Tree of Codes is a haunting new story by best-selling American writer, Jonathan Safran Foer. With a different die-cut on every page, Tree of Codes explores previously unchartered literary territory. Initially deemed impossible to make, the book is a first — as much a sculptural object as it is a work of masterful storytelling. Tree of Codes is the story of an enormous last day of life — as one character's life is chased to extinction, Foer multi-layers the story with immense, anxious, at times disorientating imagery, crossing both a sense of time and place, making the story of one person’s last day everyone’s story. Inspired to exhume a new story from an existing text, Jonathan Safran Foer has taken his "favorite" book, The Street of Crocodiles by Polish-Jewish writer Bruno Schulz, and used it as a canvas, cutting into and out of the pages, to arrive at an original new story told in Jonathan Safran Foer's own acclaimed voice.
| ||||||||||||
Browse our Bookshelf Favorites store for big savings on popular fiction, nonfiction, children's books, and more. |
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Review
"[A]n extraordinary journey that activates the layers of time and space involved in the handling of a book and its heap of words. Jonathan Safran Foer deftly deploys sculptural means to craft a truly compelling story. In our world of screens, he welds narrative, materiality, and our reading experience into a book that remembers it actually has a body." — Olafur Eliasson, artist
About the Author
Jonathan Safran Foer is the author of the novels Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and a work of nonfiction, Eating Animals. His books have won numerous awards and have been translated into 36 languages. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
More About the Author
Jonathan Safran Foer is the author of the bestseller Everything Is Illuminated, named Book of the Year by the Los Angeles Times and the winner of numerous awards, including the Guardian First Book Prize, the National Jewish Book Award, and the New York Public Library Young Lions Prize. Foer was one of Rolling Stone's "People of the Year" and Esquire's "Best and Brightest." Foreign rights to his new novel have already been sold in ten countries. The film of Everything Is Illuminated, directed by Liev Schreiber and starring Elijah Wood, will be released in August 2005. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close has been optioned for film by Scott Rudin Productions in conjunction with Warner Brothers and Paramount Pictures. Foer lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
45 of 50 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Everybody I show this book to thinks it's crazy. It is first of all a completely beautiful object - I've never seen anything like it. Second, it's a beautifully written story that gave me the goose bumps. (Useful tip for other readers: I lay a sheet under the pages, when I was reading). Very much a return to the emotionally charged and experimental storytelling of Safran Foer's debut, Everything Is Illuminated.
48 of 56 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is just captivating. I can't even begin to describe the pleasure of unknowing and unexpected that I experienced when I opened it for the first time. I had to have it. The 40.00 price tag, while initially seemed steep, is totally justifiable when you actually put your fingers on the cover and open the paged and touch it. You've never felt or seen or experienced a book like this. I don't want to give too much away, but this book will change you and the way you look at printed material. You'll never get this kind of connection on a Kindle or iPad or Nook or any other device. This book just goes to show you why the physical page will never cease to exist. Thank you Mr. Foer.
37 of 44 people found the following review helpful
By N. Johnstone
Format:Paperback
I've loved everything Jonathan Safran Foer has written to date, but this just might be his most amazing work yet. What he has done by cutting his own haunting story out of Bruno Schulz' equally haunting Street of Crocodiles, is both astonishing and incredibly poignant. The book, with its ghostly die cuts and dangling phantom punctuation, is a different kind of reading experience, for sure, but as with his other books, I devoured it in one breathless sitting.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful!
The book was great! I would really recommend buying this book along with the book the it was derived from because as soon as I finished this one I was interested in the first. Read more
Published 3 days ago by Kelsey Gruenhagen
3.0 out of 5 stars
Where the physical book is more interesting than the writing
Jonathan Safran Foer's novel, Tree of Codes, is an unusual work. As opposed to creating a novel from scratch, Foer takes his "favorite book," The Street of Crocodiles by the... Read more
Published 24 days ago by Derek Emerson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating
This is a fascinating piece of writing and a beautiful art object. The craft is surprising and intriguing, and way out of the box.
Published 1 month ago by Dave
4.0 out of 5 stars
An interesting way to read a story
An interesting way to read a story. I was fascinated with how Foer might have accomplished it, simply from a technical perspective. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Michela Pasquali
3.0 out of 5 stars
creative but pointless
I love Jonathan Safran Foer. I think he is incredibly talented and one of the best contemporary writers. This book, or a puzzle, uhmm... Read more
Published 7 months ago by taxpro1040
5.0 out of 5 stars
Innovation
I have yet to actually read this book but just the pure innovation behind Foer's Tree of Code is amazing and inspiring.
Published 7 months ago by Tamara
5.0 out of 5 stars
Now here comes the Ironic part
One would think Tree of Codes is the perfect example why next to digitally available books the print medium should not be forgotten. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Dennis Heihoff
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gimmicky but Good
This is another book I stole from Deb's to read pile. She got the book based solely on the author (she has read and liked his other books). Read more
Published 10 months ago by R. Shaffer
5.0 out of 5 stars
More poem than novel; a deconstruction of language that is not for...
If you're looking for an easily digestible read, don't buy this book. However, if you want to challenge yourself and your perceptions of language and literature, you will love... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Aimee DiMichele
3.0 out of 5 stars
interesting art
This book if fun 2 have on the coffee table, with so much cut out, it feels much lighter than it looks and always elicits surprise and interest when picked up. Read more
Published 12 months ago by alisa christensen
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
