S.

Last updated on July 23, 2024

My tsundoku keeps multiplying and I won’t apologize for this self-infliction. I saw this beautiful novel titled S. in a bookstore recently and decided I had to have it knowing very little about this other than it was sealed in plastic, but well designed. 

I was not disappointed. Once I removed the plastic, I then had to break the seal to slide the hardback from its cardboard-protected shell. The hardback itself is designed to mimic a novel from the 1940’s from a fictional author who tells his fascinating life story. Inside, the pages are designed to appear weathered, worn and faded yellow. The story within the story within this story is not only the biography itself, but of two people who communicate through each other’s marginalia (I LOVE marginalia) on these pages. But wait, there is more. Inside the pages are inserted, physical letters, postcards, notes on a cafe napkin, photographs and even a paper compass wheel. 

I enjoy a good story, but even more so the approach that publishers are crafting multi-dimensional books to tell a good story and keep the reader engaged. Much like the Rabbits series and my current reading of XX.

The only other book I want but not in my physical possession is The House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. I need to rectify that soon and increase my tsundoku.

I look forward to devouring S. as soon as possible.