Chaos Reading discussion
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S.
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Discussion OPEN!! - "S." - [*spoilers*]
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[This is what I mean by "it's an experience". Every step of the process, it draws you in and makes you part of it. Okay, I'll stop talking now.]
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[This is what I mean by "it's an experience". Every step of the process, it draws you in and makes you part of it. Okay, I'll stop talking now.]"
Did a quick flip through since I had it sent to work. A couple of us were admiring the library stamp on the back flap and reminiscing about the days of flipping through library card catalogs to the sound of 'Ca-chunk. Ca-chunk. Ca-chunk" coming from the check-out desk.
This sounds super cool and I want in, especially since I've been slacking on the group reads lately, but as I'm currently traveling in Vietnam I doubt I can get my hands on a copy until I get back to the States. Sucks, I've been mostly reading terrible paperback thrillers found on hostel book swap shelves for the past month!
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straight up, is this worth it or is it a gimmick? i've been a Kindle devotee for several years now so it needs to be pretty damn special to make me buiy a hardcopy beyond graphic novels these daysworth it or gimmick? enquiring minds wanna know
My brand new untouched since assembly and being sealed in shrink wrap copy arrived in this afternoon's mail!Ceremonial (or at least cautious) opening after dinner.
On the topic of cautious opening:
1. Did anyone else who recently obtained a new copy note where everything is/was at the start?
2. The person who I saw their copy thinks that theirs, copy of 'S', when new had some differences from their sisters. Take note and we'll all compare later.
3. Look at the orientation of the seal. That's a definite difference in the two already open copies I've had my hands on.
This is going to be lots of fun!!
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Totally worth it. Yes, there's a gimmick element, but it really does draw you in, and make you feel as if you're participating. Plus, it really IS a love-letter to the paper book.
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If you have a look at the book page on GR, somebody has noted where all the extras were originally placed. This will be important - they WILL fall out while you're reading. That's unavoidable.
I'm not sure my extras were in exactly the same spots as that list, but it doesn't make any difference if you're a few pages off either way.
What do you mean by "the orientation of the seal"?
Ruby [Has Been Censored] [Isn't Happy] wrote: "CD wrote: "Did anyone else who recently obtained a new copy note where everything is/was at the start?..."If you have a look at the book page on GR, somebody has noted where all the extras were ..."
I have seen the seal applied upside down. Must look for that list! The friend and his sister that I mentioned had 'different' experiences with their individual copies. Just curiosity as much anything on my part.
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I finally opened the seal this evening. Two days later than I planned, but not related to the book.The notes on the end-papers alone are worth the price of admission. Now I'm curious to see what has been substituted or left of the ebook...
I'm really impressed at how good a job they did at simulating the uneven flow of ink from a ballpoint pen.
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Yeah - although Jen's writing really irritated me. That's some terrible cursive- I couldn't tell what half the letters were!
Anybody figure out the code wheel???
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Not me. I was kinda glad the characters seemed to solve most of the codes for themselves! I am a bit curious though..
I just ordered this one since it looks so tempting! Won't be here before the new year though.
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That's cool. You might still get done before the 12th. It's hard to put down!
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I started by pretty much reading everything at the same time. Then started reading a few pages of the main book and going back and reading the comments. FInally decided to go linear and read the entire "Ship of Theseus", then go back and read the commentaries in their respective orders. The drawback to this method is needing to leave all the inserted material in the book, and getting the occasional 'spoiler' because I can't stop myself from looking at some of the comments.
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This tie-in site has a few things Straka, but primarily contains a dossier with biographies of the major candidates for Straka's true identity. http://eotvoswheel.com
Whitney wrote: "A couple fun links related to the book. On December 18th Doug Dorst (@dougdorst) tweeted Edsel Grimshaw's review of Ship of Theseus from 1950. This tie-in site has a few things Straka, but prima..."
I love it! This is getting more and more entertaining.
Is everybody else getting the H.P. Lovecraft vibe??
Or is it just me . . .
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Sorry, I'm commenting via the GR app, or I'd post the link here myself..
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Tie-in sites to the world of Straka
http://eotvoswheel.com/
http://www.radiostraka.com/
Reference Sites for S.
http://sfiles22.blogspot.com/ (so far, THE site for analysis and discussion)
http://mysteriesofs.wordpress.com/ (handy references)
https://www.pinterest.com/JuriMoll/th... (sightings of the "S" et. al.)
Unknown if from a fan or the writers
http://whoisstraka.com
Twitter Sites:
@SFiles22
@RadioStraka
@dougdorst
@EricHusch
@JenTheUndergrad
Edited to add twitter handles for Jen and Eric.
