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Codex Seraphinianus
Questo codice miniato fantastico e misterioso, "l'enciclopedia di un visionario" (nella definizione di Italo Calvino), continua da anni ad affascinarci per la sua capacità di rivelazione, che si cela dietro l'enigma di una grafia chiarissima eppure sfuggente. Una nuova edizione, arricchita e aggiornata dall'autore, di un'opera che abita ormai nella memoria profonda di tutt
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Community Reviews
(showing 1-30)
Imagine that Stepan Chapman, M.C. Escher, Albrecht Durer, and Salvador Dali were locked in an underground dungeon with an infinite amount of art supplies and only LSD to eat. Suddenly, a wayward creator-god shows up with a genetic splicer set to randomize the mixing of species and common objects, creating before the artists a set of real-life models from which they might take inspiration.
Codex Seraphinianus is a natural history of the surreal, a book that truly defies categorization. It is remi ...more
Codex Seraphinianus is a natural history of the surreal, a book that truly defies categorization. It is remi ...more
قراءة اللامقروء: مخطوطة سيرافيني مثلا
لطالما فكرت إن كان بإمكاني إخراج المعاني التي تثقل رأسي من دون الحاجة لاستخدام الكلمات... فالكلمات بقدر ما تبدو مغوية و شهية و مريحة بقدر ما تكون عصية و صعبة و منهكة حين إرادة لجم المعاني بها، ثم بعد ذلك يبقى المعنى غير مكتمل تماما... و لذلك كنت أفكر بشيء أقل إيلاما من الكلمات... لكن ما الذي قد أوتيه البشري يستطيع أن يكون أكثر دقة في التعبير عن المعنى أكثر من الكلمة، أهي الموسيقى؟ ألرسم؟ هل حقا يمكن أن يقارنا بالكلمة فضلا عن أن يتفوقا عليها؟
هذه المسألة كانت ت ...more
لطالما فكرت إن كان بإمكاني إخراج المعاني التي تثقل رأسي من دون الحاجة لاستخدام الكلمات... فالكلمات بقدر ما تبدو مغوية و شهية و مريحة بقدر ما تكون عصية و صعبة و منهكة حين إرادة لجم المعاني بها، ثم بعد ذلك يبقى المعنى غير مكتمل تماما... و لذلك كنت أفكر بشيء أقل إيلاما من الكلمات... لكن ما الذي قد أوتيه البشري يستطيع أن يكون أكثر دقة في التعبير عن المعنى أكثر من الكلمة، أهي الموسيقى؟ ألرسم؟ هل حقا يمكن أن يقارنا بالكلمة فضلا عن أن يتفوقا عليها؟
هذه المسألة كانت ت ...more
نسخۀ واينيچ
در اوايل قرن بيستم دلّالى به نام "واينيچ" به كتابى حاوى علوم غريبه و طالع بينى و گياه شناسى دست يافت كه در قرون وسطا نگاشته شده بود و به نام خودش "نسخۀ واينيچ" نام گرفت. اين كتاب به زبانى غير از زبان هاى شناخته شده و با الفبايى رمزى نوشته شده بود كه حتى با تلاش نوابغى مثل "آلن تورينگ" كه رمز دستگاه "انيگما"ى نازى ها را شكسته بود، همچنان رمزگشايى نشده است. اين كتاب به تازگى چاپ و منتشر شده است.
كتاب حاضر
"نسخه ى سرافينى" كتابى است طنز به تقليد از نسخۀ واينيچ و كتاب هاى مشابه: دانشنامه اى ...more
This a weird art book. And by weird, I mean extremely weird. o.O
This book is a dream come true... literally. Ever since I saw it once on "world's weirdest books" list, I have wanted to possess it: however, the fact that it was very difficult to get hold of a copy and even if one was found, the price would very well drive it out of my reach forced me keep it on a very remote wishlist. Until Liz provided me with a pdf copy. Thanks, Liz!
