Customer Reviews

Flood! A Novel In Pictures

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is one of the most precious things I own. It is beautiful beyond words. A story, in painstaking, gorgeous, graphic images, of an artist's metamorphisis and life in the city. You can watch Drooker's work progress as each scratchboard image becomes more refined, more gorgeous. Stunning.

this book really touches me. so deep, empathetic, real. no words, everything expressed thru those poetic woodcuts. i bought 5 books and give them as presents to my best friends.......

This -- and its sister story found in Eric Drooker's BLOOD SONG -- are truly wonderful novels, amazing story, amazing artistic illustration -- visual poetry! I cannot give any graphic novel higher praise than FLOOD! Try to get the volume that has the interview with Drooker at the end, if you can (added insights into the art and artist) -- but definitely experience FLOOD in all its glory!

I found Drooker's Blood Song one of the most evocative wordless stories I've seen. His scratchboard style, reminiscent of the great woodcut storytellers, combined a personal story with larger themes of social justice, all with visual energy and style that left me wanting more of his work.

I guess that "Flood!" is where he developed the style I enjoyed. I have to admit, though, this earlier work didn't appeal to me as much. The narration didn't seem as strong, the social message seemed a bit shriller, and the artwork carried elements I'm not so fond of. In the afterword, Drooker acknowledges Crumb as one of his influences. A few panels seemed almost imitative of Crumb style, and I found that I liked those panels least.

I still consider Drooker a strong and developing storyteller, and I'll look for more of his work. If this had been my introduction, however, I might not have bothered.

-- wiredweird

The visual metaphors in this book
are skillful and moving,
as well as very witty at times.
I laughed, I... well I didn't really CRY,
but I did get sniffly. ;)
An engaging commentary on life.

Note: If you don't really look at the pictures,
you won't get anything out of it.
Some of this work is very subtle.

When you first encounter Drooker's story-scape, each precious moment of recognition and association collapses the space that holds you outside the book reading, until you are dropped deeper even into your own world, and marveling at all that is around you. Here, the reader is invited to witness and participate in the appropriations of meaning that constitute the individual's identity in a vast and elusive society. The solitary protagonists in Drooker's stories are journeyers and drifters, transgressing a fluid mythotropic environment that pulses with historical memory and a rich cultural symbology. Drooker's world is pervaded with a deep and compelling mystery. The mystery is in the eclectic progression of images that flash across the page, a fragmented and kaleidescopic depiction of a hybrid instance of collective culture. This is evocative of that strange cross-breeding of cultures, which we see in our cities. Drooker sees within this a kind of hope, which emerges out from behind the distinctively apocalyptic mood and stage of the work. The culture is mined for knowledge that will bestow meaning upon the seeker, fostering a vital and visionary experience. The creative and imaginative integrity that the characters find in the midst of stifling urban anonymity and alienation are a type of personal redemption that brings celestial satisfaction within reach, like an instruction manual for surviving the destruction of the great flood.

Flood! is a wordless novel composed of scratchboard illustrations by artist Eric Drooker. It continues the rich but little-known tradition of pictorial literature best exemplified by the works of expressionistic woodcut artists Frans Masereel and Lynd Ward. That Drooker has thoroughly studied the work of these great masters of the past is quite obvious. At times the homage is a little too faithful, as there are scenes here that seem as if they were lifted directly out of Ward's Wild Pilgrimage or Madman's Drum. Drooker makes the art form his own, however, by filtering these historic influences through the visual language of the underground comics movement that originated in the 1960s. The resulting concoction is a truly beautiful and profound work of graphic storytelling.

Though subtitled "A Novel in Pictures," it's unclear whether the three parts of Flood! are intended to be chapters in a novel or rather three self-contained short stories. Each features a lone male protagonist who wanders through a labyrinthine metropolis. As in the works of Ward and Masereel, this representative man struggles to survive in his oppressive urban environment, along the way encountering the hazards of poverty, unemployment, violence, incarceration, love, and lots and lots of rain. Despite the hardships, the city is not without its moments of sublime beauty. The book starts out rather gritty and realistic, then becomes more and more fanciful and whimsical--incorporating dream sequences and hallucinations--all along ambitiously broadening its scope until its subject matter encompasses no less than the end of the world itself. Both the artwork and the narrative are loaded with hidden treasures, revealing new discoveries with each rereading. Drooker is to be commended for resurrecting this lost art form and shaping it with his own unique vision. Those who appreciate skillfully crafted graphic art, either vintage or contemporary, will find much to enjoy in this latter-day classic.

The work displays the journey of one man and the life that he lives over different time periods. It's a tale of destruction, of energy, and oddly enough of hope in some ways. The last chapter is the longest and the most powerful as the man creates a story about the world at its ending, while the world ends around him. It has heartbreaking depictions and a feral energy to a man calling for the world's end. The artist in the story is so obsessed with finishing his work even as the water builds and floods his apartment he still goes back to finish one last mark, although the work will be lost.

The author tells us that he created the book over three different time periods which brings so much more vitality and energy to the work than if he had created in one time period. His thought processes, his ideas, his very way of creating changes over these time periods so it makes for a much, much more powerful work of art. The most exciting aspect of this book to me is the illustrations. They look like woodcarvings but the author tells us that he did them with scratchboard. A similar process to woodcarving, but much more difficult in some ways. The images in the first part of the book are exciting, because of the vitality and almost feral energy in them. Even more impressive to me is that he was able to depict graffiti on a subway train and have it look real. I was blown away by how much time and planning it must have taken to be able to do this. The second half of the book his scratchboard incorporates adds a new color to the scheme, blue, to give it more depth and energy and create even more powerful images.

This is a powerful book and it gives us a reminder of the types of stories that can be created without words. It is a must read and study for anyone, especially those hoping to get into the graphic industry themselves.

There is no artist who shakes me awake more than the visual work of Eric Drooker. His glowing covers have often appeared on The New Yorker, but it is

his ominous images that resonate, that go beyond the masks. FLOOD is just one of his vital books. If you haven't looked into the brilliant and wise array of Eric Drooker's paintings, drawings and reverse etchings, and in particular, FLOOD, what the hell are you waiting for?

The visual metaphors in this book
are skillful and moving,
as well as very witty at times.
I laughed, I... well I didn't really CRY,
but I did get sniffly. ;)
An engaging commentary on life.

Note: If you don't really look at the pictures,
you won't get anything out of it.
Some of this work is very subtle.