At long last come the monumental tales of perhaps the three greatest invertebrates who ever lived... Fables from the Mud compiles the triumphant accounts of three modern-day invertebrate heroes and their tireless quests for self-revelation: "The Angry Clam" reveals the trials and tribulations of a clam struggling with the absurd reality of his own impotence. "Adventures of Glen in My Stone Garden" is the story of a cynical ant whose view of the world is turned on its head by the discovery of a magical stone garden. "Grant's Tomb" is the tale of a great warrior worm who, despite having achieved everything he'd striven for in life, is still left feeling empty and alone.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
Erik Quisling first released handmade copies of his new book, Fables from the Mud, nine months ago. Since then, this little text has gone on to becoming a classic with the likes of Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince and Axel Hacke's and Michael Sowa's The Little King December. The thing is, Quisling's Fables from the Mud can hardly be considered a children's book. It is quite dark at times, and more than a little gory too, and it is told in succinctly few words to express profound ideas.
The first fable of The Angry Clam, for example, tells the story of a mollusk who struggles with its existence and goes through many trials trying to find meaning in his life, even converting to Islam, and then abandoning it again when it doesn't seem to help. Quisling includes a tragic but completely realistic epilogue of the angry clam's ending days.
The second fable, Adventures of Glen in My Stone Garden, is a slightly ridiculous but hilarious look at the adventures of a pessimistic ant named Glen. His adventures include a garden barbeque, getting stomped on by a boot, and captaining a pirate crew. What happens to Glen in his adventures gets pretty gory, because he gets swallowed by a dog and even gets his own head severed, but don't worry, everything works out in the end for Glen.
Things don't end as well for the protagonist of the final fable though. Grant's Tomb is about a has-been warrior worm whose best days are behind him and find the future to be empty and meaningless. He plots to commit suicide in a spectacular manner as a glorified finale, but needs to evade other dangers that face him on this new quest. Inevitably, he finds meaning with his quest and loses the will for suicide, but unfortunately with this new turn of events, only tragedy can result.
These fables of Quisling's are so funny and popular that Hollywood animation studio Luma Pictures have now optioned the right to create short animated films from Fables from the Mud. They plan to enter the films into film festivals and also the Academy Award Short film competition, and also market them to networks to be converted to animated series. Not too shabby for Quisling's little book about invertebrates.
I enjoyed these little stories very much, although I cringed at some of the gory parts. Fables from the Mud is a realistic parody of life, for us and for the invertebrates, and I'm sure when my brain recovers from the gore, I will find that it was an enlightening read too. I can't wait to see what Luma Pictures does with the fables, and I'm waiting anxiously for Quisling's next book! --- The Boston Globe (October, 2007)
"Very occasionally a book comes along that breaks out from the norm, that can be taken on many different levels, and more importantly, enjoyed by a wide audience. Erik Quisling has produced such a work with Fables From The Mud. It may be a quick read, but it is a very contemplative work, and one that once you finish it, you will want to reflect on the stories. Minimalist it certainly is, but it is well worth the price of admission. There is something for everyone in this book." --- The Cleveland Plains Dealer (September, 2007)
"The whole book can be read in about ten minutes, but there is plenty of material packed into these little gems to warrant re-reading. The comedy and insight are wily, creative, and on a deeper level, profound... these funny tales merit reading and re-reading; they are prime specimens of an independent author working with a highly unconventional literary form, which possesses great wryness and a great senseof life." --5 Star Book Reviews, Curledup.com
The first fable of The Angry Clam, for example, tells the story of a mollusk who struggles with its existence and goes through many trials trying to find meaning in his life, even converting to Islam, and then abandoning it again when it doesn't seem to help. Quisling includes a tragic but completely realistic epilogue of the angry clam's ending days.
The second fable, Adventures of Glen in My Stone Garden, is a slightly ridiculous but hilarious look at the adventures of a pessimistic ant named Glen. His adventures include a garden barbeque, getting stomped on by a boot, and captaining a pirate crew. What happens to Glen in his adventures gets pretty gory, because he gets swallowed by a dog and even gets his own head severed, but don't worry, everything works out in the end for Glen.
Things don't end as well for the protagonist of the final fable though. Grant's Tomb is about a has-been warrior worm whose best days are behind him and find the future to be empty and meaningless. He plots to commit suicide in a spectacular manner as a glorified finale, but needs to evade other dangers that face him on this new quest. Inevitably, he finds meaning with his quest and loses the will for suicide, but unfortunately with this new turn of events, only tragedy can result.
These fables of Quisling's are so funny and popular that Hollywood animation studio Luma Pictures have now optioned the right to create short animated films from Fables from the Mud. They plan to enter the films into film festivals and also the Academy Award Short film competition, and also market them to networks to be converted to animated series. Not too shabby for Quisling's little book about invertebrates.