It would be wrong to say that I have read Codex Seraphinianus - I haven't. In fact, nobody other than the author has. It is wr ...more
It would be wrong to say that I have read Codex Seraphinianus - I haven't. In fact, nobody other than the author has. It is wr ...more
Dec 29, 2012
Ria
added it
﹅₪☌◘▲ ▲△૱§. ﹅§‰‱ ⊙⧉⧋₪﹆§◉. §▲ ▲◎△⧋₪§﹆ §▲. ▲△૱§ §‰▲. ▲△૱§ §‰‱. ‱▲△ ‰‱ ▲. △૱§ §‰﹅‱ ⊙⧉⧋₪§, ﹅﹆ §▲ ▲△૱§. §‰ ⊡ ⊙⧉⧋₪§, ⊙⧉§▲. ⊡ ⧋₪§ §▲ ▲△ ‱‰‱. ▲ ▲△૱ ▽◉﹅﹅❡.
Remember that time when dad was in the military and he was stationed at Area 51. And he got transferred to that alien planet. And we had to go to live there for like three years. And we had to learn their language at the school. And the writing was some kind of weird calligraphy. And we got that science book with all those weird drawings in it. Well now you can buy that book on Amazon.
If the answer's not in here, you're asking the wrong question.
Actually found a copy of this for a steal. The little shop had no idea what it is worth and as I read through it I have to wonder why it is worth so much. Albeit, it is a strange title and comforting in it's maddness. It is kind of like being on peyote. If James Joyce and M.C. Escher had a child at Rod Serlings home under the direction of L. Ron Hubbard. Difficult to find a copy of this under five-hundred dollars, so I feel very fortunate to have found it at a reasonable book price. However, I w
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OH-MY-GOD. I could trip on this book for an eternity. It is the most exquisite, weirdest and amazing book I've ever come across.
I could only get a PDF of this book, but going through it was like suddenly soaring up to a new level of awareness, of aesthetics, of pure beauty. It is splendidly incoherent, but buried deep within its exquisite babble is an almost terrifying understanding, a glimpse into something that we are yet to attain, a disturbing, tantalizing truth half-revealed. What makes th ...more
I could only get a PDF of this book, but going through it was like suddenly soaring up to a new level of awareness, of aesthetics, of pure beauty. It is splendidly incoherent, but buried deep within its exquisite babble is an almost terrifying understanding, a glimpse into something that we are yet to attain, a disturbing, tantalizing truth half-revealed. What makes th ...more
Sep 05, 2016
Erin the Avid Reader ⚜BFF's with the Cheshire Cat⚜
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
surreal-and-abstract,
super-weird
This book is the epitome of surreal. This book is also one of the damn coolest things I've had the honor of looking at. I'm so glad I own this. It wasn't cheap to get so this book ain't going nowhere! They charge over $500 for this book at Powell's!
So what's the plot of the book?
Ayyyyy...cheldkfifk I dunno.
Just imagine if you saw the Voynich manuscript and with a shot of LSD, created the brainchild of H.P Lovecraft, Salvador Dali, Max Ernst, Rene Magritte, Frieda Kahlo, the Necronomicon itself, ...more
So what's the plot of the book?
Ayyyyy...cheldkfifk I dunno.
Just imagine if you saw the Voynich manuscript and with a shot of LSD, created the brainchild of H.P Lovecraft, Salvador Dali, Max Ernst, Rene Magritte, Frieda Kahlo, the Necronomicon itself, ...more
This is an art book, oversized, with a fantastical premise: To appear like an encyclopedia of the unknown world, the imaginarium, complete with invented language. A work of immense ambition and kind of breath-taking scope, it is sort of like if Jim Woodring and Charles Burns and 40 fantasy artists combined to create this volume of amazing and strange creatures . . . only Serafini did it all, all by his lonesome. Originally published in 1981, it was re-released in 2013. And it's impressive. And s
...more
My entire experience with this book involves flipping to a random page and thinking "whoa...weird." I find this greatly rewarding, but others might not.
O nouă rubrică pe Bookaholic: „Cărți de legendă”. În cadrul acesteia, vom vorbi despre aceste cărți rare, excepționale, cărți de colecție sau cărți legendare de multe ori pierdute, cărți despre care, de obicei, doar auzim, fără a putea să le și citim.
