escaping the codex
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Most stories are contained within a book; even e-books mimic the traditional codex. However, some authors choose to ‘escape’ the codex, seeking instead a form that furthers their story’s themes. Authors may choose to expand on the traditional book, spreading the story across multiple media; or they may abandon the book entirely, printing the story on an unconventional object.
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![<b><em>Doroppu [Drop]</em>, Koji Suzuki, 2009</b><br />This is a truncated version of a nine chapter novella by the horror writer Koji Suzuki, who is known as Japan’s answer to Stephen King. The story is (appropriately) set in a public rest room and draws vaguely on the national custom of threatening badly behaved Japanese children with a bogeyman who lives in the toilet. The story is repeated several times on the roll, with each rendition taking 86cm of paper.<br /><br />Though its link between form and content is certainly light hearted, this book raises fascinating questions about the way we interact with and perceive literature. Do we consider this work a ‘novel’ although it takes a different form? Does the process of reading the toilet paper transform it? And if so, is the toilet paper destined to become an artefact, rather than fulfilling its usual purpose? <br /><a href='series9.html'>>> series 9 >></a>](/fryer/not_books/images/IMG_0580_600s.png "Niagara by Michel Butor")
items in this series
The raw shark texts, Steven Hall, 2007
Doroppu [Drop], Koji Suzuki, 2009
