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Book from the Ground: From Point to Point
A book without words, recounting a day in the life of an office worker, told completely in the symbols, icons, and logos of modern life.
Twenty years ago I made Book from the Sky, a book of illegible Chinese characters that no one could read. Now I have created Book from the Ground, a book that anyone can read.
--Xu Bing
Following his classic work Book from the Sky, the Chinese artist Xu Bing presents a new graphic novel--one composed entirely of symbols and icons that are universally understood. Xu Bing spent seven years gathering materials, experimenting, revising, and arranging thousands of pictograms to construct the narrative of Book from the Ground. The result is a readable story without words, an account of twenty-four hours in the life of "Mr. Black," a typical urban white-collar worker.
Our protagonist's day begins with wake-up calls from a nearby bird and his bedside alarm clock; it continues through tooth-brushing, coffee-making, TV-watching, and cat-feeding. He commutes to his job on the subway, works in his office, ponders various fast-food options for lunch, waits in line for the bathroom, daydreams, sends flowers, socializes after work, goes home, kills a mosquito, goes to bed, sleeps, and gets up the next morning to do it all over again. His day is recounted with meticulous and intimate detail, and reads like a postmodern, post-textual riff on James Joyce's account of Bloom's peregrinations in Ulysses. But Xu Bing's narrative, using an exclusively visual language, could be published anywhere, without translation or explication; anyone with experience in contemporary life--anyone who has internalized the icons and logos of modernity, from smiley faces to transit maps to menus--can understand it.
Twenty years ago I made Book from the Sky, a book of illegible Chinese characters that no one could read. Now I have created Book from the Ground, a book that anyone can read.
--Xu Bing
Following his classic work Book from the Sky, the Chinese artist Xu Bing presents a new graphic novel--one composed entirely of symbols and icons that are universally understood. Xu Bing spent seven years gathering materials, experimenting, revising, and arranging thousands of pictograms to construct the narrative of Book from the Ground. The result is a readable story without words, an account of twenty-four hours in the life of "Mr. Black," a typical urban white-collar worker.
Our protagonist's day begins with wake-up calls from a nearby bird and his bedside alarm clock; it continues through tooth-brushing, coffee-making, TV-watching, and cat-feeding. He commutes to his job on the subway, works in his office, ponders various fast-food options for lunch, waits in line for the bathroom, daydreams, sends flowers, socializes after work, goes home, kills a mosquito, goes to bed, sleeps, and gets up the next morning to do it all over again. His day is recounted with meticulous and intimate detail, and reads like a postmodern, post-textual riff on James Joyce's account of Bloom's peregrinations in Ulysses. But Xu Bing's narrative, using an exclusively visual language, could be published anywhere, without translation or explication; anyone with experience in contemporary life--anyone who has internalized the icons and logos of modernity, from smiley faces to transit maps to menus--can understand it.
112 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2012
25 people are currently reading
1078 people want to read
About the author
Xu Bing
70 books18 followersXu Bing is a Chinese-born artist who lived in the United States for eighteen years. Currently residing in Beijing, he used to serve as the vice-president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. He is most known for his printmaking skills and installations pieces, as well as his creative artistic use of language, words, and text and how they have affected our understanding of the world.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews
July 24, 2015
Absolutely original graphic novel composed entirely of emojis and/wingdings or whatever. A very simple day in the life of a young white collar worker waking up, going to the bathroom -- oh damn it looks like all the emoticons I embedded in a quick little review of this didn't come through and the whole thing was truncated. Anyway, a charming little tale told in a new way that can probably be read by anyone regardless of language -- the author is Chinese. I only failed to catch the drift of something once or twice. I'm sure there will be more of this sort of thing as the emoji options evolve.
May 26, 2014
Such an innovative book. This book is the 2014 version of Esperanto--a universal language that all can understand. They don't need any specialized training either, because they already know how to read everything in here.
Xu Bing's Book from the Ground is composed entirely of symbols, emojis, emoticons, whatever you want to call them. It's fascinating, though, because symbols have traditionally been quite arbitrary, but in this case they generally are clear in their meaning. This is somewhat troubling too because it demonstrates how we've been so socialized by the symbols of a media-saturated world that surround us.
The book is a phenomenal feat on its own because it is able to portray a coherent narrative with no words. If I recall correctly, it also took Xu seven years to collect and organize the many symbols with his team. This alone makes the book worth it.
