or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Tell the Publisher!
I'd like to read this book on Kindle

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Color:
Image not available

To view this video download Flash Player

 

Griffin & Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Nick Bantock
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (99 customer reviews)

List Price: $19.95
Price: $15.35 & FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $4.60 (23%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Want it Thursday, June 20? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Hardcover, Illustrated $15.35  
Paperback --  
Audio, Cassette, Audiobook --  
Unknown Binding --  
Image
Save on Popular Books This Summer
Browse our Bookshelf Favorites store for big savings on popular fiction, nonfiction, children's books, and more.

Book Description

September 1, 1991
Griffin: It's good to get in touch with you at last. Could I have one of your fish postcards? I think you were right -- the wine glass has more impact than the cup. --Sabine

But Griffin had never met a woman named Sabine. How did she know him? How did she know his artwork? Who is she? Thus begins the strange and intriguing correspondence of Griffin and Sabine. And since each letter must be pulled from its own envelope, the reader has the delightful, forbidden sensation of reading someone else's mail. Griffin & Sabine is like no other illustrated novel: appealing to the poet and artist in everyone and sure to inspire a renaissance in the fine art of letter-writing, it tells an extraordinary story in an extraordinary way.


Frequently Bought Together

Griffin & Sabine:  An Extraordinary Correspondence + Sabine's Notebook: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Continues + The Golden Mean: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Concludes
Price for all three: $43.21

Buy the selected items together


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This singular, magical volume invites readers to examine handmade postcards and open colorful envelopes as they eavesdrop on lonely London card-designer Griffin Moss and mysterious South Pacific islander Sabine Strohem. Sabine introduces herself to Griffin with a note congratulating him on a design on one of the postcards he illustrates--and alluding to an alteration he made during the creative process. Perplexed because he works alone and discusses his creative dilemmas with no one, he responds, begging her to enlighten him as to how she knew about the original design. In her next missive, she admits, "I share your sight," and their correspondence grows increasingly intimate. Sabine continues to make psychic observations and beckons to Griffin from her atoll; Griffin fantasizes about her to escape his drab existence, his interest turning to obsession. Their personalities shine through both their art and penmanship: Griffin's faintly disturbing, often subliminally violent collages, blocky printed words and imperfectly typewritten pages contrast with Sabine's whimsical doodles, fanciful postage stamps and flowing, calligraphic script. Pop-up book author Bantock's ( There Was an Old Lady ) images and concept will haunt the imagination.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Nick Bantock is the author of numerous illustrated novels, including Griffin & Sabine , Sabine's Notebook , The Golden Mean , The Gryphon , and Alexandria , which together spent 100 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list. Born in England, he now lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 48 pages
  • Publisher: Chronicle Books; First Edition edition (September 1, 1991)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0877017883
  • ISBN-13: 978-0877017882
  • Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 0.6 x 8.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (99 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #31,882 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

If you're thinking about reading this book, I urge you!! LYDIALION@aol.com  |  18 reviewers made a similar statement
Beautiful Illustrations and deliciously written postcards and letters put into the form of a book! Zdenek Andrew Bocek  |  16 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
36 of 39 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Delicious and Mysterious Romance February 20, 2003
Format:Hardcover
Lovers love, and whatever distance or mystery is tossed between them, they still will love. In "Griffin & Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence" by Nick Bantock, we begin an intimate journey between two lovers destined to be enraptured in all that is dreamt of. They catapult the divide of geography and join mid-mail in a postal embrace, captured by Bantock in a sweet and phenomenal book.

Griffin is a postcard artist in England and Sabine is a stamp designer for a small Pacific island. Each is perceived as sublimely exotic to the other as they reveal the secrets of their lives through correspondence.

What is the romance of "Griffin & Sabine?" Besides being an 'extraordinary correspondence,' it is about two lovers who connect through the artistic passions they share. Like the romances that now happen through the internet, or the Victorian era correspondences, there is an innocence and delicacy to their exchanges of mail.

This is the romance which never happened in "84 Charing Cross Road." This is what the romance should've been in "You've Got Mail." This is what "Cyrano De Bergerac" could've been if not a tragedy.

Bantock dangles a sensuous, sumptuous step into the hearts of a fantasy based in a reality that the reader will smile, wondering if the writer knew someone like Sabine, if she has been created like Pygmalion sculpted Galatea.

Begin with "Griffin & Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence" and follow their story through subsequent tales in other book.

