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A review by thisisstephenbetts
The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen
4.0
Appropriately enough, this book was better for the journey than the arrival. I don't mean to get hung up on the scoring, but as I was reading it I though it would end up as a 4.5. but as it was concluding it felt more like a 3-3.5. Overall, I think its initial ambition and its innovativeness demands a 4.
Our hero, T.S. Spivet, is a 12-year old living on a farm in Montana, who is a very precocious and accomplished map-maker. Well, he calls them maps, but really they are any systematic diagram - essentially he uses "maps" to encompass anything that would be called "infographics". I prefer T.S.'s terminology. His accomplished diagrams draw the attention of the Smithsonian, who wish to award him a prize - so he sets off for Washington.
The book is oversized, and it needs to be, as the margin of most pages contains either examples of T.S.'s drawings, or his asides (or both). I found these pretty delightful, and they complimented the story very well. They certainly made the book an involving and lengthy read.
My issue with the book is that it sets up so much promise of this wunderkinder map maker travelling across the States, but that kinda peters out, in a jarringly perfunctory fashion (as far as something can peter out jarringly). And as it does so, slightly fantastic elements start to creep in. Secret societies, things verging on the paranormal. Not that they weren't enjoyable, but the earlier sections needed no such embellishments to keep them compelling and for me these elements detracted from the rarefied, contemplative atmosphere of the first part of the book. Once Larsen started to introduce more characters the book became much more mundane. It kinda felt like he lost faith (or possibly interest), and moved on to a resolution as quickly as possible. And in the final analysis, there actually wasn't a huge amount of plot.
That said, my depth of disappointment was due to my heightened expectations from how good the earlier parts of book were. And even as things plodded on to its perfunctory denouement there was still plenty of T.S.'s maps and personality to enjoy.
A couple of interesting points:
I bought this from a comics shop (Gosh! since you ask). This book isn't comics, but the illustrations are a bit more integral than a traditional illustrated story.
I really wonder what an ebook version would be like. Does it exist? [Apparently not]
(I'm also disappointed that the UK paperback cover is not available to be selected on Goodreads. I liked the illustration a lot).
Our hero, T.S. Spivet, is a 12-year old living on a farm in Montana, who is a very precocious and accomplished map-maker. Well, he calls them maps, but really they are any systematic diagram - essentially he uses "maps" to encompass anything that would be called "infographics". I prefer T.S.'s terminology. His accomplished diagrams draw the attention of the Smithsonian, who wish to award him a prize - so he sets off for Washington.
The book is oversized, and it needs to be, as the margin of most pages contains either examples of T.S.'s drawings, or his asides (or both). I found these pretty delightful, and they complimented the story very well. They certainly made the book an involving and lengthy read.
My issue with the book is that it sets up so much promise of this wunderkinder map maker travelling across the States, but that kinda peters out, in a jarringly perfunctory fashion (as far as something can peter out jarringly). And as it does so, slightly fantastic elements start to creep in. Secret societies, things verging on the paranormal. Not that they weren't enjoyable, but the earlier sections needed no such embellishments to keep them compelling and for me these elements detracted from the rarefied, contemplative atmosphere of the first part of the book. Once Larsen started to introduce more characters the book became much more mundane. It kinda felt like he lost faith (or possibly interest), and moved on to a resolution as quickly as possible. And in the final analysis, there actually wasn't a huge amount of plot.
That said, my depth of disappointment was due to my heightened expectations from how good the earlier parts of book were. And even as things plodded on to its perfunctory denouement there was still plenty of T.S.'s maps and personality to enjoy.
A couple of interesting points:
I bought this from a comics shop (Gosh! since you ask). This book isn't comics, but the illustrations are a bit more integral than a traditional illustrated story.
I really wonder what an ebook version would be like. Does it exist? [Apparently not]
(I'm also disappointed that the UK paperback cover is not available to be selected on Goodreads. I liked the illustration a lot).