It's a quick read, though it takes some time to get the hang of it. Some of the aspects of the narrative are quite funny and somewhat absurd at times. Overall, it's somewhat mind-blowing that this book even exists. It seems appropriate that an artist like Xu would be the one responsible for creating it. After all, a previous work, Book From the Sky, was composed only of characters that nobody would understand. It seems fitting that we would receive this book now, at the height of the smart phone-enabled symbol language that all of us already seem to know.
I would also highly recommend that you read this book concurrently with a companion volume also from MIT Press, The Book About Xu Bing's Book From The Ground. Its additional insights make for the reading experience even more robust and thought-provoking.
Xu Bing's Book from the Ground is composed entirely of symbols, emojis, emoticons, whatever you want to call them. It's fascinating, though, because symbols have traditionally been quite arbitrary, but in this case they generally are clear in their meaning. This is somewhat troubling too because it demonstrates how we've been so socialized by the symbols of a media-saturated world that surround us.
The book is a phenomenal feat on its own because it is able to portray a coherent narrative with no words. If I recall correctly, it also took Xu seven years to collect and organize the many symbols with his team. This alone makes the book worth it.
It's a quick read, though it takes some time to get the hang of it. Some of the aspects of the narrative are quite funny and somewhat absurd at times. Overall, it's somewhat mind-blowing that this book even exists. It seems appropriate that an artist like Xu would be the one responsible for creating it. After all, a previous work, Book From the Sky, was composed only of characters that nobody would understand. It seems fitting that we would receive this book now, at the height of the smart phone-enabled symbol language that all of us already seem to know.
I would also highly recommend that you read this book concurrently with a companion volume also from MIT Press, The Book About Xu Bing's Book From The Ground. Its additional insights make for the reading experience even more robust and thought-provoking.
November 13, 2020
Ідея цікава: написати книгу повністю з символів. Видно, що автор не письменник, а людина однієї ідеї. Але я не знаю як можна було це написати за 7 років, це дуже проста історія, яку можна було написати за день. Ми з друзями граємо в настолку «Геометрія Уяви» де розігруються ще складніші баталії з символів. Тут немає особливої історії, просто 24 години чувака, який йде в офіс, вирішує справи, вибирає, що їсти, спілкується з друзями і тд. Автор каже, що мова універсальна, але як на мене це дуже китайська книга з китайськими реаліями, від емоджі, які використовують китайці, до 89 поверху, де працює герой, до туалетних подробиць, до стереотипів щодо чоловіків/жінок, до китайських месенджерів. Був лише один момент, який прям змусив зацікавитись: персонаж вибирає книги в подарунок друзям, і одна з книг, це книга яку тримаєш у руках. Жаль, що автор не зробив сюжет цікавішим. Відгадувати символи і радіти цікавим способам зображення доволі цікаво, але не думаю, що читатиму ще раз.
October 24, 2025
Emojis, gifs, stickers. El medio visual ha impregnado nuestra manera de comunicarnos a diario, y de cierta forma, ha universalizado y derribado (muchas) murallas fronterizas entre lenguajes escritos. Ya no es solo texto el único medio de comunicación escrita, si no que la vida moderna se ha impregnado (e internalizado) de iconos y logotipos, desde caras sonrientes a gatos con estrellas en los ojos, que lo complementan. Lenguajes como blissymbol (sistema de escritura ideográfica que consiste en varios cientos de símbolos básicos, cada uno representando un concepto, que se recombinan), emojiland (un lenguaje de programación que permite escribir código utilizando únicamente emojis) o iConji (sistema de comunicación pictográfico gratuito basado en un vocabulario visual abierto de caracteres con traducciones integradas para la mayoría de los idiomas principales) están a la orden del día. Pero ¿se puede construir toda una narrativa con ese lenguaje exclusivamente visual que se pueda publicar en cualquier lugar, sin traducción ni explicación alguna? La respuesta es Book from the Ground: From Point to Point, del artista Xu Bing.
El artista de los símbolos y las letras: Xu Bing
Aunque estemos hablando de un libro impreso, no debemos caer en el error de llamar a Xu Bing autor o escritor. Artista profesional que trabaja a través de la imagen, es reconocido internacionalmente por sus grabados e instalaciones, así como por su uso del texto para investigar cómo el lenguaje y su presentación impactan en nuestra comprensión del mundo. Una instalación temprana, como A Book from the Sky, implicó que el artista inventara 4000 caracteres y los tallara a mano en bloques de madera, para luego usarlos como rollos móviles para imprimir volúmenes y pergaminos, que se exhiben en el suelo y colgados del techo. Las vastas superficies textuales parecen transmitir una sabiduría ancestral, pero en realidad son totalmente ininteligibles. La subversión de esta obra será justamente Book from the Ground, donde lo que busca el artista chino es una obra que sea ampliamente accesible para todo tipo de público.
