Last month, we talked about the adventure’s novels in class. This work remembers me another novel which was a success last year in France : The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet is the first novel of Reif Larsen, an american author. It’s the story of a gifted young boy (who’s 12 years old), who has a great interest for the maps and the scientific illustrations. One day, he’s called by a museum in order to receive a price for his work. He decides to cross the United States and meet the museum scientists. This travel, is an occasion for him to discover how the world works around him…

A version (in a big size) with a lot of drawings has been published and it’s an amazing object to discover : it’s composed of great tale, beautiful paper and typography with, on the right side, several funny pictures which illustrate the tale. On the following extract, we can see how is presented the begginning of the novel :

I discovered this novel, (which is more than a simple book, it’s a real work of art) because someone offered it to me. The following year, I learned that it will be adapted on the screen. The film, directed by Jean Pierre Jeunet, a french director, was a success too. I can guess it’s because of the universal dimension of the story that all of the editions and adaptations seduced the audience : it remembers us the western universe, the childhood, the dreams of childhood, and the need to travel we all feel in our life.

Finally, as we worked on Mark Twain, I’ll just add that comment made by Stephen King concerning the novel : « Here is a novel which makes the impossible : to gather Mark Twain, Thomas Pynchon, and Little Miss Sunshine. This book is a treasure. »

If you want to know more about the world of T.S. Spivet  I can advice you to go there, it shows how it’s a seducing universe : http://www.tsspivet.com/