--Brockeim
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars a beautiful collection, worth more than a 5 star rating December 22, 1999
Format:Hardcover
From the moment I opened the first book of this trilogy, I was in love. A beautiful, mysterious story drawn out in real letters and postcards. The story is only heightened by the breathtaking artwork on each page. I highly recommend these books, and that you read them in order. Each has a sudden and mysterious ending that leaves you yearning for more.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Makes you want to pick up a postcard and write a friend. November 24, 1998
Format:Hardcover
Words can not describe what Nick Bantcock has combined with pictures and postcards. He actually pulls you in as you must open envelopes to read the ongoing correspondence. Buy a bottle of wine, build a fire and join your significant other for a journey that will not leave you disapointed.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
I was given this as a gift from my "extraordinary correspondent" 3000 miles away and it made me appreciate the joys of becoming entranced in the possiblity of love and the tingle of fear that comes when that love is real. Nick Bantock takes us on a journey, through love letters. Letters that the reader can actually remove from their envelope, open and read! For those of you who thought you were too old for "pop-up like books" you're in for a treat! The beautiful artwork only adds to the story. I can't wait to read book #2!
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars For nosy romantics . . . December 12, 2002
Format:Hardcover
GRIFFIN & SABINE is the ultimate gift for the naturally curious. This peek into the correspondence between two people - with letters to open, postcards to read, handwriting to decipher - gives the reader the sensation of having stumbled upon a romantic mystery to which only the individual reader is privvy. The story is nothing much, but the discovery of it is exquisite. The art used to development the concept is engaging and not at all cutesy. Because of its interactive nature, this book feels intimately known, privately owned, a secret kept closed between the covers.

This is a great gift book. If you are looking for substantial reading, skip this, but if you want a diversion, something to explore and take in visually, this book is for you.

Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Magic December 27, 2000
Format:Hardcover
I got this book as a gift from my girlfriend. I have to say it was the most intereting book I read all year. I love stories that can be told in a slightly different way than just flipping pages. The book makes you feel. There is so much mystery and romance as you read through the postcards and letters that make up the "pages" of the book.

Since reading through the whole trilogy, I have been using this book as a great gift click since everyone should be exposed to this fantasy. I think it is virually impossible for anyone to not like this book, unless they are against imagination, love, and mystery.

Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The coolest book!! January 5, 1999
Format:Hardcover
I'm a student, and my art teacher had this book on display for us. I read the first couple of pages and asked if I could take it home-where I quickly devoured it's beautiful art and awesome story. I can't wait to read the second and third book. It made me want to write letters with a fountain pen like Sabine does. I loved the story because I feel a little the same way about a person I email all the time, but have never met. If you're thinking about reading this book, I urge you!!
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
To pick up and open this book is to immerse yourself in a private world of communications between two people who have never met each other. Communications? Yes. There is the written communication and visual communication which we can read and see, and also a level of apparent telepathic communication which seems to increase during the course of the book.

The book itself must have been a challenge for the printer. It involves a mixture of postcards and letters. The letters are enveloped so that the experience of taking the letter from the envelope, reading it and replacing it makes the reader very much a participant in the experience.

There isn't much written story, but there doesn't need to be. Postcards and short letters are essentially point in time observations or one way communications. What makes this little book so enjoyable is its presentation and its involvement of the adult reader in an essentially tactile experience.

This review is dedicated to my friend Linda, who by drawing this book to my attention, reminded me that books are not just about the written word.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Love the series
Since i first was introduced to the series i have shared them with friends and family. The series makes a great gift.
Published 2 months ago by Jason Hood
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Read
This series (all three of the original books) provided intriguing thoughts about relationships in general........ Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mark K
4.0 out of 5 stars A fun read
Graphic artists will appreciate this more than anyone. My sister is a graphic artist, and she recommended it to me when I told her I wanted to get into writing letters again. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Smaug
5.0 out of 5 stars this was a gift
Gave this as a gift and have been informed that the recipient "loves it" so I guess this gets a five star review.
Published 3 months ago by Sable Jak
2.0 out of 5 stars A visual medium on AUDIO?
Took a chance and failed. Wonderfully read and produced, this seemed to be a way for the makers of the book to make extra cash fast. Read the books instead.
Published 3 months ago by M.K.
5.0 out of 5 stars always a winner
I have purchased a few of this book over time because it is a very unusual format, and always gets good reactions
Published 5 months ago by Bill
5.0 out of 5 stars Poetry through Words and Pictures
I remember being introduced to "Griffin & Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence" by Nick Bantock, way back in 2000 by a colleague at Crossword Book Store at Mahalaxmi (I worked... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Vivek Tejuja
4.0 out of 5 stars Another charming Griffin & Sabine Book
As the other Griffin & Sabine books, loved this one also and will keep it in my library of favorites forever.
Published 5 months ago by Buquinista
5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous Art
Beautiful Illustrations and deliciously written postcards and letters put into the form of a book! Extremely piquant and enrapturing eye candy!
Published 6 months ago by Zdenek Andrew Bocek
5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous Art
Beautiful Illustrations and deliciously written postcards and letters put into the form of a book! Extremely piquant and enrapturing eye candy!
Published 6 months ago by Zdenek Andrew Bocek
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews


Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

Forums

There are no discussions about this product yet.
Be the first to discuss this product with the community.
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 



So You'd Like to...


Create a guide


Look for Similar Items by Category