24 horas en la vida de un oficinista
Book from the Ground retrata un día muy cercano y sorprendentemente legible en la vida de un oficinista, casi minuto a minuto, con capítulos que reseñan una hora de su dia. Las luchas del protagonista con su alarma, los plazos de entrega y las citas en línea se vuelven aún más reales a través de su representación en imágenes universales. La trama es mundana y simple, pero Xu se mueve fluidamente entre eventos, pensamientos e incluso secuencias de sueños, y cada uno se siente más curioso que el anterior. Su día se relata con detalles meticulosos e íntimos, y se lee como una versión posmoderna y postextual, hora a hora, del relato de James Joyce sobre las peregrinaciones de Bloom en Ulises. El libro tiene signos de puntuación, pero no texto; en lugar de palabras hay pictogramas, logotipos, signos ilustrativos y emoticonos, todos tomados de símbolos reales en uso en todo el mundo. El artista los ha recopilado durante un período de siete años y los ha utilizado para idear un lenguaje ideográfico universal, en teoría, comprensible para cualquiera que esté involucrado (un poco) en la vida moderna.
La comunicación moderna
La lectura transforma el cerebro. Sin embargo, la tecnología e internet han afectado nuestra capacidad para leer, comprender y evaluar información y datos. Cualquier persona interesada en la ficción experimental, el arte moderno o un poco de desafío lector, estará interesada en Book from the ground ya solo por estos aspectos. El libro está escrito de forma que cualquier lector, independientemente de su formación cultural o educativa, pueda comprenderlo. La audacia de la idea, combinada con la brillantez de su uso de símbolos omnipresentes, no está exenta de sutilezas, a pesar de estar escrita en un lenguaje que miles de millones de personas en la Tierra entenderán sin haberlo aprendido específicamente. El comediante Demetri Martin hizo algo similar en su libro This is a Book, donde una sección estaba escrita enteramente con emoticonos, números y acrónimos con frases divertidas. Sin embargo, la idea de Xu Bing se desmarca exponiendo el papel, el propósito y la realidad del lenguaje en nuestro día a día. Toma un momento de captar, pero una vez que el lector se sincroniza con Xu y su narrativa, es inmensamente placentero descifrar la historia, cómo decodificar un código o entender un idioma extranjero por primera vez.
Siete años de trabajo
Cuenta el propio Xu Bing en el libro complementario The Book about Xu Bing's Book from the Ground (Mathieu Borysevicz, 2014) que se pasó siete años reuniendo materiales, experimentando, revisando y organizando miles de pictogramas para construir la narrativa de Book from the Ground. También, que toda esta investigación dio lugar al programa de aprendizaje de idiomas Book from the Ground, donde al escribir palabras en la herramienta estas se transforman directamente al lenguaje pictórico de Xu Bing. De esta forma, podemos pensar en Book from the Ground como algo más que un experimento, si no también un cuestionamiento de la comunicación transcultural y de cómo el lenguaje transfronterizo es capaz de deslocalizarse. Simplemente vivir en la sociedad contemporánea hará la historia comprensible para todos, aunque a veces sea necesario reflexionar un poco sobre lo que quiso decir y su contexto cultural.
No habrá dos lecturas iguales
La intención de Xu Bing es que cualquier persona inmersa en la vida moderna, independientemente de su idioma o formación educativa, pueda "leer" la historia al haber interiorizado ya estos iconos de la vida cotidiana. Sin embargo, en varias discusiones que lleva a cabo en el libro complementario de Mathieu Borysevicz, hablan sobre la posibilidad de que no haya dos lecturas exactamente iguales y de que la obra sea particularmente diferente para cada persona que la ve e interpreta. Los cambios en nuestra cultura han transformado la obra en el tiempo, y lo seguirán haciendo. Dice el propio Xu Bing que cuando se crea una obra, se relaciona con una emoción específica en un momento específico, así que, desde mi perspectiva, cambia cada vez que se crea. Es decir, desde la perspectiva del público, la obra también cambia, porque su contexto también ha cambiado con el tiempo. Por ejemplo, hace poco muchos descubrimos al ver Adolescence como una nueva generación de usuarios ha resignificado todos los emoticonos que usamos a diario. Los idiomas se adaptan, incorporan nuevas palabras y modifican su gramática y estructura, lo que hace que un lenguaje que pretenda ser universal e inmóvil sea algo inalcanzable. Por lo tanto, dentro de unos años, será interesante volver a leer Book from the ground y comprobar como de universal siguen siendo su símbolos y logos.
