Tree of Codes - A Visually Stunning Read
Praise to this incredible work of art/book. I have never seen anything quite like this - and feel I'd have to see it in person to truly appreciate it.
Tree of Codes by Jonathan Safran Foer. The story is literally carved out of another book - I think it is just beautiful.
Excerpt from Wallpaper:
"Tree of Codes' multi-layered narrative explores 'an enormous last day of life'. Told from the perspective of a boy coming to terms with the death of a parent, it's a haunting story, full of intense imagery. 'My father would walk along like a gardener of nothingness outside of the surface of life,' he tells us. 'He would scatter into fragments."
"'Visual writing' might be at the core of new publishing house, Visual Editions, but it doesn't let its devices become gimmicky or extraneous. In Tree of Codes, the die-cuts are key to the tale. The powerful voice that Safran Foer has exhumed from Schulz's text is made all the poignant by the gaps in between words, which have an extraordinary resonance. They give each phrase space to breath."
"Safran Foer first considered using dictionaries, encyclopaedias and even his own works to construct his story. 'But any of those options would have merely spoken to the process,' he says. 'I was in search of a text whose erasure would somehow be a continuation of its creation."
I expected this book to be in the $50+ range, just based on the amount of work it takes to print such a piece. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see it for just over $26 on Amazon. Do you think you would purchase this book? I found a copy on Bol.com for € 42.
Tree of Codes by Jonathan Safran Foer. The story is literally carved out of another book - I think it is just beautiful.
Excerpt from Wallpaper:"Tree of Codes' multi-layered narrative explores 'an enormous last day of life'. Told from the perspective of a boy coming to terms with the death of a parent, it's a haunting story, full of intense imagery. 'My father would walk along like a gardener of nothingness outside of the surface of life,' he tells us. 'He would scatter into fragments."
"'Visual writing' might be at the core of new publishing house, Visual Editions, but it doesn't let its devices become gimmicky or extraneous. In Tree of Codes, the die-cuts are key to the tale. The powerful voice that Safran Foer has exhumed from Schulz's text is made all the poignant by the gaps in between words, which have an extraordinary resonance. They give each phrase space to breath."
"Safran Foer first considered using dictionaries, encyclopaedias and even his own works to construct his story. 'But any of those options would have merely spoken to the process,' he says. 'I was in search of a text whose erasure would somehow be a continuation of its creation."
I expected this book to be in the $50+ range, just based on the amount of work it takes to print such a piece. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see it for just over $26 on Amazon. Do you think you would purchase this book? I found a copy on Bol.com for € 42.
