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This thread is to discuss J.J. Abram's book, S..


***Please remember to mark spoilers.***

Participants:
Kara, Scott, Nidhi, Theresa October-Lace, Tasha, Brianna, Lilac, Jodi, Cassandra

Suggested break down of reading so that you can check in and let us know how you're going. The following breakdown is purely a suggestion and is therefore not set in stone.

Rather than putting dates for each section I've done it so that it takes into account that not everybody will necessarily have the book at the same time.

Week 1: 114 pages
Week 2: 114 pages
Week 3: 114 pages
Week 4: 115 pages

sounds great cant wait :) I was too excited when I got my book I read through one time without the margins so I can keep up with chatting on here :)

This is the website I used where a few ideas how to read the book were found



In the beginner guide this is what I found to read the margins

- Here is a “color guide� to the marginalia. I hope it helps.
If interested (view spoiler)[
Pencil � Eric’s notes when he was young, before he met Jen.

Black (Eric), blue (Jen) � Jen and Eric first meet and begin their discussions.

Green (Eric), red (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
(hide spoiler)]

Cant wait to read with you guys. I put link to the guides because once you open the book it looks really overwhelming

Brianna wrote: "I found this site on how to read S.
I've tried to read it once before and it's kind of overwhelming.
How are you going to attack this? Read the novel first then go back with the inserts and margin ..."

lol that is too funny I was editing my post and we both put a link at the same time

I tried to read it as it was at first but it was hard to keep track of everything at once. I think what I'll do now is read a chapter of the story and then go back to read the margins. I'll probably end up reading all the margin notes regardless of colour because I like the idea of that type of foreshadowing/hinting. Haven't completely decided on that though.

The article linked above references a discussion with Doug Dorst, JJ Abrams, and a moderator, Lena Dunham. Acknowledging that each reader must choose his/her own method of getting though S., Dorst would read the entire novel before tackling the notes and inserts. Abrams would read a chapter, then the accompanying notes and inserts, and repeat that process to the end. Dunham confessed she read all of the notes first!

I will probably read the entire novel first, then delve into Jen and Eric's conversation.

I think I am going to read chapter by chapter too, adding the margins and inserts as we go

I just bought my copy yesterday. It was an expensive book. I haven't opened it yet. I have a lot of house cleaning to do.....I am excited to get started.

Has anyone else started? On Wednesday night I read the preface and part of the first chapter before going to bed.

Right now I'm listening to the audiobook version of Les Misérables for another Buddy Read. It's 67 hrs 52 min long, and I'm down to the final 14 hrs. I'll be done with that tomorrow, after which I'll devote time daily to S..

I am going to my sister's for the weekend and have a 2 hr ferry ride to get there. I am going to bring it for the ferry ride.

I hope to start this pretty quickly! I might try the chapter-by-chapter method as well. I'm not quite sure though.

I am not sure what the best reading method is. I am on chapter 3 and have read the first two chapters differently. I do find myself distracted by the notes at the side. I want to read Ship of Thesus first without the notes but I can't. I have to read the notes. I am reading the notes colour coded though and just reading the pencil and the blue and black notes right now.

I was trying to do that Brianna because I don't want to miss out on the Ship of Thesus story. It seems as though reading this through a few times may be needed. Once to read Ship of Thesus and then go back and read the colour coded margin writing.

Yeah this book is really hard to follow I read the book first without margins just because it is really hard to follow.
Not sure how to do this I don't want to ruin it with spoilers so I will put it separate

Translator note and forward with pencil and margins blue and black (view spoiler)[I love the way the author JJ Abrams pulls you into the life of the author of this book -this is so interesting two people writing in the margin. I find it hard to follow as the owner of the book has studied the author for 15 years and has done a lot of research. I find I am fumbling for the reasons of why he cares so much. why do we care so much about this author? (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 1 (no margin) (view spoiler)[ what a creepy eerie beginning so interesting. I love the wording in this chapter "light behaves differently here; this is a city of ancient and flawed geometries" I wonder is this guy drunk, or is he dreaming.
Also really terrifying he doesn't know where he is or who he is. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 1 (margins pencil blue and black) (view spoiler)[ I like that we get the names of our characters now and that they start to get personal. It slowly connects you to the story as well as the main character meeting people (hide spoiler)]

Progress update - I finished reading the book without paying attention to anything other than the text itself. Now I need to go through all of the marginalia, which will probably mean 2 or 3 more passes through the book.