O astfel de carte de legendă este Codex Seraphinianus a italianului Luigi Serafini (arhitect, artist și designer industrial). Scrisă pe parcursul a trei ani, cartea a avut nevoie de încă trei ani pentru a fi publicată și a apărut, în cele din urmă, ...more
O astfel de carte de legendă este Codex Seraphinianus a italianului Luigi Serafini (arhitect, artist și designer industrial). Scrisă pe parcursul a trei ani, cartea a avut nevoie de încă trei ani pentru a fi publicată și a apărut, în cele din urmă, ...more
نالت مني مخطوطة سيرافيني الكثير من الوقت و البحث و التفكير ، حتى خلصت إلى رأي أخير بصددها ؛ هالني ما رأيت فيها من لوحات عجيبة هزمت عوالم تولكين و رولينج في غرابتها ، أقول غرابتها و ليس جمالها و طيب أثرها في النفس ، إذ أن الكثير منها قد يصيبك بالأكتئاب أو يسبب لك القىء ! ، و البعض الآخر سيشيع فيك الرجفة حتمًا ، إنبهارًا بما ترى من فكرة مجنونة مرسومة بدقة ، لكنك في المجمل لن تنسى هذا الفن الموحش ، أحسبها حقًا من أغرب الرسومات في التاريخ ما لم تكن أغربها ، فاقت ما أعرفه من أعمال جويا و فان جوخ و ال
...more
In his essay, "Codex Seraphinianus, Hallucinatory Encyclopedia," Peter Schwenger (specialist in liminal literature) writes: "To name things and to classify them are ways of bringing them into focus, both visually and as objects of knowledge; but the Codex brings into focus naming and classifications themselves, and implicitly reveals their systems of order to be hallucinatory." Schwenger thus suggests that systematizing and classifying are themselves illusory (i.e. subjective) endeavors. The art
...more
ما هذا الشيء الذي أمسكهُ بين يدي؟ هل هذه خدعة؟ ما هذا الكتاب؟
ولكن، هل كل الكتبِ قابلةٌ للقراءة؟ ثمّةُ كتابٍ لم يقرأهُ أحد قط، مخطوطةُ "فوينتش"، والتي توصف بأنها أكثرَ النصوصِ غموضاً قي العالم، فالأوراقُ التي يبدو أنها تتحدث عن نباتاتٍ وأعشابٍ غيرِ معروفةٍ لنا، قد كُتِبت بلُغةٍ لا يعرفها أحد. يظن المختصون أنها كتبت بشفرة سرية بقصد التعمية، حاول الكثيرون تطبيق كل الطرق المعروفة لفك تلك اللغة، وقد صمد الكتاب وأحرفه حتى هذا اليوم ضد كل المحاولات لإقتحام معانيه. حسب التحليل المخبري عل عينةٍ من الصفح ...more
ولكن، هل كل الكتبِ قابلةٌ للقراءة؟ ثمّةُ كتابٍ لم يقرأهُ أحد قط، مخطوطةُ "فوينتش"، والتي توصف بأنها أكثرَ النصوصِ غموضاً قي العالم، فالأوراقُ التي يبدو أنها تتحدث عن نباتاتٍ وأعشابٍ غيرِ معروفةٍ لنا، قد كُتِبت بلُغةٍ لا يعرفها أحد. يظن المختصون أنها كتبت بشفرة سرية بقصد التعمية، حاول الكثيرون تطبيق كل الطرق المعروفة لفك تلك اللغة، وقد صمد الكتاب وأحرفه حتى هذا اليوم ضد كل المحاولات لإقتحام معانيه. حسب التحليل المخبري عل عينةٍ من الصفح ...more
Impenetrable and nearly indescribable. What a creation! Like some lost Da Vinci notebook (if old Leonardo had been fond of LSD), it is filled with imaginative and intricately detailed drawings of strange machines, inventions, buildings, mutations, and charts categorizing otherworldly flora and fauna — all "explained" by lengthy paragraphs of an incomprehensible "Voynich Manuscript"-esque code. Is Serafini from another galaxy? An alternate universe? I almost believe so. Regardless, this is certai
...more
Um exercício de imaginação do autor que provoca um exercício de imaginação no leitor em tentar entender, e estranhar, essa enciclopédia de um universo ficcional onírico, escrita em um alfabeto alienígena.
