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Prince and the Woodcutter
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 29, 2019
Three stars for the text, five for the art.
I bought this book almost entirely for the early John Blanche art within, and HOLY FUCK was I not disappointed. These images seem almost like something from a dream or a vision. I'm amazed more people don't know about this book because Blanche has a lot of fans.
The prose varied for me a great deal. It is written in a half-verse of careful euphony, somewhat purple, and close enough to my own preferences for its theatricality to be a slight irritant.
The parts I explicitly disliked were the relentlessly-applied themes of fleshy obesity, grossness, waggling jowels and flopping bodies. It would have been enough for one character to be like this but three at least, maybe more are all built on the same pattern, with much made of their hairy vileness. The other characters are merely decadently rich. The king is both.
Other elements where the idiotic repetition of phrases between characters is, as a method and tactic, itself repeated a little too much, where characters undertake impish or foolish actions simply to fit into a structure of sound.
The 70's were a very hairy, baggy, tactile, dark and vaguely decadent time and all of that comes out, much more in the half-verse, rather than the images, which are timeless, almost prophetic.
In short, text is ok if you liked "Riddly Walker". If you are a fan of Blanches art you simply must get this book, the pieces in here are a range of full A4 illustrations with themed borders which seem as if they come from a world pregnant with vivid meaning, the implied reality of the pictures soars above the rest of the book and paints a feverish, wild and slightly sorrowful paracosm made simply of a mosaic of the pictures themselves which seem to burn like sacred Ikons of an unknown faith, telling a story of fear and intensity the details of which hover just beyond the range of throught. They are like remembering a beautify, seductive nightmare.
I bought this book almost entirely for the early John Blanche art within, and HOLY FUCK was I not disappointed. These images seem almost like something from a dream or a vision. I'm amazed more people don't know about this book because Blanche has a lot of fans.
The prose varied for me a great deal. It is written in a half-verse of careful euphony, somewhat purple, and close enough to my own preferences for its theatricality to be a slight irritant.
The parts I explicitly disliked were the relentlessly-applied themes of fleshy obesity, grossness, waggling jowels and flopping bodies. It would have been enough for one character to be like this but three at least, maybe more are all built on the same pattern, with much made of their hairy vileness. The other characters are merely decadently rich. The king is both.
Other elements where the idiotic repetition of phrases between characters is, as a method and tactic, itself repeated a little too much, where characters undertake impish or foolish actions simply to fit into a structure of sound.
The 70's were a very hairy, baggy, tactile, dark and vaguely decadent time and all of that comes out, much more in the half-verse, rather than the images, which are timeless, almost prophetic.
In short, text is ok if you liked "Riddly Walker". If you are a fan of Blanches art you simply must get this book, the pieces in here are a range of full A4 illustrations with themed borders which seem as if they come from a world pregnant with vivid meaning, the implied reality of the pictures soars above the rest of the book and paints a feverish, wild and slightly sorrowful paracosm made simply of a mosaic of the pictures themselves which seem to burn like sacred Ikons of an unknown faith, telling a story of fear and intensity the details of which hover just beyond the range of throught. They are like remembering a beautify, seductive nightmare.
November 30, 2012
This was a rare find really - an early Paper tiger book - admittedly it showed its age - but the prose and artwork (I have since seen referred to as gothic punk?) were fascinating and a real delight - finding these odd ball books are to me what makes digging through second hand and antiquated books all worth while.
August 5, 2020
Five stars entirely for blanches art, some of the most beautiful of his whole career. The prose is mostly unnecessary but does have a surprisingly brutal ending
January 31, 2023
A dark fairy tale, illustrated by the wonderful art of John Blanche
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews