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I noticed while reading that certain dates and years are marked as [date] and [year], respectively, instead of just putting the dates or years such as March 3, 2020, or 2021. My question is, do you think this is something that John sees whenever he looks at dates (the same way that he cannot see or comprehend the building he designed), or is it something that the author intended only for the readers, not John and the other characters of the book?

I think the author left it like this deliberately. John obviously could read it. This is how he figured out that 3.5 years have gone by since the car crash.

Naila Saleem 2 wrote: ↑16 Nov 2021, 16:53 I think the author left it like this deliberately. John obviously could read it. This is how he figured out that 3.5 years have gone by since the car crash.

Oh yeah, I haven't thought of that while I was reading the early chapters. I believe now that the "[date]" and "[year]" is only meant for the readers. But do you have any idea why the author does not want to give specific dates or years of the story?

I think that it is for the reader. If the date is not specific then the story could be set anytime, not just when Mr. Kendall says it is.

aaurba wrote: ↑17 Nov 2021, 21:31

Naila Saleem 2 wrote: ↑16 Nov 2021, 16:53 I think the author left it like this deliberately. John obviously could read it. This is how he figured out that 3.5 years have gone by since the car crash.

Oh yeah, I haven't thought of that while I was reading the early chapters. I believe now that the "[date]" and "[year]" is only meant for the readers. But do you have any idea why the author does not want to give specific dates or years of the story?

I think showing the year would deprive the book of immediacy; by blocking the year out, we readers are just led to believe it was 3 years ago from the year we're in, as opposed to 3 years ago from last year or the year before that.

Since John knew that he woke up three (three and a half?) years after the crash, I would say the blanked out dates were for the reader. I personally disliked them, I felt that it distracted from the story for me and made it less immersive.

Honestly, I think the author just created that for the reader and not John because, John could easily calculate or see when he woke up in hospital that it was three years in the future. So, he wouldn't have been able to calculate that if he wasn't able to read the dates.

I agree that the dates are most likely meant for the readers, perhaps as a way to add to the mystery. It could also be a way to make it feel like the story is happening in the present, instead of at a certain date in the past.

John was able to read the dates when he woke up and knew the time had passed. I definitely think it was done intentionally for the reader. Presenting it this way was a little distracting but I think it also added to the readers curiosity

I did not like it that the author wrote the time like that because it is confusing and I think it was intended for both John and the reader to comprehend time that had elapsed.

I believe that it's simply a device specifically designed for anyone reading the book. In that way, it takes the story out of a specific time and allows it to become more "timeless" so that anyone reading the book today or five years from now will feel that it takes place during the time period in which the book is read. I don't personally like the use of such as device, but it's the author's choice.

I presume, it's for the readers. The author must have did it to let the readers imagine the whole setting.

Amy Luman wrote: ↑17 Nov 2021, 22:05 I think that it is for the reader. If the date is not specific then the story could be set anytime, not just when Mr. Kendall says it is.

I agree. So the reader can have the right to choose any date and year he wants and that way the book remains alive. You don't feel like it's an old story that happened decades ago

I think the author blanked out the dates so the readers could probably imagine the story in any time and year they felt like. They weren’t restricted to any particular time setting. Since, John knew how many years had passed when he woke up in the hospital. This means he could read and understand time. It was solely for the readers, in my opinion.

I think that is only meant for the readers. I guess the author want to let the reader assume the year so that it seems like the story happens in the present, not in the past.