Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Book Store By: Robin Sloan Book Review
Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Book Store is a novel about a man named Clay Jannon, a young web-designer who is looking for a job in the San Francisco area. One day while looking, Clay comes across a quaint little bookstore run by the uncanny Mr. Penumbra. Many nights come and go and the secrets held by the bookstore shelves, customers, and the ominous Mr. Penumbra begin to gnaw at Clay. With a lot of bravery and the desire to know the truth, Clay and his friends uncover a puzzle that leads to Mr. Penumbra exposing the gang to the bookstore's long kept secret. With the new knowledge of the bookstore's secret, the group of friends continue to find new mysteries and secrets to solve and discover. The team is faced with multiple challenges and puzzles to crack to find the answer to the almighty Codex Vitae, a biography written by a man named Aldus Manutius. Will the gang crash and burn, or will they succeed and expose the truth?
A big part of this novel was the main character Clay Jannon. The story is told through his perspective and it is here where we can see his thoughts and ideas and the ways he thinks about the challenges he faces. The big reason why Clay is such a major character in the story is because he develops to be a true leader for the search of Aldus Manutius' Codex Vitae and the secret it holds. In the story Clay takes it on his own intuition to figure out the Founder's Puzzle through his book simulator he made during his free time. Clay says to Mr. Penumbra, "I scanned an old logbook-...we just pulled out the data."(Sloan 96) This quote shows the reader that Clay was so interested in finding out the truth behind the bookstore's secret that he took it upon himself to switch the logbook and have it scanned to show the pattern. Although he had help from his friends, Clay orchestrated the plans and he was the one who wanted it executed. His leadership and want to find the truth makes him a strong central character to be in charge of the search for Manutius' codex vitae.
Another part of the novel that plays a huge role, is one of the themes in the book. Old vs new is very important and can be seen multiple times. The most obvious battle of old vs new is books and technology. This theme continues deeper into the book and affects the relationship between Kat and Clay. As Clay becomes enthralled with books and the secrets they hold while working at the bookstore, Kat is constantly using technology at Google and she falls in love with it. Because of the two's love for their respective form of communication and way of life, their relationship begins to take a turn for the worse. Kat is driven away by her technology and Clay is into his books so he can discover the mystery and this is what cause Kat and Clay to stop talking and to eventually stop dating. In one paragraph of the book, Clay asks Kat about her meeting and says, "Do people even look at each other?" and Kat replies, "Not really. The only thing that matters is on your screen."(200) This is an important quote because Kat is trying to tell Clay about her meeting and she is so excited and happy about her job and through all of this excitement and dialogue, Sloan slips these two lines in to show that Clay is not too impressed over looking at technology for six hours at a meeting but Kat is and she wishes she could do it all the time. This just shows the discord between old vs new and how it can affect the relationship of others.
Before reading this book, I was not sure what I would think of it or if I would like it because I am not a huge reader. I like to read but it takes me a long long time to get into my book so many times I put it down before I can even begin to like it. This book was the opposite, from the very beginning I was into it and could not put it down. I would recommend this book to everyone who loves to read and to everyone who does not love to read. I would recommend this to both types of readers because I was a person who did not read that much and I absolutely loved this book.
A big part of this novel was the main character Clay Jannon. The story is told through his perspective and it is here where we can see his thoughts and ideas and the ways he thinks about the challenges he faces. The big reason why Clay is such a major character in the story is because he develops to be a true leader for the search of Aldus Manutius' Codex Vitae and the secret it holds. In the story Clay takes it on his own intuition to figure out the Founder's Puzzle through his book simulator he made during his free time. Clay says to Mr. Penumbra, "I scanned an old logbook-...we just pulled out the data."(Sloan 96) This quote shows the reader that Clay was so interested in finding out the truth behind the bookstore's secret that he took it upon himself to switch the logbook and have it scanned to show the pattern. Although he had help from his friends, Clay orchestrated the plans and he was the one who wanted it executed. His leadership and want to find the truth makes him a strong central character to be in charge of the search for Manutius' codex vitae.
Another part of the novel that plays a huge role, is one of the themes in the book. Old vs new is very important and can be seen multiple times. The most obvious battle of old vs new is books and technology. This theme continues deeper into the book and affects the relationship between Kat and Clay. As Clay becomes enthralled with books and the secrets they hold while working at the bookstore, Kat is constantly using technology at Google and she falls in love with it. Because of the two's love for their respective form of communication and way of life, their relationship begins to take a turn for the worse. Kat is driven away by her technology and Clay is into his books so he can discover the mystery and this is what cause Kat and Clay to stop talking and to eventually stop dating. In one paragraph of the book, Clay asks Kat about her meeting and says, "Do people even look at each other?" and Kat replies, "Not really. The only thing that matters is on your screen."(200) This is an important quote because Kat is trying to tell Clay about her meeting and she is so excited and happy about her job and through all of this excitement and dialogue, Sloan slips these two lines in to show that Clay is not too impressed over looking at technology for six hours at a meeting but Kat is and she wishes she could do it all the time. This just shows the discord between old vs new and how it can affect the relationship of others.
Before reading this book, I was not sure what I would think of it or if I would like it because I am not a huge reader. I like to read but it takes me a long long time to get into my book so many times I put it down before I can even begin to like it. This book was the opposite, from the very beginning I was into it and could not put it down. I would recommend this book to everyone who loves to read and to everyone who does not love to read. I would recommend this to both types of readers because I was a person who did not read that much and I absolutely loved this book.
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