OBJECTIVE
The Book of Sand (Spanish: El Libro de Arena) is a 1975 short story by Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. It has parallels to the same author's 1949 story "The Zahir" (revised 1974), continuing the theme of self-reference and attempting to abandon the terribly infinite. The Book of Sand will be the point of inspiration for an edition of booklets that each of you will create. Leaf through the story and choose a scene, a single detail, a larger concept or a written fragment as a starting point for a more personal piece. Don’t feel as though you need to illustrate the stories in any literal way—rather, use the imagery or ideas as a lens or an entry to explore themes that interest you. We’ll be making an edition with enough copies for each student to exchange in the class, plus two more. Together these will create a rich collection that will be titled The Book of Sand, but may not resemble Borge’s book in any way.
SYNOPSIS OF STORY
An unnamed narrator is visited by a tall Scots Bible-seller, who presents him with a very old cloth-bound book that he bought in India from an Untouchable. The book is emblazoned with the title "Holy Writ," below which title is emblazoned "Bombay," but is said to be called "The Book of Sand"..."because neither the book nor the sand has any beginning or end." Upon opening it, he is startled to discover that the book, which is written in an unknown language and occasionally punctuated by illustrations, is in fact infinite: if one turns the pages, more pages seem to grow out of the front and back covers. He trades a month of his pension and a prized "Wiclif Bible" for the "Book of Sand" and hides it on a bookshelf behind his copy of One Thousand and One Nights. Over the summer, the narrator obsesses over the book, poring over it, cataloging its illustrations, and refusing to go outside for fear of its theft. In the end, realizing that the book is monstrous, he briefly considers burning it before fearing the possibility of the smoke of an infinite book suffocating the world. Instead, he goes to the National Library where he once worked (like Borges) to lose the book among the basement bookshelves, reasoning that "the best place to hide a leaf is in a forest."
PROJECT GUIDELINES
Final book size: 8” height x 5” width (8”x10” spreads)
Minimum pages: 4 double-sided pages for 7 spreads and covers
Image and/or text: No restrictions
Color: Your choice
Paper: Your choice
Printing/reproduction: Your choice
Binding: Your choice
Edition size: 20 (we’ll see what class size is in a few weeks)
GRADING
40 Points Total
10 Conceptual development
10 Composition & design
10 Cohesiveness of narrative
10 Craftsmanship & completion
TIMELINE
January 10th: Discussion of Reading & Ideas, Book and Surface Techniques Demo
January 15th & 17th: Letterpress Demos
January 24th: InDesign Page Imposition Demo, In-progress critique with dummy
February 12th: Assembling books, Exchange and Critique
The Book of Sand (Spanish: El Libro de Arena) is a 1975 short story by Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. It has parallels to the same author's 1949 story "The Zahir" (revised 1974), continuing the theme of self-reference and attempting to abandon the terribly infinite. The Book of Sand will be the point of inspiration for an edition of booklets that each of you will create. Leaf through the story and choose a scene, a single detail, a larger concept or a written fragment as a starting point for a more personal piece. Don’t feel as though you need to illustrate the stories in any literal way—rather, use the imagery or ideas as a lens or an entry to explore themes that interest you. We’ll be making an edition with enough copies for each student to exchange in the class, plus two more. Together these will create a rich collection that will be titled The Book of Sand, but may not resemble Borge’s book in any way.
SYNOPSIS OF STORY
An unnamed narrator is visited by a tall Scots Bible-seller, who presents him with a very old cloth-bound book that he bought in India from an Untouchable. The book is emblazoned with the title "Holy Writ," below which title is emblazoned "Bombay," but is said to be called "The Book of Sand"..."because neither the book nor the sand has any beginning or end." Upon opening it, he is startled to discover that the book, which is written in an unknown language and occasionally punctuated by illustrations, is in fact infinite: if one turns the pages, more pages seem to grow out of the front and back covers. He trades a month of his pension and a prized "Wiclif Bible" for the "Book of Sand" and hides it on a bookshelf behind his copy of One Thousand and One Nights. Over the summer, the narrator obsesses over the book, poring over it, cataloging its illustrations, and refusing to go outside for fear of its theft. In the end, realizing that the book is monstrous, he briefly considers burning it before fearing the possibility of the smoke of an infinite book suffocating the world. Instead, he goes to the National Library where he once worked (like Borges) to lose the book among the basement bookshelves, reasoning that "the best place to hide a leaf is in a forest."
PROJECT GUIDELINES
Final book size: 8” height x 5” width (8”x10” spreads)
Minimum pages: 4 double-sided pages for 7 spreads and covers
Image and/or text: No restrictions
Color: Your choice
Paper: Your choice
Printing/reproduction: Your choice
Binding: Your choice
Edition size: 20 (we’ll see what class size is in a few weeks)
- Read through the story, looking for imagery, language or scenarios that have potential.
- Create thumbnail sketches of several ideas, then narrow it down to one or two with rough sketches in a paper dummy.
- Decide on a method of generating imagery and production, create a second dummy for our In-progress critique January 24th.
- Take comments into consideration, making final adjustments. Print and assemble edition of booklets, number and sign each one by February 14th.
GRADING
40 Points Total
10 Conceptual development
10 Composition & design
10 Cohesiveness of narrative
10 Craftsmanship & completion
TIMELINE
January 10th: Discussion of Reading & Ideas, Book and Surface Techniques Demo
January 15th & 17th: Letterpress Demos
January 24th: InDesign Page Imposition Demo, In-progress critique with dummy
February 12th: Assembling books, Exchange and Critique
2019 STUDENT WORK