Tasha, I do have a question on your “color guide� to the marginalia. (view spoiler)[

If Eric's notes in black cover both their first correspondence and their last, how do you know which is which? (hide spoiler)]

Tasha, I think I found my answer: (view spoiler)[
5. Black and black: the final set of notes we see both Eric and Jen writing in black ink (which you can isolate from (2.) above by the inclusion of Jen's cursive in black. I *think* I also noted that there were a few instances of Eric writing notes on his own that seemed to be from this last set, and those were outlined in black boxes (and/or had black vertical lines on either side? I forget) (hide spoiler)]

Theresa~OctoberLace wrote: "Progress update - I finished reading the book without paying attention to anything other than the text itself. Now I need to go through all of the marginalia, which will probably mean 2 or 3 more ..."

color guide (view spoiler)[It is tricky I agree, there have been a lot I have messed up on. I try not to read black unless it follows the blue writing (hide spoiler)]

Theresa~OctoberLace wrote: "Progress update - I finished reading the book without paying attention to anything other than the text itself. Now I need to go through all of the marginalia, which will probably mean 2 or 3 more ..."

I think you figured it out Theresa~OctoberLace . Are you likeing it better with margins? I am but still confused, so many unanswered questions but I guess it is suppose to be like that

Tasha, I actually haven't started reading it with margins yet, but I do plan to start tonight.

It's been rather quiet here! After reading the entire text, I've started going through the marginalia, but have been busy with other things. I renewed my library book, so I have the next two weekends to finish it up.

I haven't started yet mainly because I'm waiting for a time that I can sit down and number all the inserts and not lose them. It's not optimal for reading in bed with all the stuff that can fall out.

Also, I'm intimidated by it.

Such a good idea Kara! I tried to take the book to my friend's pool but the breeze was blowing pages and I was scared to lose something. I started it but decided to start over again. I want to read it without the notes and then read the notes with the story. It is going to be a challenging read. I am also reading A Dance With Dragons. I was supposed to read it last summer.

I confess that I've rather lost interest in this one. I just checked, and with 2 of 4 copies available at my library and no one on hold, I'll be able to renew it for a final 2 weeks. I'll do that tomorrow so it's due on a day my knit club meets there. I'll just have to buckle down one day and finish it!

I just renewed S. for the 2nd time, so I have until 8/23/15 to finish and return the book. I'm glad I did that today, as there was also a reminder that I need to renew my all-important library card by 8/22/15. I'll do that today!

I'm starting this today. Really. I'm committing.

Good luck, Kara!

I've already read all of the "novel" and some of the marginalia. I'm going to try to run through 50 pages of marginalia per day to be sure I finish by the 23rd. I'm sure I'll need time to run back over sections that are confusing!

I am working on the same. A chapter then the margin. It is really confusing as it jumps time lines I wish it was numbered it gets frustrating and I close the book

I started by doing a chapter then the pencil/black/blue, but I was getting distracted. It's easier for me to read the text along with those annotations. Right now I'm ignoring everything red/purple/yellow/green but reading everything else at the same time.

Kara do you find the black and blue doesn't flow I think there should be another color separating the subject matter. The research parts seems like they don't fit with the rest

Kara & Tasha, I looked back over the color notes(view spoiler)[, and having read the novel, I think I'll try going through the book 5 times more to read the marginalia:
1. Eric's pencil & the inserts
2. Eric's black matched to Jen's blue
3. Eric's green matched to Jen's red
4. Eric's red matched to Jen's purple
5. The final conversations where both Eric and Jen write in black (hide spoiler)]

If I don't get through all that by the 23rd, I'll return the book and take it out again after I return from Virginia on the 30th.

I'm really falling down on the buddy reads I signed up for. Now that I'm working 40 hours and commuting 2 hours per day, I'm having trouble focusing on a book that requires as much brainpower as this one does.

I'm still hoping to catch up on this one, but unfortunately I can't promise anything.

Cassandra, that's part of my problem with this one, too. I've really learned to appreciate audiobooks, listening while I'm driving, doing things around the house, knitting, and crafting. I read books on my Kindle or on paper at lunch and in waiting rooms, but when I sit just to read, I sometimes feel guilty that I'm not doing something else with my hands!

I'm about halfway through my first read, and I'm LOVING this. I love THE SHIP OF THESEUS story, and I love learning about our two marin-writers. I'm trying hard not to get distracted by the notes that come later and the inserts that clearly belong in the "future" and not in this read-through. I think I'll power through the next few chapters then pick it up again tomorrow.

In the beginning I had a rough time keeping all the characters (and who they were supposed to represent) straight, but I just went with the flow and now it's all coming much more naturally. I'm also finding myself looking for clues in the text/footnotes (not that I've found any).

Kara, are you reading the chapter and the pencil AND the black/blue on this read? I was going to try to do the pencil only, but if you're loving it so much, I may try your way!

