Tree of Codes

by Jonathan Safran Foer (Visual Editions) ISBN 9780956569219

A work of art, was my first impression, when I opened the latest book by Safran Foer. Each page has pieces cut out, as if words were erased, censored. ‘A text whose erasure would be a continuation of its creation.’

After finishing this unusual novel, it left me with a sense of wonder. I realised that what was left out, the empty spaces, were almost more important than what was written. The words that are left, read like poetry.

But I don’t completely understand it. Maybe I missed something essential. Maybe I should have read Bruno Schulz’s only surviving text, ‘The Street of Crocodiles’, of which Safran Foer has cut out the words to create this new book.

Safran Foer clarifies it in his after note: when the Romans conquered Jerusalem they destroyed three walls of the Second Temple, but the fourth was left as a testament to the Roman’s greatness Now Jews leave small notes in the cracks of the wall.

I have not made up my mind; is this book revolutionary and a true work of art, or is it a case of the Emperor’s new clothes and are we fooled by what in truth is not there?

Pauline Vijverberg

3/5

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