I know I don't contribute much to this community but I must say that this is one of the best books I've ever read. Not finished yet, probably in a day or two but I love it. I really think these these two should collaborate on the other "Straka" books.
CD wrote: "Did anyone else who recently obtained a new copy note where everything is/was at the start?..."I spent a half hour or so putting Post-It™ notes on all the inserts with the page numbers, just to be prudent. I hope the sticky stuff doesn't mess up the napkin.
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Ha, I did the same thing after decided to read "Ship Of Theseus" before all the margin notes. I checked as I did it that everything was indeed located on the page numbers listed in the post Ruby referred to above. Here's the link again: Ordering of Items.
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*SPOILERS* FROM HERE ON DOWN..
So how did everyone go? Did you enjoy the "Straka" book? Did you manage to master any of the codes? Did you pick up on any juicy little hidden details?
Personally, I really loved this as a reading experience. I thought the "Straka" novel was wonderful in its own right, and would love to read something else along a similar vein. If anyone can suggest similar books, I'd really appreciate it.
I didn't figure out how to use the decoder wheel - did anyone else?
I thought the book could have ended on a more.... impactful note, but that was the only (quite minor) disappointment for me. I'll dig up my notes soon - It has been a little while since I finished it, so I'm a bit hazy on some of the details.
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I was a little disappointed with how everything came together as well, probably more than you were. I didn't expect a whiz bang smash-up of a resolution, as it's not really a linear narrative, but I was hoping the different elements would coalesce into something greater than the sum of their parts. I'll be back as well, waiting to hear what others have to say. I think I'll appreciate the book more after some discussion.
So I haven't read S but I really want to. I love reading how everyone else is tackling this experience. For a book that is kind of similar I would suggest House of Leaves. I haven't read it but I have heard it is an experience to read.
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Hi, Jenn. Please read S. and join in! House of Leaves is an excellent suggestion. So excellent that we did a group read of it back in 2012 :-) Feel free to read and revive that discussion as well.
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First of all, I love this book conceptually. As an artifact, as a tribute to writing and reading in it’s different forms and interpretations. And I thoroughly enjoyed reading it with all the interconnected stories and extras.
Where the book fell short to me was in its unexplained detail. Quite a bit of it didn’t strike me as something that actually had an ‘answer’, even if only in the mind of the writers. It seemed more like random detail thrown in solely to add to the air of mystery. (Or maybe I’m just projecting based on the two unnecessary seasons of ‘Lost’.) For example: the mysterious writing and underlining in the book, the true story of Signe Rabe et. al.
One stupid detail that I think I just failed to pick up on – how did Jen know about Eric’s stay in a mental institution? She comments on it before they’ve met in person. Can anyone fill me in here?
Whitney wrote: "I know there are more S readers out there. Hopefully some are working on catching up to the discussion. Meanwhile, here are some of my thoughts and criticisms....One stupid detail that I think I just failed to pick up on – how did Jen know about Eric’s stay in a mental institution? She comments on it before they’ve met in person. Can anyone fill me in here?
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Early in the book (Ch. 1 or Ch. 2) in one of the conversations in the margin, Eric started making comments about his 'two months', his 'time', etc., being away or in a a facility I believe may have been the term?? There is another set of inferences later where Jen wnats to know if he is through with that phase or something like that. I'll go back and see if I can easily find it.
Then I believe there was a sentence buried where after the flooding of the school hall, that Eric went for treatment as opposed to jail. From this Jen knew about the mental institution.
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Are you finished CD? Thoughts? What part(s) gave you the H.P. Lovecraft vibe?
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Hahaha! I have the same question in my notes. Hang in there, Whitney. I'm just going through now and checking my notes against the book. I should be able to prompt a few memory cells into action and remember some specifics. The monkey was one question I wasn't able to figure out though.
For this book, I took notes using voice-to-text in one of my iPhone apps. Mostly, the experiment was a success, plus it yielded gems like: "They all occupied the same space but did not octopi it together.... ..1000 discreet and solid terry realities.."
That was from one of my favourite passages, by the way, and should have read: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/9932...
There was one thing I wondered - Did anyone else feel that Jen's revelation in her letter changed the way we see her? It totally did for me. At the time I was wondering if maybe this was telegraphing that she couldn't be trusted, but of course it didn't play out that way. It definitely gave her character some shadow though.
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As Whitney mentioned, we did House of Leaves as a group read a while back here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
You're welcome to keep adding to the thread when you've read the book.
While both are metafictional books-about-books, and both have fairly unique formats, I wouldn't really say that they're similar books, though. If I had to use keywords, I'd say HoL was horror/experimental-literature/fantasy, while S. is more mystery/espionage/romance/noir.
