Passionate Journey: A Novel in 165 Woodcuts [Hardcover]

Frans Masereel (Author), Thomas Mann (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2001

graphic novel, intro Thomas Mann

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Woodcutter, painter, cosmopolitan and anti-militarist, Belgium-born Masereel (1889-1972) was an extremely popular artist in 1920s Germany. A contemporary of Kathe Kollwitz and George Grosz, his "novels-without-words"--completely composed of woodcuts--have been neglected in the States. Here, 165 striking woodcuts generate the visual narrative of a young man's initiation into the urban milieu. The raw power and diversity of the city's day to day events continually expand his understanding of life's possibilities. The hero's fascination with the city's abundance of art and culture, political debate and industrial glory combine with observations on an equal profusion of poignant social trauma. The protagonist travels to distant lands; this journey of vibrant percipience propels him toward an enlarged comprehension of his role in a world of good and evil, love and tenderness and clashing social interests. Mann's effusive introduction discusses Masereel's life and influences and details the ideas that motivated and enliven this vivid work.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Masereel's Passionate Journey occurs entirely in his series of 165 woodcuts, rather like a black-and-white movie, as Thomas Marm explains in his introduction, written in 1926. Each of the woodcuts centers on a young man who we may as well think of as Masereel himself, who was in his early thirties when he cut this novel. The young man is shown in a variety of situations, and a highly romantic account of Masereel's spiritual development emerges. The young artist enters a city by railroad and walks crowded streets with bemused amazement. Throughout the series he undergoes various pleasures and pains of the physical, mental, political, moral, and religious life as a sort of preparation for a Christlike death and spiritual rebirth. This is a thoroughly romantic, ego-centered production which provides a virtual checklist of the social, political, religious, and artistic concerns of Masereel's cultural moment. Audiences today will appreciate its value as a characterization (and equally as a caricature) of European intellectual life during the first two and a half decades of this century. We can no longer flip through it with the passion and mounting excitement which Mann describes in his introduction. For us, such journeys seem to end very close to where they began. -- From Independent Publisher

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: City Lights Publishers; 1st City Lights Books ed edition (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0872861740
• ISBN-13: 978-0872861749
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,020,639 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful biography --, December 17, 2006

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wiredweird "wiredweird" (Earth, or somewhere nearby) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Passionate Journey: A Novel Told in 165 Woodcuts (Paperback)

-- or is it? Masereel's remarkable little book declines to explain itself.

These 165 expressive woodcuts present snapshots from the life of one man, or so we assume. He's not all that special - he's not a great hero, leader, or lover, though he's each at one point or another. He doesn't rise above or sink below anyone else, except in the usual ways. As with Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man," this book celebrates the ordinary. And, when seen in such detail, the ordinary becomes quite extraordinary.

The book opens with the un-named man's arrival by train. The crowd and surroundings excite him, as does the mechanism of the train itself. Then, he's off to his new life in the city. We see that life in an uneven, even surreal pace. Masereel's vivid, expressive images hopscotch through the years of his life. Sequences of unrelated images seem to compress years into just a few pages. Other times, long sequences examine individual stories in detail - the adoption of a daughter, his happiness in her, and her final illness and death may be the most moving. It's a life-changing event, and sets the anonymous man off on a lengthy voyage, perhaps to lose himself or to find himself again. He returns to the city life, and eventually retires. The imagery changes radically at this point. It suggests Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" and "Starry Night," and also hints at Van Gogh's death.

Or maybe not. The imagery speaks volumes, but speaks a different volume to each viewer - and will probably speak differently to me when I read it again. Although it's an illustrated story, it's not for children. It is for anyone who wants to see the grandparents of today's illustrated fiction, or who appreciates woodcut in itself. This Dover edition is a beautiful reproduction, with richly saturated blacks but paper opaque enough to keep each page from bleeding through. It's easy to enjoy - so go ahead, enjoy it.

//wiredweird

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure Inspiration, April 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Passionate Journey: A Novel in 165 Woodcuts (Hardcover)

When my sister gave me this book for my birthday, it was one of the greatest presents I ever received. I was inspired, comforted, and emboldened by Masereel's wordless tale of a questing spirit. Despite the fact that I've read it literally hundreds of times (almost every night when I was working in Calcutta), I always see something new in the subtle, highly expressive woodcuts. Besides the brilliance of his technique, the story Maserel tells is exciting, complex, hilarious and moving. A treaure I wouldn't trade for practically anything.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a transcendant, wordless novel, May 31, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Passionate Journey: A Novel in 165 Woodcuts (Hardcover)

Frans Masereel made this "Novel in 165 Woodcuts" in 1919. With these 165 beautifully stark images, Masereel tells the story of a man's life - his love, his grief, his awe, his despair - without using a single word. "Passionate Journey" unfolds like a silent film; its attempt to communicate the reality of a lived life across boundaries of language (and literacy) gives it a quality of spiritual striving and - ultimately - transcendence. A small, luminous masterpiece.

"Look at these powerful black-and-white figures, their features etched in light and shadow. You will be captivated from beginning to end..." - Thomas Mann