S. ~ A Fascinating Read

Curiosity got the best of me and since I'm a sucker for anything with hidden treasures, I bought the book "S." by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst.  What a treat -- and one you must get in hardback or you miss out on the whole experience.  "S." is actually two stories in one.  First there is "Ship of Theseus," the novel supposedly written by V.M. Straka.  This novel is mysterious and captivating!

But then a second story lies in the margins of the Straka novel!  This second story is basically notes that two people, Eric and Jen, wrote to each other as they tried to figure out Straka's novel and get to know one another through their notations.  (Dorst actually wrote both stories.)

To quote from the book's description:  "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."

Besides that deliciously sneaky feeling that you are spying on these two by reading their handwritten margin notes, the book is chock full of little surprises, which I love!  Postcards, letters, notes, newspaper articles....  What fun!

Check out the youtube trailer for a taste of the adventure you receive with this book:

 "S." by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst

I wasn't quite sure how to approach the book.  I was a little afraid the items would fall out of the pages and I wouldn't know when to refer to them, so I noted their page numbers in a corner of each one with a pencil and put them all in a ziploc baggie.  Then I circled the page number in pencil so I know if I see a circled page number to go to the goodie bag.  Violet is quite curious about the bag's contents.

The next dilemma to resolve was -- how to actually read the book.  Do you read Straka's novel and the margin notes page by page?  I was having trouble concentrating on Straka's storyline that way, so found for me it worked better to read a few pages, then go back and read Eric and Jen's notes and retrieve any goodie bag items. 

J.J. Abrams is the filmmaker who produced, directed or wrote Lost, Star Trek, Mission Impossible, Fringe and more. Doug Dorst is a university professor and a writer, and impressively a three time Jeopardy winner!

 A wonderful indulgence in a different world!