I enjoyed these little stories very much, although I cringed at some of the gory parts. Fables from the Mud is a realistic parody of life, for us and for the invertebrates, and I'm sure when my brain recovers from the gore, I will find that it was an enlightening read too. I can't wait to see what Luma Pictures does with the fables, and I'm waiting anxiously for Quisling's next book! --- The Boston Globe (October, 2007)
"Very occasionally a book comes along that breaks out from the norm, that can be taken on many different levels, and more importantly, enjoyed by a wide audience. Erik Quisling has produced such a work with Fables From The Mud. It may be a quick read, but it is a very contemplative work, and one that once you finish it, you will want to reflect on the stories. Minimalist it certainly is, but it is well worth the price of admission. There is something for everyone in this book." --- The Cleveland Plains Dealer (September, 2007)
"The whole book can be read in about ten minutes, but there is plenty of material packed into these little gems to warrant re-reading. The comedy and insight are wily, creative, and on a deeper level, profound... these funny tales merit reading and re-reading; they are prime specimens of an independent author working with a highly unconventional literary form, which possesses great wryness and a great senseof life." --5 Star Book Reviews, Curledup.com
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quisling Provides an Absolute Joy,
This review is from: Fables From The Mud (Paperback)
This collection of three quirky illustrated stories partially feels like a collection of web comics: the simple drawings, the sparse text on each page, the dry humor that so many share. The whole book can be read in about ten minutes, but there is plenty of material packed into these little gems to warrant re-reading. The comedy and insight are wily, creative, and on a deeper level, profound.
For those unfamiliar with the web comic medium, Fables from the Mud may seem bizarre at first. Each page shows a hand-drawn, black-and-white illustration and below it a few lines of text. These "panels" make up the continuous storylines, which are divided into parts. What is most astounding about this volume is how so much has been crammed into this slight form. It takes something of comedic brilliance to condense something greatly telling into a hysterically funny phrase. In "The Angry Clam," a clam rides a carousel of existential perspectives resulting from a buildup of philosophical frustration. Upon being pulled towards the surface of the ocean, Quisling writes: "Gazing skyward through the sun's crepuscular rays, the clam envisions his deliverance from the proverbial rectum of darkness. Other particularly funny lines include comparing a kitchen with a pot of boiling clams to a "din of steamy Miltonian hell." There is something comically ridiculous about the whole book: a clam experiencing existential frustration, an ant finding a sense of higher being, a warrior worm struggling against the meaninglessness all around him. And each tale contains enough plot twists to make it even more absurd. There is precisely where the humor lies. By reducing such themes to these wry tales, Quisling has punctured a bag of hot air, exposing their truths with nakedness and great humor. This puncturing also provides the reader with a greater intimacy with these themes; Quisling has pounced on these ideas, ripping them from their lofty nests and into our human grasp. In doing so, he has made them important again. One first enjoys Fables for its humor, but one may come back repeatedly to give a close look at a previously-skimmed line that holds much more than is immediately apparent. The same slicing to essentials that produces such humor also suggests a similarly quirky insight. General Julius Gunther Weems's revelation about how to feel happy in his "bogus, smoke-screen, sham of a life" is a real one that does produce real emotion. The last panel is a stark portrait of his tragic death and his ability to overcome it; it is surprisingly moving. Quisling uses this puncturing, reduce-to-essentials tactic in the content of the stories as well as their form. Broadly speaking, each character experiences in the following order: (1) a sense of dejection or despair, (2) a rapid ascension to great lofty heights that produce a new sense of purpose, (3) a sudden downfall, (4) and a realistic sense of being that comes from the appreciation of life in the presence of tragedy as well as tragedy in the presence of life. The experiences that produce these realizations--self-sacrifice to save one's brethren, being stamped by a boot, being used for bait by a fisherman--hardly need analogy to make them immediately relevant to our lives. Quisling's charming tales have much to offer in their unexpected complexity. I hardly want to go further and more so inflate the bag of hot air around this novel book. So here lies the simple, punctured truth: these funny tales merit reading and re-reading; they are prime specimens of an independent author working with a highly unconventional literary form, which possesses great wryness and a great sense of life. Originally published on Curled Up With A Good Book at www.curledup.com. © Max Falkowitz, 2007
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The New Shel Silverstein!,
This review is from: Fables From The Mud (Paperback)
This a great little book full of wisdom, insight, and wry humor. The illustrations and style remind me of the clever stuff of Shel Silverstein. The three tales comprise a graphic novel that is totally original in concept and execution.
This is a great gift for friends who are bright and worldly.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Crazy antics! It is a lot of fun,
By Reader Views "Reviews, by readers, for readers" (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Fables From The Mud (Paperback)
Reviewed by Cherie Fisher for Reader Views (12/07)
I was not sure what to expect when I picked up this book and was pleasantly surprised by the content. "Fables from the Mud" is a satirical work that has very few words but will have you laughing out loud as you read it. Every page in the book has a basic hand-drawn picture with most only having a line or two of words of side-splittingly funny content. The first fable is about an angry clam that plots the destruction of the earth but is too apathetic to do anything about it. He tries to change his views, even converting to Islam at one point before meeting a gruesome end. The main character in the second fable is a cynical ant that discovers a magical stone garden. I absolutely loved Erik Quisling notes on this character's demise "Our main character had apparently perished and my persistent flirtation with the dangling modifier was growing loathsome even to myself." The third fable is about a great warrior worn grown so dejected with life it has decided to commit suicide. What happens to him on this journey is very memorable. This is an all around great book for having so little content. I read the whole thing very quickly but keep returning to it to reread some of the crazy antics. I think "Fables from the Mud" makes the perfect holiday gift for those cynical worldly friends who have everything. At the very least, it is a lot of fun. Received book free of charge.
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