There's a strong message in the format of S. about the romance of words on a written page, (as Whitney said, books as artefacts) while HoL is more about experimenting with how the reader interacts with the book. At least that's my take on it. Anyone else read both and have a view?
Whitney wrote: "Right, yeah , I caught the references / inferences to his time in the institution, just not the moment when Jen found out. That buried sentence you mention may be the key. They start referencing of..."Sorry I didn't get back to this sooner, work called and then I needed some sleep!!
Very early in the book, [I had to go back and find it] pg 23, we start to get hints about mental disturbance with the margin notes about fear/anxiety/aversion and the, I think first comment, about the 'hearing'. Then a response of 'been there,done that'.
Then there is the on and off use of therapy/analysis language in both the margin commentary and the repartee between Jen and Eric. Then on page 41 Eric mentions Dr. Brand who helped him in the hospital. Then there are several comments over the next few pages about his, Erics, recovery and ongoing struggles. This evolves into Jen using more of the therapeutic-self analytic language and her room mates concern for her.
The pieces are all there fairly early, certainly before page 100. If there was particular statement by Eric of 'I was in a mental institution' or similar I can't specifically recall or find it. Though I do believe there was a response somewhere in the first 100 pages about chronology where Eric responds "I was in the hospital". That is one of the statements I went back and looked for and haven't found the exact one. Of course they didn't even know each others names at this point for certain.
The Lovecraft connections and vibe:
Secret Documents and symbols. Seafaring villages and strange appearing figures. Amnesia. Mutilations. The combination of all of them are very similar to the elements H.P. used to build that feel his works impart to the reader.
The sailors who have their mouths sewn shut are a very Lovecraftian device.
Chapter 6 starting on pg 203 is a good example of the tone of a work that is very similar to those of Lovecraft. From the meter of the prose to the eerie content of the descriptions used about the story setting, and the notes on the wall not being what was remembered [pg 207], it was for me very reminiscent of several of his works not the least of which is Lovecraft's story The Mysterious Ship .
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Ruby [Reviles Censorship] wrote: "It probably helps to note that the margin comments in colour (orange and green, red and purple) are from later in Jen & Eric's relationship. They do go back to the start of the book with their mess..."Yes! There's a comment somewhere (????) I'm pretty sure that Eric states unambiguously for the first time he was in the hospital. It may be much later, sequentially if not chronologically in the book.
The references posted I believe are all from the first set of communications. Mostly from before they knew each others name. This all was part of Eric at least, gaining 'trust?' maybe??
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Not really. I went through the book three times, making the different colored margin notes the main focus of each read-through. It still seems they were referencing details of events that they shouldn't have known before they actually met and had a chance to communicate outside the book. I could have missed something, though, for sure.
CD - good answer! I don't even remember "The Mysterious Ship" from my fanatical Lovecraft days. Will read immediately.
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In any case, it's kind of a quibble, just something that was nagging me.
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Yeah, I didn't pick up on any of that. I just assumed that if it was new information to me, they must have discussed it either on a later page in the book, or in person. By the sounds of it though, it doesn't stand up to very close scrutiny?
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p122 - Says that Straka was dead before FXC wrote the coded message. Umm..... how does Eric know this? Particularly when he doesn't know who Straka is?
p204 - It says "along with 61 of their fellow workers". the newspaper headline read 58 (p118). This number pops up again later in the number of pictures S is given in the briefcase.
p392- Sola tells him that she was alone in the canoe. What's going on here? Was it his younger self? Alternate reality? What is their connection? Speaking to him from the margins.
p437 - "Wait - you hadn't gone to New York yet." wtf?!
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Despite the issues we seem to be finding in the detail, there is a lot to love about this book. I loved that the theme of choosing your own identity was recurrent all the way through. The question of whether the different "versions" of "you" carry on from the past into the present was very well done, I thought, and thoroughly explored all the way through. It was actually my very first and very last comment on the book.
I particularly loved the section in Ship of Theseus where he's writing, carving his words into the ship, but "everything that begins as a call to her comes out somehow as a curse of himself." I thought that was a beautifully executed idea. Coupled with the inky imagery of what happens below decks, there must be a lot for the tortured writer to like in this book too!
Chaos Reading
Books mentioned in this topic
El buque misterioso (other topics)House of Leaves (other topics)
House of Leaves (other topics)
*HOLIDAY GROUP READ* - "S." by DOUG DORST (a J.J. Abrams concept)
This is one I do recommend buying a copy of if you possibly can. Here's why:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
[see message 8 and onwards]
This really is more of an "experience" than a "read" - a perfect activity for us over the holidays. It's a horror-sci-fi-conspiracy-love-story-new-weird-metafictional-mystery.. something for everyone!
Discussion starts January 15th. Enjoy! Bwahahaha....