Status Updates From Griffin & Sabine (Griffin &...

Page-Turn 17 gives Sabine the last word: she is a muse who takes more than she gives. My first impression is that an artist who creates a muse is powerfully in control.

Much will depend on how a reader responds to the revelation on Page-Turn 16. My concerns about reliability and disembodied narrators turned out warranted. Rather than a fantasy or sci-fi plot to enhance, we have psychological thriller with a mentally ill romance coming into focus.

On Page-Turn 15, Sabine invites Griffin to visit and leave the unhappiness of London behind.

On Page-Turn 14, Griffin describes a tantrum he threw in a restaurant. A challenge of a correspondence story is there is little objectivity. How reliable is Griffin? Are there any cues or clues? And what do we make of his ask for a “photograph” and Sabine’s response on the right-hand page with a painting? An artistic conflict.

On Page-Turn 13, Sabine speaks to Griffin letting his growing darkness “reflect the night.” He responds on the right page with the haunting “The Blind Leading the Blind”; is that a comment on them both? Just on him, who can’t share sight?

On back of “Frankie and Johnny,” Griffin asks for something from the islands to “heal [his] ailing soul.” On the right-hand page, Sabine’s postcard is busy and not island-esque.

Page-Turn 12: Sabine is concerned for Griffin’s unhappiness. Since Shared Sight only shows Griffin’s art, how can she reciprocate?

Page-Turn 11: revelation that Sabine has designed the islands stamps. Also, first mention of erotic drawing by Griffin. Conflict: let’s not question connection and question of why Griffin writes more history than present events.

Page-Turn 10 reveals the title of the previous page is “Man Descending a Staircase.” Textual content: not long-lost twins.

On Page-Turn 9, Sabine responds in particular to Griffin’s misery at Vereker’s death. The tone becomes more intimate with a racing heart and finding one another. For Griffin’s part, the right-hand page is a photo of a man smiling as lies head-first going downstairs.

Page-Turn 8 brings Moss’ typed origin story, which moves from “cartoon” parents killed by a newspaper van to his mother’s stepsister Vereker, a potter.

Page-Turn 7 introduces the first letter: a double-sided origin story of Sabine.

On Page-Turn 6, Moss asks questions about Shared Sight. I am intrigued that he says nothing about “The Alchemist” on what would be Page 11. I marveled at this graphic.

On Page-Turn 5, Sabine reveals the shocker of shared sight. She offers a scene of Moss erasing a bird as evidence. She also confirms she makes her postcards.

On Page-Turn Four, Griffin backs away from “Sabine” to a more cautious “Ms. Strohem,” and asks if she makes her own postcards.

The third Page-Turn reveals a “phenomenon that links” Moss to Sabine. She knows his art but not his history. Thus far the Page-Turns make for a Sabine-text on page-left and a Griffin-graphic on page-right. The Page-Turn maintains the postcard aspect ratio from the previous page.

The second Page-Turn establishes a conflict: Griffin has no memory of meeting Sabine. Two questions: 1) Will we ever see Griffin’s fish-w/cup postcard mentioned by Sabine, and 2) Does Sabine make her own postcards?

How to describe this book w/o page#s, w/o chapters? The First Page-Turn establishes Sabine Strohem lives on Katin (Katie?) in The Sicmon Islands in the South Pacific. Griffin Moss makes fish postcards and lives in London, which is also on an island.