Пролог (1/6)

In the Moscow suburb of Kolomenskoe, in the middle of the 17th century, Tsar Alexis I ordered the construction of an elaborate wooden palace to serve as the royal family's summer residence. The palace is no longer standing - it was abandoned when Peter the Great moved the court to St. Petersburg - but its legacy, as well as the buildings that survived it, have earned the site a UNESCO World Heritage designation. Alexis's palace had over 250 rooms, but was built without a single nail, hook, or saw.


This one is my most ambitious, most creative, most genre-defying and groundbreaking blog entry to date. Like the palace at Kolomenskoe, I've painstakingly planned every detail before writing a single word. The interaction between structure and narrative will produce a sum much bigger than its parts. When you read the last of these six miniature entries, having followed the various currents of the intermediate ones, a logical whole will form as if from nowhere, and you may feel compelled to re-read from the beginning. In fact, I encourage you to do just that.

I know what you're thinking - it must be dull sitting in Maine waiting for my passport to come back from the consulate. It's alright I guess. Follow this link to Part 2.