Customer Reviews

The Adventuress

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Don't buy The Adventuress hoping to have the same sense of wonderment and awe that you felt when you finished The Time Traveler's Wife. It isn't that sort of book.

The Adventuress is the second of Niffenegger's picture novels (that were mass produced at least. The first being the Three Incestuous Sisters), but it's the first one she wrote. In a footnote at the end of the book, she says it was made between 1983 and 1985 when she was a student at the Art Institute of Chicago.

The book is beautifully bound, the pictures are amazing. Some of them I'd be tempted to cut out and frame if it wouldn't ruin the book. In the epilogue, she describes the process it takes to create these images and thanks the people who taught her the technique.

The story, itself, isn't much of a story so much as words that take you through the story the pictures tell. The art itself is the story, so if the words she wrote before in her amazingly successful novel The Time Traveler's Wife are what drew you to this story, prepare to be disappointed.

But if you want to see inside the mind of an artist, who can write as well as create, I think you'll be impressed. I didn't know what to expect, but knew that I liked her work and this book was a pleasant surprise. The Adventuress is indeed an adventure for those who have never seen the work of a visual artist in which the pictures themselves are the story. It isn't a graphic novel. The words are there to enhance the images, but the pictures themselves are the star.

I don't know what to tell you, but to pick it up and take a look. You could read it in 15 minutes at Barnes and Noble and know whether or not you wanted to take the chance and buy it. Myself, I'll probably keep it out as coffee table book, because it would be a shame for her art to be hidden on a bookshelf.

This is Audrey Niffenegger's first book, which she did as a small print run back in the early 80's. It is very unique, beautifully and artfully illustrated, and very imaginative. This style of book is what Niffenegger has been doing for many years, and The Time Traveler's Wife opened the door for her to get these strange illustrated novels on the market.

The story revolves around an alchemist's daughter (who he created) and the adventures of her life. To say any more would spoil the story, the text of which is very brief, sufficed to say that an important historical figure plays a crucial role.

The story and illustrations are very much like Edward Gorey. The spine of the hardcover book is made of felt... this is a very beautifully packaged book in every way. At the end it says that Niffenegger is working on a new full length novel. Last year she released Three Incestuous Sisters. Hopefully we'll have a new one to look forward to next year.

Niffenegger appears to be publishing her work in reverse order - this offering includes ideas developed from her art-school sketchbooks. Maybe this author's "Time Traveler's Wife" was more autobiographical than she's letting on.

It's not another "Wife," though. It more closely resembles her "Three Incestuous Sisters." Like the "Sisters," it's a Gorey-esque series of images, one per two-page spread, with just a few words on the facing page. And, even more than the "Sisters," it baffles the reader with dream-like transitions that defy normal logic.

The imagery is what counts here. It appears to be a sequence of aquatints with line etching, a printmaking technique that looks a little like pen drawing with solid color washes. The un-named heroine of this story is an elfin young woman with short hair and missing shirt. As with Gorey, it's a style that will catch your eye or won't, and a story (I think it's a story) that will catch you imagination or won't. I'm caught, partly because of the charm of the story and art, and partly because my mind can't let go of the mystery and ambiguity in them.

-- wiredweird

As others have noted, if you buy this book with the expectation that the story will be even an ounce as compelling as The Time Traveler's Wife, you will be disappointed. I gave this book 2 stars for the quality. As picture novels go, it is given the royal print quality treatment. However, I was underwhelemed by the illustrations and storyline. I know it was written years ago and I like that it was dusted off and resurrected, but it just didn't draw me in. Pardon the pun ;)

Niffenegger, author of the runaway bestselling novel "The Time Traveler's Wife," has now released her second illustrated book--and this comes so much sooner than I could have hoped! "The Adventuress" is every bit as wonderful as "The Three Incestuous Sisters." I'm absolutely tickled that "The Three" sold well enough to open the door for another one of these--and I can only hope and pray that the trend continues.

What sort of books are these illustrated novels? Well, imagine combining equal parts of Gustav Klimt, Rod Serling, Edward Gorey--then mixing in the dose of X chromosomes, and you've got an artist/storyteller like Niffenegger! Wonderful, bizarre and unique. And, hey, how often do you find a book that quickly becomes a favorite and that can also be read straight through every time you sit down with it?

The Adventuress is sparse and brilliantly complex.

The plot of The Adventuress is difficult to describe without telling the story myself. I like this succinct description from my library's catalog: "The Adventuress follows the dreamlike journey of an alchemist's daughter." If you've read Niffenegger, you know how she plays with fantasy and reality in a magical way; The Adventuress is no different. Like The Three Incestuous Sisters, it's a unique format. It's most like a picture book for grown-ups. The artwork is mesmerizing, and there are several panels I would gladly use to decorate my walls.

When I finished it (far too quickly), my first thoughts were simply, "wow." It's a quirky, smart, hauntingly beautiful story told with the a sparse use of words and mesmerizing and beautiful art.

I was expecting something totally different. It was.... odd, at best. Perhaps there is an audience who will love it, but I didn't fall into that group. Of course, it's in a completely different category from The Time Travelor's Wife, which is one of my favorite reads.

The Adventuress

I bought this book on a whim after it appeared as an Amazon suggested purchase that I might be interested in. As an artist myself, the reviews had me eager to see the inside of this book...too eager to take up a very wise suggestion by one of the reviewers to actually go to a bookstore and see the inside pictures for yourself prior to ordering a copy. I found the front cover to be the most interesting drawing. The inside story and sketches were disappointing to say the least and my only consolation is that I bought a used copy so I didn't feel as cheated as if I had paid full price. Art is a subjective thing however and what thrills one person leaves another unmoved. Don't do what I did. Go to a bookstore and look at it first. That way you will either be pleasantly surprised or avoid being disappointed.

A woman captured by an avaricious lord. A metamorphosis into a moth. A union with Napoleon. A cat born from a woman. A betrayal. A death. Spirit travelling.

This is basically the story of Audrey Niffenegger's picture story The Adventuress. Fascinating artwork strung together with single sentences or labels to construct something of a mystical fairy tale.

The story is second after the art as Niffenegger says in the afterword. She created the pictures as they came to her in a dream-like state and only when they were completed did she try to sequence them into the story of "The Adventuress".

The book design and pictures are superb with high quality paper used to bring out the best of Niffenegger's art. Given that the words used as minimal at best, this is a very quick read but then it was created not to be read but really looked at. Each picture has detail and atmosphere to capture your attention for several minutes at least.

It's an interesting book of art similar in style to Niffenegger's other book "The Three Incestuous Sisters" and has some excellent pictures. The story, while meandering, is in the best of fairy tales compelling and magical in equal turns. A good, well produced book but perhaps not for everyone given it's brevity in prose.

Bought this for my 18yo budding graphic designer, she loves it. Is not a book in the sense of Time Travelers Wife, is definitely to be purchased for your interest in art.