Sunday, November 29, 2015



-Codex Vitae: Life Code or "Ancient text about one's life"
-Geritszoon might be Times New Roman                                                                                              
-Gertiszoon was a real man but his name was Francesco Griffo 
-The cover of this book glows in the dark
-Manutius's printing seal is a dolphin and an anchor. In the book the bar they go to in NYC is named the Dolphin and the Anchor
-Penumbra (n) The partially shaded outer region of the shadow cast by an opaque object. (Astronomy)

On the bottom of page 284 Clay sends Kat a text after their date that simply says "25,000 miles" What does this mean?

What does this novel say about the idea of immortality? What are ways you think we can be immortal in our day and age?

If you were to file a codex vitae, capturing all you’ve learned throughout your life, what would it contain? Do you journal or keep a diary?

What were your initial theories about the bookstore’s mysterious patrons and their project? What
did you predict Manutius’s message would be?

 If you try to picture it, what literacy will look like five hundred years from now, what do you see?

As Clay and the team of Google decoders take on the same challenge, what do they discover about the relative strengths of the human brain and technology?

How did you react to Gerritszoon’s “message to eternity ( Thank you, Teobaldo: You are my greatest friend: This has been the key to everything),” revealed in the closing passages? How
can his wisdom apply to your life?

  • Clay's friends were the key to him decoding Gerritszoon's message

Why did the publisher choose the design of the cover of the book?

  • Glow in the dark, modern, handwritten font

Clay grapples with the fact that e-books could make brick-and-mortar bookstores unnecessary. How have your community’s bookstores fared in recent years? Did the novel reassure you about the role of technology in the lives of book lovers?

Are Penumbra and his colleagues motivated only by a quest for immortality? If not, what are the other rewards of their labor-intensive work?