Jul 24, 2013
Valentin Eni
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
science-fiction,
fiction,
science,
humor,
philosophy,
fantasy,
art,
comics,
read-more-than-once
E o carte pe care nu o citeşti propriu-zis, pentru că nu poţi să o faci. M-am simţit exact ca un copil care răsfoieşte o carte şi se mulţumeşte să privească ilustraţiile, iar Textul îi este inaccesibil, fiindcă nu cunoaşte alfabetul. Şi poate deaceea cartea i se pare mult mai plină de înţelesuri (neînţelese, evident) decît este în realitate.
Aug 02, 2017
Habemus_apicellam
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
italiani
Non temete il deforme
Alla fine della "lettura" di questa opera unica (per quanto sia discutibile si possa "leggere" il Codex), nell'esplosione di immagini incredibili, geniali, inclassificabili che Serafini ha affollato nella pagina, il sentimento principale che mi rimane è una serena meraviglia e una leggera e lucida ironia. Mai , anche per le idee più deforme o mostruose che si affastellano su queste splendide pagine emerge inquietudine, angoscia, disagio… e come se Serafini volesse aprirci ...more
Alla fine della "lettura" di questa opera unica (per quanto sia discutibile si possa "leggere" il Codex), nell'esplosione di immagini incredibili, geniali, inclassificabili che Serafini ha affollato nella pagina, il sentimento principale che mi rimane è una serena meraviglia e una leggera e lucida ironia. Mai , anche per le idee più deforme o mostruose che si affastellano su queste splendide pagine emerge inquietudine, angoscia, disagio… e come se Serafini volesse aprirci ...more
CODEX SERAPHINIANUS is a bizarre but enormously inventive work by the Italian artist Luigi Serafini, first published in 1981. Over 300 pages handwritten in a completely unintelligible script (which, like the Voynich Manuscript that probably inspired it, may not even be decipherable), the Codex seems to be an encyclopedia about the Earth of a parallel dimension, where human beings like us exist, but with entirely different cultures and surrounded by alien flora and fauna. This is the graphic equi
...more
Well, you know, not so much reading as "reading"
It feels strange to mark this book as "read" when no language interface of any kind actually happened. (I guess it's still better than listing my coloring books.)
Having looked through the whole thing, I'm actually more intrigued and baffled by it than before. Apparently the language is asemic, so it's all about the pictures. At least one image has its source in a text, but I have neither the knowledge nor the patience to track down the various ant ...more
It feels strange to mark this book as "read" when no language interface of any kind actually happened. (I guess it's still better than listing my coloring books.)
Having looked through the whole thing, I'm actually more intrigued and baffled by it than before. Apparently the language is asemic, so it's all about the pictures. At least one image has its source in a text, but I have neither the knowledge nor the patience to track down the various ant ...more
an encyclopedia of a fabricated world grossly more interesting than our own. in a made-up language. gorgeous, with a penchant for quasi-shroomy conceptual linkages (two people having sex turns into a crocodile slithering off a bed); fairly amazing, if you can get your hands on it. i recommend inter-library loan. if you're a jerk, you can keep it and just pay the loss fee; it's really out of print.
This freakin' book is an act of God.
Everyone needs to sit with this for a few hours.
There is nothing else like it in the world.
My copy set me back a good sum, but it's worth it.
I could sit here an try and type out a notion of what this books about
but any description I could come up with would fall
flat. One just needs to see the Codex.
Everyone needs to sit with this for a few hours.
There is nothing else like it in the world.
My copy set me back a good sum, but it's worth it.
I could sit here an try and type out a notion of what this books about
but any description I could come up with would fall
flat. One just needs to see the Codex.
There are no other books like the Codex Seraphinianus nor will there ever be. The insane genius that wrote this book was obviously a prophet being told a travel guide by otherworldly visitor. This book puts a crack in the monotony of modern life. Read and be amazed.
If we intercepted Wikipedia entries from another planet they would look something like this. Good for evoking a sense of alien-ness and incomprehensibility.
Mar 27, 2016
Jacob Overmark
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
non-fiction,
read-owned
Well, I did not exactly "read" it ... did anyone?
"Read." Ahahahaha!
Whoa. Bizarre, gorgeous, beautiful, insane. Another league. I'd give it 10 stars plus a crocodile.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| do you own this book? | 4 | 88 | Aug 18, 2012 06:13AM |
Luigi Serafini is an Italian artist, architect and designer. He is best known for creating the Codex Seraphinianus, an illustrated encyclopedia of imaginary things in a constructed language.
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