I’ve recently returned from a week long vacation with my family to Ocean City, NJ. It was very fulfilling to be able to spend some relaxing time with Mom, Dad, Kristin and Micah, and Kelsey and Tyler. It was also very fulfilling to be able to cut my unread book queue in half. Since most of the books I’ve been reading lately fit quite nicely under the pseudo-psychological-technical-futurist-visionary-revomit (official name) category, it was absolutely envigorating to pick up and not put down Salvador Placencia’s People of Paper.
The novel is about fragility and the reality of love’s sharpest perforated edges. Plascencia uses the full page to introduce you to the thoughts and actions of his dearest creations. In addition to the commonly employed narrative tools, a full and ingenious range of ink-and-paper devices add to the attractiveness and tangible nature of his characters.
To my delight, the novel turned out to be much more than just that. It was a completely architected framework, whose very construction told a story. The framework is slowly revealed to the reader, likely because an immediate revelation would diminish the importance of the story’s simple, raw theme. Reading it was like panning out from the freckles of a river washed stone, who, among her siblings, comprised a tremendous and breathtaking hillside. Plascencia sets the standard for authors who would exercise the complete textual medium to convey visceral characters and poignant human themes.
A highly recommended read for anyone else out there who may have just finished two Lessigs, a Weinberger, and a Tufte. Oh, and everyone else too!
I must extend a quick thanks to Nicholas Rombes (Professor DVD) for turning me on to this book.