Dorst: It was around the summer of 2009—they handed me the concept and said: “What kind of story would you tell, given this conceit?” And, first of all, I got really excited, because of the challenge of telling a story in this really restricted form. S. is really three stories in one: the story of the novel Ship of Theseus, the story behind the writer V. M. Straka, and the life stories of Eric and Jen and all their notes and inserts, which make for an impressive, if not overwhelming, reading experience. A coworker of mine had this book with him on his lunch break and I could not wait to find it! Any help? it is interesting to think that more people here are gonna get their brains hurt .

This is a moderated subreddit. It reminded me of being in college, and seeing the notes that people would leave in the margins of the books they’d checked out of the library. I found a used copy online but even then I am nervous that all of the “parts” won’t be there, haha! Here is a “color guide” to the marginalia. So, glad it is a long weekend! But that story dragged a bit for me. Green (Eric), orange (Jen) – Jen and Eric’s relationship deepens, Red (Eric), purple (Jen) – Jen and Eric share deeper details of Straka and each other, Black (Eric), black (Jen) – final colors used. I hope it helps. Came here to ask a question because I haven't been able to find anything online.

Although the story of the Ship of Theseus/Eric and Jen was not outstanding, S. is still an amazing and unique creation – a book that anyone who loves “real” books should have on his/her shelf. Finally, repeat the entire process with the black notes written by Eric and Jen. The key is to enjoy the book’s unique design and not to be annoyed or bogged down by it. I’m starting to feel that Abrams has lost sight of that. You can read Ship of Theseus all the way through, but scribbled within the margins, tucked away between pages, is another story: one of two college students trying to decode the mysteries of V.M. In Aarseth’s theory, the medium through which a story is told is as important as the story itself. Hope it helps. If you don’t, though, there is a handy web page that will help you remember where they all go. It’s available in iBooks and works great on any iPhone, iPad, Mac. I’m just reading the printed page, no notes yet. Overall, I give this book an “A” for effort. Ship of Theseus is the 19th book by V.M. I’m interested in such books lately (Tree of Codes, Building Stories, etc.). One layer out, Eric stole the physical copy of Ship of Theseus in readers’ hands from the Laguna Verde High School library long ago. Red (Jen) and green (Eric) – These colors were used during the second phase of their relationship, when they knew each other better and delved deeper into the text and Straka’s life.