Salvation Atlas: data visualization

Salvation Atlas reads a published novel with natural language processing and semantic analysis and draws what it finds. The story’s four acts become a chart of its shape; the shifts in narrative voice become a timeline; the characters become a constellation, connected by their relationships; the themes become currents; and the book’s New York becomes a map.

Everything is drawn with D3 and reads on a phone. It is a demonstration of what data visualization can do with a text.

“The Shape of the Story”: a line chart of emotional intensity across the chapters — 02The shape of the story, chapter by chapter.

“Four Acts of a Life Becoming Its Own Story”: the novel’s structure in four columns — 03The structure: four acts, each with its chapters.

“The Voice Shift”: the narration moving from “Luther” to “I” — 04The voice shift: where the narration moves from third person to first.

“A Constellation of Souls”: a network of the novel’s characters

Twenty-nine named characters orbit Luther. Node size follows narrative importance; the connections are love, family, friendship and antagonism.

“Thematic Currents”: the novel’s themes ranked as bars — 06The themes, ranked by intensity.

“Luther’s New York”: the novel’s places on a dark map of the city — 07The book’s New York, with its places on the map.

Salvation Atlas: “Salvation is to be found in Her” on dark ground

08Where the atlas begins: the book’s title and a line from it.

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