I bought 2 books, one for myself and another to give as a gift. First one arrived with an absolutely destroyed cover (see photo 1 and 2), but I don't really mind because the book itself is fine. The second one arrived with better cover but both books arrived with a broken seal (that keeps a book inside), so now I have to either glue it back together or just give it as it is. Book that arrived first had a dent (see photo 5), second book had smashed corners (see photo 6). Inside, both books look amazing see the video, they are just like what I imagined when I was reading reviews. It's a nice adventure to have and a great gift. Overall, I enjoyed these books even though I received them a bit rougthly packaged, they anyway were on a sale so maybe I just didn't see a comment that the package is different. For me this is even adds to the experience because it gives a vibe that these books were in hands of many people many times 😄 Read more

When you pick up S. the first problem you have is how to read the thing! I believe the title page gives you the clue. Having read the initial correspondence between Jen and the stranger, I followed her route of discovery and read the V. M. Straka Ship of Theseus novel first ignoring all the notations. Early in their conversation, before any of their notes back and forth, Jen finishes the novel in one sitting "Thanks! Read the rest in one sitting - wow." The stranger then teases Jen implying she has not seen the real message in the book whereby Jen goes back doing more of an analysis and leaves the first run of commentary starting their dialogue. The only notes in the book when Jen reads it first are the translator’s footnotes and the stranger’s pencil notes. Firstly, the novel. Ship of Theseus. The story is a strange one and I’m not even sure what genre you would put it in... fiction certainly but adventure/horror/mystery/fantasy/supernatural... it has all these elements but none are defining. We first meet S., the title character, in a city by the sea. He is very wet, has no memory of how he got there or who he is. He wanders aimlessly for a time in a surreal atmosphere before entering a tavern. Here he meets a woman reading a book; she seems familiar but professes she does not know S. It is a trap and S. is shanghaied, next waking on a ship at sea. The ship, the woman and the book reoccur throughout the novel as S. tries to escape but always returns. Sounds strange as I say but to go any deeper here would spoil the experience of reading. While I enjoyed the novel I struggled to devise the meaning, if any, behind the story. It seemed to me to be about many things not least unrequited love and loss as well as the greed of humanity and its propensity for evil to obtain what it desires. If the story was a metaphor for something deeper I’m afraid I missed it although the books and the Island struck a chord. Life perhaps? It was certainly intriguing with a seemingly unending war between good and evil where a balance is maintained by bloody action on both sides, with S. becoming a major player towards the end... certainly worth reading. Secondly, we have the book’s footnotes and the margin notes which are an entire story in their own right. As the original manuscript for Ship of Theseus was not in English the book has been translated by one F. X Caldeira. Many readers (in the fictional world of the book) believe the translator’s forward and footnotes are actually messages in code to the author Straka. The first margin notes in the book are Eric’s pencil ones which are then followed by a dialogue between Jen and Eric as they try to identify Straka and unravel Caldeira’s messages. As they delve deeper a sense of threat develops as unseen enemies try to prevent Jen and Eric revealing the truth. Is it paranoia? Is the threat real? Are they about to reveal a clandestine organisation that kills without compunction? Is it simply academic rivalry? The paranoia, real or imagined, drips from the page as you read, becoming more and more involved in Jen and Eric’s quest to learn the truth. Again I’ll say no more as to do so would spoil the fun. The margin notes are handwritten in two distinct styles; Jen’s are lowercase cursive script while Eric’s are all in uppercase block letters. Several colours are used to indicate the different iterations as the book passes back and forth between Jen and Eric. I don’t believe you need to try and read them in the order they were written, i.e. follow a colour, as some have suggested. Not only would this be an almost impossible task it seemed to me each full set of notes on a particular page moved the narrative of Jen and Eric along correctly in time. In truth it would probably spoil it trying to read a single set of colours first as near the end you would undoubtedly read a future note too early. Then again, I could have it completely wrong, that is the beauty of the whole book. And finally, the book’s production. It is simply astounding. Place this in the hands of any book lover and their heart will melt. It arrives sealed in a functional slipcase to ensure the contents remain intact. You open the cellophane and are presented with a perforated seal embossed with an S.. You break this with a letter opener and slide out Ship of Theseus which is a faithful reproduction of an old 1949 library book (the only giveaway is the smallest copyright panel below the library in/out stamps at the back of the book, and even this is disguised to look like the Library’s lending rules). In the book are numerous pieces of ephemera, old letters, postcards, articles, etc., that all expand the story and relate to Jen and Eric’s notes as they try to solve the mystery of Straka and learn more about one another. S. is a rare thing; individually each element is very good in its own right, however, the sum of the parts is breathtaking and every book lover should own a copy, read it and enjoy the experience. • The story • The foot notes • The margin notes • The ephemera • The codes • The quality of product If you had the time you could spend hours of enjoyment unravelling more and more... and at the end there is one mystery left unanswered... how did we, the reader, get the book? Read more

My daughter wanted this book forever as it's a very complicated story that you read once to get the author's view, and then read it again to read the notes and inserts in the book. Definitely for a book lover, but buy it when it's marked down. 60+ $ is very expensive! Read more