El artista de los símbolos y las letras: Xu Bing
Aunque estemos hablando de un libro impreso, no debemos caer en el error de llamar a Xu Bing autor o escritor. Artista profesional que trabaja a través de la imagen, es reconocido internacionalmente por sus grabados e instalaciones, así como por su uso del texto para investigar cómo el lenguaje y su presentación impactan en nuestra comprensión del mundo. Una instalación temprana, como A Book from the Sky, implicó que el artista inventara 4000 caracteres y los tallara a mano en bloques de madera, para luego usarlos como rollos móviles para imprimir volúmenes y pergaminos, que se exhiben en el suelo y colgados del techo. Las vastas superficies textuales parecen transmitir una sabiduría ancestral, pero en realidad son totalmente ininteligibles. La subversión de esta obra será justamente Book from the Ground, donde lo que busca el artista chino es una obra que sea ampliamente accesible para todo tipo de público.
24 horas en la vida de un oficinista
Book from the Ground retrata un día muy cercano y sorprendentemente legible en la vida de un oficinista, casi minuto a minuto, con capítulos que reseñan una hora de su dia. Las luchas del protagonista con su alarma, los plazos de entrega y las citas en línea se vuelven aún más reales a través de su representación en imágenes universales. La trama es mundana y simple, pero Xu se mueve fluidamente entre eventos, pensamientos e incluso secuencias de sueños, y cada uno se siente más curioso que el anterior. Su día se relata con detalles meticulosos e íntimos, y se lee como una versión posmoderna y postextual, hora a hora, del relato de James Joyce sobre las peregrinaciones de Bloom en Ulises. El libro tiene signos de puntuación, pero no texto; en lugar de palabras hay pictogramas, logotipos, signos ilustrativos y emoticonos, todos tomados de símbolos reales en uso en todo el mundo. El artista los ha recopilado durante un período de siete años y los ha utilizado para idear un lenguaje ideográfico universal, en teoría, comprensible para cualquiera que esté involucrado (un poco) en la vida moderna.
La comunicación moderna
La lectura transforma el cerebro. Sin embargo, la tecnología e internet han afectado nuestra capacidad para leer, comprender y evaluar información y datos. Cualquier persona interesada en la ficción experimental, el arte moderno o un poco de desafío lector, estará interesada en Book from the ground ya solo por estos aspectos. El libro está escrito de forma que cualquier lector, independientemente de su formación cultural o educativa, pueda comprenderlo. La audacia de la idea, combinada con la brillantez de su uso de símbolos omnipresentes, no está exenta de sutilezas, a pesar de estar escrita en un lenguaje que miles de millones de personas en la Tierra entenderán sin haberlo aprendido específicamente. El comediante Demetri Martin hizo algo similar en su libro This is a Book, donde una sección estaba escrita enteramente con emoticonos, números y acrónimos con frases divertidas. Sin embargo, la idea de Xu Bing se desmarca exponiendo el papel, el propósito y la realidad del lenguaje en nuestro día a día. Toma un momento de captar, pero una vez que el lector se sincroniza con Xu y su narrativa, es inmensamente placentero descifrar la historia, cómo decodificar un código o entender un idioma extranjero por primera vez.
Siete años de trabajo
Cuenta el propio Xu Bing en el libro complementario The Book about Xu Bing's Book from the Ground (Mathieu Borysevicz, 2014) que se pasó siete años reuniendo materiales, experimentando, revisando y organizando miles de pictogramas para construir la narrativa de Book from the Ground. También, que toda esta investigación dio lugar al programa de aprendizaje de idiomas Book from the Ground, donde al escribir palabras en la herramienta estas se transforman directamente al lenguaje pictórico de Xu Bing. De esta forma, podemos pensar en Book from the Ground como algo más que un experimento, si no también un cuestionamiento de la comunicación transcultural y de cómo el lenguaje transfronterizo es capaz de deslocalizarse. Simplemente vivir en la sociedad contemporánea hará la historia comprensible para todos, aunque a veces sea necesario reflexionar un poco sobre lo que quiso decir y su contexto cultural.