Yup! The pencil alone is kind of boring, and the black/blue notes really add a new dimension to the story. Just be careful: there are a few passages of black cursive writing (Jen's), and that comes later, so don't read it now.

I finished! I feel like I kind of went down the rabbit hole with this one. I started doing all kinds of research online to figure out what I had missed, and guys, there are a TON of resources out there still trying to decipher what this book means.

I gave the experience (it's hard to call it a "book") five stars, and I'm looking forward to discussing with you all!

Kara, I confess I've been busy and haven't taken time to sit and read since last Sunday. I do plan to do so after dinner tonight. Last Sunday I did start to read the pencil and the black/blue with the text, and I liked that much better. Unfortunately I was tired and didn't get too far. I'll post later how far I get tonight.

I did get through a couple of chapters between Sunday and Monday, but on Tuesday I tripped on the sidewalk when leaving our office for lunch. I went down like a tree, smashing my face on the concrete. Oddly, it wasn't really painful, but as the PA at my Doctor's office described, it was a bad case of road rash on my forehead, nose, and chin. Fortunately, liberal use of Neosporin has that healing more quickly than I expected.

As for my eyes, I have swelling and black eyes to deal with. My eyeglasses were also badly scraped, so I'm using a pair that's several years old. Lucky for me, I called my Opthomologist's office to tell them what happened, and they said since I bought my glasses last November, they were still under warrantee. The lenses are being replaced at no charge go me, which is awesome when the glasses had cost me over $650. I'll have them back in about 2-3 weeks (complex prescription).

So right now my eyes are really tired after work, so I'm listening to audiobooks rather than reading. I do have an interlibrary loan of I'll Never Be Young Again by Daphne du Maurier that I do need to return in a week, though. I've decided to return my library copy of S. and ordered a copy from Amazon that I'll receive on Monday. That will allow me to take my time reading, and I'm sure I'll be done by the end of the month.

My copy of S. was delivered today, August 18th, though the postman lied and reported it delivered on Monday August 17th. I was so upset when the tracking info said it was delivered at 7:04pm "in or near the mailbox" and it was nowhere to be found. This is not the first time this has happened, either!

For the inserts, are you reading them with the pencil, blue, and black or waiting until the final run-through? I'm thinking I'll put them in a baggie with an index and save them for last. I'll be flying to Virginia next week, so if I don't finish before, I can do so on the airplane.

I restarted the book because I got distracted by A Dance with Dragons. I am on Chapter 4. I really like the story Ship of Theseus. I like the character of S.

So I have been focussing my reading on "S" and still like the story of Ship of Theseus. I like the mysteriousness of "S" not knowing who he is or where he is being taken. (view spoiler)[ It is interesting how he gets caught up in the uprising against Vevoda. Funny how he ended up back on the ship he was trying to escape. I find the concept of time to be such an interesting presence in this book. How much time has past by? Is time working differently on the water vs on land? I do find his obsession with finding Sola to be strange. Really he knows less about her than he knows about himself and yet he is desperate to find her. For all he knows she was a part of him being taken. In the chapter I am on now, he believes she is trying to help him but he is putting geo much faith in a stranger. I still don't know why he was initially taken from the pub. I wonder if that mystery will ever be solved (hide spoiler)]As I said, I do like the mysterious story. I am still on the black and blue notes from Eric and Jen. I am finding that their notes and the inserts and footnotes are really slowing down my progress. This book is taking me a long time to get through and then I will have to go back through it to read through all the other colours of notes. I liked their notes to start with but they are starting to get tiresome.

This trip to Virginia has kept me really busy. Can we extend S. into September?

Theresa, I won't be finished in August, so feel free to keep the discussion going. I have three more chapters to read for the first read but will have to go back and check out the different coloured side notes.

I am still jumping back into this one, other books came from the library and some I had ordered came so this one gets puts to the side

So I finished my first read through tonight and read the black and blue notes. I liked that towards the end there were fewer black and blue notes and inserts, allowing me to focus more on the Ship of Theseus story. I will go back and read the other colours soon. I have a library book that came in. I want to make sure I get my library book read.

Jodi, I have a conflict, too, with too many books to read, but that's a good dilemma. I just started my TBR Twin read of The Three Musketeers yesterday, and my twin and I are having good discussions on that one already.

As for the library, The Girl in the Spider's Web was published yesterday, and my requested ebook from Overdrive was ready for me the same day. There's a waiting list of readers wanting it when I'm done, so I must make time to read that this weekend.

I'm glad I decided to purchase my own copy of S., and I'll get back to it soon.