There is no easy way to describe S., the multilayered composite novel experience created by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst, but it is undeniably brilliant and an absolute joy to explore. Like Mark Z. Danielewski’s brilliant House of Leaves, it is a book that refuses to be contained within the boundaries of its pages, with multiple levels of narrative that bleed into one another. Even more than House of Leaves, however, S. is a love letter to the physicality of real books as tangible objects, to be held and collected and admired and treasured- there is no way this book could work as an e-book, and that is not just snobbery. The reason for this is that S. is not just a book, but a multimedia artistic experience, a puzzle, and a layered narrative that the physical book itself is just one portion of. In fact, the book included in S. is not itself called S.; it is a book called Ship of Theseus by a man (or perhaps not a man) named V.M. Straka (except that may not be his real name). The book itself is weathered, and appears to have come from a public library, complete with a filing sticker on the spine and a stamped check out/return page in the back cover. From the “Translator’s Note and Forward” at beginning of the book we learn that Ship of Theseus was the final novel written by an enigmatic but prolific writer named V.M. Straka, whose true identity remained a mystery to all but a very few people- in this it seems Straka was at least partially based on B. Travens, author of Treasure of the Sierra Madre, whose true identity has never been uncovered. Straka was a literary genius, and his novels are full of symbolism and allusion that imbues his works with layers of meaning and opinion depending on the interpretation of the reader, much like Moby Dick. Luckily for us, the book is footnoted and annotated by the translator, F.X. Caldeira, which adds the second level to this metanarrative, as there is quite a bit of thoughtful interpretation and discourse by Caldeira, who appears to be nearly as enigmatic as Straka. Ship of Theseus, amazing enough, can stand on its own two feet even if it was the true story being told here. Someday I plan to read the novel by itself and ignore all of the other extraneous material and see what sort of literary takeaway I get. I will avoid spoilers, but at its barest essence, Ship of Theseus is about a man who is suffering from amnesia, who goes by the name of “S,” because when he woke up his only possession was a slip of paper with an ornate letter “S” written on it. He ends up shanghaied on the eponymous ship, whose terrifying and almost bestial crew seem to know something about him, and who often disappear below the decks to take part in some sort of secretive ritual. I won’t reveal any more of the plot, but it is very engaging and well written. In any event, this is the book you are reading, not S. This is because the physical book itself is only one part of the narrative. As previously mentioned, the annotations and footnotes by FXC make up another layer of the story, imposing a fictional literary universe that places the book in its conceptual parameters. The third layer is provided by handwritten notes in the margin in (at least) two different hands and five different colors of ink, in which two readers of the book are keeping up an ongoing correspondence. Eric is a disgraced university student who is obsessed with V.M. Straka and believes that clues to the author’s identity is hidden within Ship of Theseus- his original notes are written in pencil in the margins, and he has underlined certain passages. Since he is no longer a student at the college where the book was housed, he could not check it out anymore, but continues to study the book’s mysteries. Jen is a current student at the college who is also studying Ship of Theseus, and discovers Eric’s obsessive but brilliant notes. Realizing that they are ongoing, she “replies” to Eric’s notes, sparking an ongoing conversation between the two. Besides their different handwriting, Jen’s initial notes are in blue ink, Eric’s in black. Together they begin to try to tease out the book’s secrets. They make multiple passes through the book over the course of years, and the changing colors of ink mark the passage of time. In their second pass through the book, Jen writes in orange ink, Eric in green. Their third pass is marked by Jen writing in purple, Eric in red. Their final pass is the books “epilogue,” discussing strange events that have transpired for both of them, and both are written in black ink. And at certain times, notes are left by an unidentified third party who seems to be closely watching the pair and following their research. In addition to their notes, Jen and Eric are continuing their research in the “real world,” as represented by a number of very cool physical artifacts that are included in the book. These include computer printouts, personal letters written on university letterhead, postcards, newspaper clippings, notes written on napkins, handwritten letters, and even decryption wheel, to name but a few. These are part of the third level of the narrative between Jen and Eric, but add a level of physical reality and verisimilitude to the story. What it reminds me most of is the Griffin and Sabine “correspondences,” by Nick Bantock, a love story told entirely through handmade postcards, notes, and other creative physical notes and artifacts. But in S. these are more than just a nifty layer to the metanarrative. In many cases they are clues necessary to unravel the book’s many secrets. Because beyond the mystery of Straka’s identity and the relationship growing between Eric and Jen, there also seems to be a shadowy force that is watching the pair, and actively trying to keep them from unravelling the mystery, somehow tied to Straka, F.X. Caldiera, and the greater mystery of the enigma surrounding the author. The fourth and final layer of the narrative is the actual real world, for which you, the reader, are the cipher. You are not only reading Straka’s novel, FXC’s annotations and clues, and Jen and Eric’s attempts to unlock the puzzle posed by both, but are also being provided with clues that spill out into the real world, in particular the internet. There are names, companies, phone numbers, the names of cafés and other establishments mentioned by Jen and Eric, and so on that if searched for on the internet bring you to websites that provide you with further clues and take you deeper into the conspiracy. I must admit that while I find this both interesting and charming, I have not spent much time on this level of the narrative. While it is neat, and very much indicative of J.J. Abram’s influence on this level of the narrative, I just don’t have this kind of time to spend on a single novel, no matter how interesting it is. The nice thing is that even though this is a metanarrative on a number of levels, the whole thing is strong enough to stand on its own. Ship of Theseus stands on its own, but S. as a multimedia experience is the sum total of every level of the narrative. As of yet, I have only really experienced S. as contained within the physical boundaries of the book (which, by the way, comes within a slipcover that is sealed with a strip of paper, so that none of the materials inside can fall out, which is marked with J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst’s names, along with the picture of a capuchin monkey. Once you break that seal, the S. experience begins). Even without the viral marketing internet mystery level of the narrative, the first three layers of the metanarrative work perfectly well on their own- the fourth layer just makes the work open ended and tantalizingly ambiguous. I don’t think the ultimate “answer” to the enigma of S. is really out there on the internet, meaning it is a mystery without a solution and without an end. But that is okay, because in this case, the fun of the whole experience is in the journey, not the destination. Read more

Well nothing much to say about this book that tiktok hasn’t covered already. I missed these books that comes with this little extra things to add to the story, and really made me feel as I was part of the history. Read more

Nice pictures Read more