notes and referenced inserts. Then purple/red, then black/black.***

However you choose to approach it, you're in for a treat. Even after finishing it, I'm still going back and looking for anything I may have missed. The journey was fantastic and the the destination was, well you'll see.

---

LINK

It's a fun book. You read the story and the margin notes together because they are generally commenting on the content. It strays for the separate relationship story in the margins. The inks show the chronology but you're still going in order, and it's for foreshadowing. Like an arrow to an earlier note that says "Imagine if we knew this earlier!"

I think I will read this during the summer.