No habrá dos lecturas iguales
La intención de Xu Bing es que cualquier persona inmersa en la vida moderna, independientemente de su idioma o formación educativa, pueda "leer" la historia al haber interiorizado ya estos iconos de la vida cotidiana. Sin embargo, en varias discusiones que lleva a cabo en el libro complementario de Mathieu Borysevicz, hablan sobre la posibilidad de que no haya dos lecturas exactamente iguales y de que la obra sea particularmente diferente para cada persona que la ve e interpreta. Los cambios en nuestra cultura han transformado la obra en el tiempo, y lo seguirán haciendo. Dice el propio Xu Bing que cuando se crea una obra, se relaciona con una emoción específica en un momento específico, así que, desde mi perspectiva, cambia cada vez que se crea. Es decir, desde la perspectiva del público, la obra también cambia, porque su contexto también ha cambiado con el tiempo. Por ejemplo, hace poco muchos descubrimos al ver Adolescence como una nueva generación de usuarios ha resignificado todos los emoticonos que usamos a diario. Los idiomas se adaptan, incorporan nuevas palabras y modifican su gramática y estructura, lo que hace que un lenguaje que pretenda ser universal e inmóvil sea algo inalcanzable. Por lo tanto, dentro de unos años, será interesante volver a leer Book from the ground y comprobar como de universal siguen siendo su símbolos y logos.
June 1, 2015
The author narrates here 24 hours in the life of a white collar. From one morning to the next. The story in itself is very basic, but not without humour.
What is really interesting about this book is not the story itself, but how it is told. Not a single word, only pictures. It brings us back to the roots of writting.
I am not surprised that it is a Chinese who wrote this book. After all, it is exactly like this that the Chinese written language started, with pictures representing ideas. These pictures than got more and more complex, representing more and more complex ideas, in order to give Chinese as we know it. Therefore I am wondering what level of complexity and abstraction we can reach, but at the same time keeping the language understandable by all, even those who never studied it? What pictures are understandable by all? What ideas are really universal?
What is really interesting about this book is not the story itself, but how it is told. Not a single word, only pictures. It brings us back to the roots of writting.
I am not surprised that it is a Chinese who wrote this book. After all, it is exactly like this that the Chinese written language started, with pictures representing ideas. These pictures than got more and more complex, representing more and more complex ideas, in order to give Chinese as we know it. Therefore I am wondering what level of complexity and abstraction we can reach, but at the same time keeping the language understandable by all, even those who never studied it? What pictures are understandable by all? What ideas are really universal?
March 25, 2021
"🚶🏻♂️💘👩🏻💻, 👀⬆️ ,✨🌌... 🚶🏻♂️😍!"
November 21, 2020
Рада, що ця книжка є з простої причини: незважаючи на всі намагання спростити і замінити мову, цього поки нікому не вдалося. Нам доведеться і далі шукати способи порозуміння, які не есперанто і не емодзі.
November 10, 2017
I liked it but I think the premise doesn't make sense, and isn't necessarily that desirable. A book that everyone understands in the exact same way probably doesn't say that much
June 12, 2021
🏁! ❤️🕮! 👏👏👏! 😄!👍! 🌶️!
AZαΩЮЯ大小… ✔️
🤞🏻🌼🍟🚽🔊🌈 … ✔️!
🤞🏻🌼🍟🚽🔊🌈 ≈ AZαΩЮЯ大小 !?
🤔…
AZαΩЮЯ大小… ✔️
🤞🏻🌼🍟🚽🔊🌈 … ✔️!
🤞🏻🌼🍟🚽🔊🌈 ≈ AZαΩЮЯ大小 !?
🤔…
February 11, 2025
I like it honestly. it's a slice of life of an office worker and getting into somewhat mundane situation. it being told in wholly wingdings is a novel concept that saves it a bit. I often found myself laughing at my interpretation of what was going on. thinking to myself "okay his mom's calling and telling him to meet a woman and he thinks to himself women do not equal food...?". I think if this were a regular book a lot of leg work would need to be done to give it some more plot. having to put a lot into the main character to make him carry the weight. as it stands the novelty of the concept carried this to a 4. maybe a 3.6 or something
TLDR: While the story is mundane the way you read it adds a lot of character and saves the book.
