Orpheus [Library Binding]

Charles Mikolaycak (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1992

When his beloved wife, Eurydice, dies, Orpheus, the world's greatest musician, journeys to the Underworld to win her back, but when he loses her forever, his grief destroys his musical talents, in a beautifully illustrated rendition of the tragic Greek myth.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9-12-- A masterly tribute to a timeless myth, this book is both visually stunning and undeniably problematic. There is nothing con troversial about the text, which employs opera lyrics and rises to poetic expression itself in places. Mikolaycak focuses on the poignant rather than the tragic possibilities of the story: this Orpheus loses Eurydice again through misjudgment rather than doubt, and his death is almost accidental, rather than the revenge of the gods. (Other interpretations are touched on in an instructive two-page note, followed by a bibliography and discography.) The volume is a triumph of art and design. Dusky matte pages set off white type and white-edged illustra tions. Both Maxfield Parrish and Caravaggio provide artistic precedents, while some uncon ventional color and composition underscore originality even in the allusions. The pictures are romantically beautiful, but also bold and striking. As befits the textual and artistic sources, however, the realistically rendered figures are all nude. While the warmly toned bodies are idealized and the nudity is ``taste ful,'' doubtless the presence of breasts and but tocks (not to mention the bloody death-scene) will banish the book from some shelves. That would be a shame: at the very least these mag nificent pictures might lure young adult read ers into the depth and resonance of Greek myth. --Patricia Dooley, University of Wash ington, Seattle
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Library Binding
• Publisher: Harcourt Childrens Books (J) (October 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152588043
• ISBN-13: 978-0152588045
• Product Dimensions: 12.2 x 9.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,508,658 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful, sensual illustrations of Orpheus and Eurydice, December 4, 2003

By 

GoryDetails "gorydetails" (Nashua, NH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Orpheus (Library Binding)

This is a simple retelling of the legend of Orpheus by Charles Mikolaycak, who also created the passionate, dramatic illustrations. [The tale of Orpheus has a number of variations, especially concerning his death; Mikolaycak illustrates the terror and pain of his chosen variant with the same intensity with which he depicts the love between Orpheus and Eurydice in happier times.] This is a stunningly beautiful book...

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The poignant retelling of myth, March 23, 2005

By 

Luan Gaines "luansos" (Dana Point, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Orpheus (Library Binding)

The Orpheus myth continues in many forms, theatrical, musical and artistic, retelling the ultimate loneliness of Orpheus after the loss of Eurydice. This allegory of grief is subject to many interpretations, but this particular book contains no controversy, rather a series of stunning illustrations that give voice to a man's grief in a manner that is evocative of the most basic human emotions. This is an accessible Orpheus, a man whose music was so exquisite that "mountains bowed and wild animals ceased their hunting to listen". Even the sea interrupted the dance of the waves, the trees bent to catch his plaintive notes, when the young Orpheus is rewarded by marriage to Eurydice, their brief happiness already foreshadowed by loss.

After the death of his beloved, passionate wife, Orpheus is inconsolable, haunted by despair, the images stark, a man lost to his former self. Determined to bring Eurydice back to life, Orpheus takes leave of his senses, descending into the caves of the Underworld. Orpheus' lament touches even the cursed souls who dwell there, their faces distorted by desire. But Eurydice is never again to be part of his world. In baleful, sorrowful degrees, Orpheus sinks into his mute state, the divine music of his soul forever silenced, his discarded lyre the only symbol of a once enchanted life.

Set against stormy, sky-darkened pages, the illustrations are exceptional, vividly colored, capturing in elegant line the demise of the tortured young man. Deeply shadowed, with hints of the orange-hued glow of the Underworld, Orpheus' human form struggles from page to page until his demise. This is a striking and imaginative take on a familiar myth, elegant in its simplicity, adorned with the power of lost love and the skill of an award-winning illustrator. Luan Gaines/2005.