BookLamp Infographic Visualizes the Thematic Flow of a Book

By Edward Nawotka

BookLamp.org – aka the Book Genome Project – breaks a book down into 32,160 data points and quantifies everything from density and pacing, all in aid of book discovery. Now the team of razor-sharp engineers have put their skills to the test in putting together a visual infographic of thematic flow of a book.  The book used in the example below is called A Year and a Day by Virginia Henley.

As they explain on their site:

One of the areas that we’ve been playing with is how to visualize the thematic flow of a book. A book isn’t a flat, two-dimensional thing, so book summary statistics – such as that a book is 17% about Vampires – only partially represents what a book is about. Any reader will tell you that a book has ebbs and flows, like currents in a river. Like a Thematic Current. And visualizing it can be interesting…the story takes place in same time – and with many of the same primary historical characters – as the movie Braveheart. As you can see, the thematic currents of this book deal heavily with ancient or medieval setting, strong romance, family (much of the story deals with having heirs), and warfare. More specifically, you can see where major battles occur, where major romantic engagements occur, and where pain and suffering occurs during and after combat

Click the image to see the full-size infographic: