S. by Doug Dorst and J. J. Abrams was a highly secretive collaboration, having released only two illusive trailers that seemed more cinematic than book related. J. J. Abrams, the mastermind behind Lost, came up with the idea of S. while at an airport where he found an abandoned copy of a Robert Ludlum novel. Inside he found a woman named Jan's handwritten request: read this book and leave it for someone else to find. J. J. was so intrigued by the idea that he carried it—as well as the book having never actual fulfilled Jan's request to leave it for someone else—around with him for over fifteen years.

In 2009, Doug Dorst, the three-time winner of Jeopardy!, won the chance to work with J. J. on the novel. He has stated that he was somewhat crazy for having taken on such an intricate project, never able to predict exactly how complex it would be. This is where the story begins to intrigue me.

S. is only the surface name of the book in its entirety. It is built up of many other components that bring the reader into the story, as a participant to the story. The only spot that you see J. J. Abrams' and Doug Dorst's names is on the black cover that encases the book. Once the seal is broken and the book falls out, you realize that there is so much more to this story. The book immediately brings you into the story; it looks exactly like an old library book. Complete with a Dewey Decimal call number sticker on its spine and yellowing pages within, the Ship of Theseus by V. M. Straka seems to be a mistake. I though the story was called S.? However, it is not a mistake; it is the first layer of this complex novel.

Ship of Theseus is the story of a man named S who wakes up aboard a ship, he doesn't remember who he is or why he is on the boat. In addition, everyone else on the boat cannot speak because their lips have bene sewn shut. The story evolves from Greek legend which questions this: if a ship is constantly being repaired, piece-by-piece, until all of the original pieces have been replaced, is that ship still the same ship or an entirely different one? S goes through a similar experience of self-identity. This is not where the story is the most exciting or even experimental. The excitement starts within the margins of the book wherein a handwritten story unfolds: this is level two.

The book seems like an old library book of the Ship of Theseus by V. M. Straka, a fictitious author, that has been stole from a high school. Inside are the questions and remarks of someone named Eric. Jen finds the book one day and decides to write in her own thoughts responding to Eric. At some point, Eric finds the book that Jen left and sees that she has written in response to his writings and a whirlwind of crazy book defacing ensues.

The story on the second level follows the romance of Jen and Eric as the begin to find things about each other with each new pass of the book. It isn't as if the two of them wrote one thing and passed it on to the other but rather Jen wrote a chunk of responses and then Eric did the same. This can be confusing because the story doesn't start at the beginning and go to the end. Throughout the book are different scribblings in different color pairs. First they are singular pencil markings of Eric's first interaction with the book, then there are black and blue pairs when Jen responded to Eric. Next we have orange and green pairs, purple and red pairs, and black and black pairs. All of these pairing can appear on the same page non-chronologically. The marginalia, to me is what sets the book apart.

As if the story isn't complex enough with the non-chronological storyline in the margins and the underlying philosophical story of S within Theseus' Paradox, there is the origins of V. M. Straka and the mystery around the fictitious writer. Originally, the Ship of Theseus, was written in another language and translated by someone named F. X. Caldeira who, throughout the book, has written footnotes about V. M. Straka. Eric, a graduate student, has devoted his studies to who V. M. Straka was and whether or not he was even real. Jen and Eric go on the journey of finding out who Straka was and if Caldeira existed or whether they are the same person.

To add another complexity and immersive quality to the novel, there are over twenty unique items, ephemera if you will, from postcards to printouts to a map on a napkin. These items were put in the book by Jen and Eric and it makes you feel as if this story between Eric and Jen in the margins actually happened. I applaud the publisher's efforts on this one! I bought the book for the mere efforts of the publisher. Never have I seen a story that pulls you in and makes you believe that the story has really happened. That this book was left in a library and you are the next to pick it up. Will you add your own writing?

Having worked in libraries for over fifteen years, I have grown to dislike the mistreating of books which includes writing within them. However, when I was going to university, I loved to see what other students had thought about a particular section. If a passage was underlined, it immediately made question whether it was important to remember or whether the other person had found some sort of grain of knowledge that I should also find. Throughout this novel, there are passages underlined and the importance may be interpreted differently.

I believe that S. is truly a one of kind and nothing else published can quite immerse the reader so fully. Even if you do not like the story this is a true piece of art that needs to be on all bibliophiles' bookshelves.
Caleb Pecue 0 Comments
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