TLDR: While the story is mundane the way you read it adds a lot of character and saves the book.
April 8, 2019
Some other reviewers are complaining about the lack of story in this book. I certainly found it banal, but really rather delightfully so - it's a fun respite from grandiose adventure stories that end tragically and incline the reader toward a hero complex (not that I don't read and enjoy those!). The idea of writing a story in a language-free, symbolic vocabulary that anyone can understand should naturally limit what kinds of stories can be told as well, since our stories are so often tied up in culture. Part of the interest of this story is seeing how the smallest, most intricate details can be communicated symbolically, and seeing how the author is able to so express what transpires or trying to puzzle out exactly what is happening. And while there really isn't much beginning-middle-end development, it is enjoyable to see how the author can take a story meant to be understandable and relatable to everyone and still surprise the reader.
August 1, 2020
A total delight
June 5, 2017
I'll give the author one star for what is a clever idea... a book with no words, only symbols and images telling the story. Except, there is no story. The main "character" (there aren't really characters, either) gets out of bed and then he takes a shower, and then he goes into his closet and decides between the blue shirt and the green shirt. And then he drives to the office, and then he gets on the elevator, and then he goes to his bosses office. There are entire pages where the character plays video games and you see the little symbol of Super Mario doing the stuff Super Mario does. There are entire pages where he's looking at a menu deciding what to eat. Nothing interesting ever happens in this book, and once the novelty of reading symbols wears off, there is nothing left here of interest. No plot, no story, no characters. I "read" the whole thing hoping there would be something. There is nothing.
January 8, 2023
This book was interesting and unlike anything I have read before. It was interesting to see how well or poorly I was able to interpret some of the passages. However, it made my head spin at times, trying to decipher what the characters meant. I liked how different it was from any other book I have read, but I wouldn't read another book like this one again.
October 6, 2024
cool i guess except nothing happened which i think is the point. that nothing happens in an average everyday officer worker's life😔
July 12, 2019
Interesante propuesta: un libro sin palabras, sin letras. Una historia contada solamente con emoticonos, simbolos, logos, etc.
Muy original.
Muy original.
October 1, 2025
no way this guy did all this in one day
September 3, 2024
I stumbled across this book in the art school library. Intrigued by its back and cover, I had to lend and read it. Well read? watch?
Delightfully simple yet unique idea well-executed, my enthusiasm for it made my teacher buy it, haha.
Delightfully simple yet unique idea well-executed, my enthusiasm for it made my teacher buy it, haha.
February 10, 2021
One of the most innovative books I’ve read, so cool that this exists.
October 28, 2020
This book is a project where the process is more interesting and important than the content. Decades ago Xu Bing made an art installation called The Book from the Sky. He created thousands of "Chinese" characters that were not real characters. They looked and felt like real characters, but they carried no meaning beyond the elements of their shapes. He printed hundreds of pages of them, in a multitude of formats and filled the installation with iterations of them.
To follow up that project, he conceived of The Book from the Ground. This book has no word text. The story is told entirely through the use of icons and symbols commonly found online. The icons are arranged to tell the mundane story of one day in the life of an average office worker. It could be compared to Joyce's Ulysses. The cover doesn't convey the essence of the approach, so, when I post this on FB I'll include a random page from the book.
I'm working on a student activity that will use one sentence from the book (don't know which one, yet) to demonstrate the power of images, symbolism and metaphor in film. Yeah. Not entirely sure how I'll make that all come together, but getting there.
To follow up that project, he conceived of The Book from the Ground. This book has no word text. The story is told entirely through the use of icons and symbols commonly found online. The icons are arranged to tell the mundane story of one day in the life of an average office worker. It could be compared to Joyce's Ulysses. The cover doesn't convey the essence of the approach, so, when I post this on FB I'll include a random page from the book.
I'm working on a student activity that will use one sentence from the book (don't know which one, yet) to demonstrate the power of images, symbolism and metaphor in film. Yeah. Not entirely sure how I'll make that all come together, but getting there.
November 8, 2020
I heard about this book on "The Secret History of Writing" (a BBC4 show I would highly recommend), and was fascinated by the idea, so of course, I had to buy it.
The idea here is that by using emojis, wingdings, logos and other images, a story can be told that anyone can read. And it worked.
Okay, I can't honestly say that I recognised every symbol or was able to decipher every meaning, but I certainly got enough to know what was going on. Basically. we met Mr Black on his waking up and getting ready for work, and all the 'adventures' he has over the next 24 hours. What happens are everyday activities, but if any day had all of them - that would be one hell of a day, which is precisely what Mr Black faces.
It's not the best book I'll ever read, but as an exercise in communication between two people who do not know each other and do not speak the same language, it was was very credible.
Would recommend.
The idea here is that by using emojis, wingdings, logos and other images, a story can be told that anyone can read. And it worked.
Okay, I can't honestly say that I recognised every symbol or was able to decipher every meaning, but I certainly got enough to know what was going on. Basically. we met Mr Black on his waking up and getting ready for work, and all the 'adventures' he has over the next 24 hours. What happens are everyday activities, but if any day had all of them - that would be one hell of a day, which is precisely what Mr Black faces.
It's not the best book I'll ever read, but as an exercise in communication between two people who do not know each other and do not speak the same language, it was was very credible.
Would recommend.
December 30, 2014
This book doesn't have any words. It's entirely symbols and can be read by anyone in any language. It's weird once you get the hang of it and realize you're engrossed in a story in a "language" you've never read before comprised of emoticons, icons, and common signs and symbols. The story chronicles 24 hours in the life of a typical white collar worker in a city, and is actually laugh out loud funny at times. You have to see this for yourself...there's nothing really like it out there.
February 11, 2021
Pretty relatable and some funny moments, but found the main character kinda unsympathetic. Just cuz its all literary doesn't mean the main character has to be a kinda shitty dude who judges and lies to women, does it? Quick read tho
March 13, 2015
I was skeptical at first, thinking it would be difficult to understand the story as it's a book written only using symbols and emojis. However, it's really easy to read. I also laughed a few times.
December 20, 2015
Me encantó, como puedes imaginar, no tengo palabras. Buenísimo
May 12, 2016
كتاب دون كلمات، استخدم المؤلف فيه أغلب الرموز المستخدمة في العالم الرقمي، وعكس بها يوماً في حياة رجل..
استمتعت به، ولكنني لن أقرأ شيئا كهذا إلا إذا كان موضوعا مبتكرا وغير اعتيادي..
استمتعت به، ولكنني لن أقرأ شيئا كهذا إلا إذا كان موضوعا مبتكرا وغير اعتيادي..
March 19, 2018
Fun at first but not long term.
February 5, 2022
👁➡️📖➡️😴 (...) :/😯👄☕️➡️👁➡️📖➡️😴/: (...) 📖🔚🔜☑️➡️🥳💪
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 21, 2022
سرگرم کننده بود من که خیلی سریع تموم کردم چون خیلی کم بود
ولی چیزی ک منو ناراحت میکرد هدر دادن کاغذ بود این بود یه صفحه تماما سفید
فقط دوتا ایموجی توش بود بقیش کاملا سفید
ولی چیزی ک منو ناراحت میکرد هدر دادن کاغذ بود این بود یه صفحه تماما سفید
فقط دوتا ایموجی توش بود بقیش کاملا سفید
January 24, 2025
Lire ce livre est une expérience assez intéressante. L’auteur, un artiste graphiste, n’utilise aucun mot tout au long du livre. En effet, le récit prend la forme de suites de symboles auxquels, avec un peut d’entrainement, on finit par associer un sens et une histoire cohérente. On sourit par moment et on s’amuse à déchiffrer la logique qui se cache derrière certaines combinaisons d’images.
L’histoire demeure toutefois plutôt simpliste : on plonge dans la journée typique d’un employé de bureau bien ordinaire, qui s’habille, qui mange, qui va à la toilette, qui s’emmerde au travail, qui évite son patron, qui cherche l’amour, qui picole et console un ami, et qui retourne se coucher pour pouvoir mieux recommencer le lendemain. À terme, on s’aperçoit avec un peu de déception de tout l’effort investi pour une histoire aussi banale.
L’histoire demeure toutefois plutôt simpliste : on plonge dans la journée typique d’un employé de bureau bien ordinaire, qui s’habille, qui mange, qui va à la toilette, qui s’emmerde au travail, qui évite son patron, qui cherche l’amour, qui picole et console un ami, et qui retourne se coucher pour pouvoir mieux recommencer le lendemain. À terme, on s’aperçoit avec un peu de déception de tout l’effort investi pour une histoire aussi banale.
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