Customer Reviews

The Plucker: An Illustrated Novel by Brom

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a rare example of an artist who can write as well as they paint. The Plucker is a 160 page large-format hardcover, lavishly illustrated with over 100 Brom paintings, published by Abrams (the big art book publisher). The book is a delightfully politically-incorrect and convoluted "children's book" of the sort that children really do need to evoke the kind of nightmares that fire their imaginations (instead of the sweet simplistic pap they are usually fed). Where would Gary Larson be today if it weren't for reading "Mr Bear Squash-You-All-Flat" as a child?! The jacket blurb for The Plucker says: "a world where fairy-tale tradition collides with vileness and depravity, love and heroism, suffering and sacrifice. A shadowy land of make-believe where happily ever after can cost you your very soul." (Sleep tight, kiddies!)

The first few days of owning this book I simply absorbed and enjoyed the amazing illustrations. Finally I turned my sights to the text...being pulled from one page to the next and the next, cover to cover in one sitting. The story was exciting...full of hope, heebie-jeebies, heroes and horror. Brom did a great job crafting this tale, with both his images and his words. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend it to those who aren't overly sensative to the dark nooks and crannies of make-believe. The only fluff to this story is that which has been torn out of the soft bellies of once-loved stuffed animals.

The illustrations are masterful and show the true genius that is Brom. The story was an amazing first for Brom who has made it evident his talents are vast and ever-growing. Only one question...when is he going to hook up with Tim Burton and get this on the screen!?!

Visually the book is stunning, over a hundred full color paintings by Brom at the top of his game. If you enjoy Brom's paintings you'll love his prose - his sense of the macabre and the romantic, tinged with his dark sense of humor carry through into the story, making the Plucker a page turner. Very edgy stuff. Highly recommended!

The Plucker is a pretty good gothic horror story, as such stories go, and Brom's haunting illustrations are a perfect complement to the text. That's an advantage of having a single artist both author and illustrate a book -- in other illustrated works, there's often a divide between what the text describes and what the art shows. Brom avoids that pitfall, fusing his art and his words seamlessly into a coherent whole.

However, there are some rather sticky racial issues just under the surface of the story. It's set in the southern U.S. prior to the civil rights movement, and its monstrous villain is an evil spirit out of African folklore -- or, more likely, dreamed up by the author and misattributed to African folklore, which in itself is appropriative and in poor taste at best.

The one character who truly understands that villain and the threat it presents to the well-to-do white family in whose home the story takes place is the family's elderly black servant, Mabelle. Mabelle is an absolutely classic example of the "Magical Negro" stereotype ([...]) -- the simple yet wise black mystic who serves as a mentor to the white protagonist and eventually sacrifices herself for the good of that protagonist. Among the toy characters, Brom also introduces a native American doll, Little Bird, who fights alongside the toy hero, Jack, and also sacrifices herself, clearing the way for the implicitly-white Jack to defeat the Plucker and rescue his even whiter love interest, Angel.

None of this exactly ruins the book, but all other things being equal I prefer to see racial stereotypes subverted, rather than played straight without a hint of awareness that they're there.

This is the very first adult illustrated novel I've ever purchased, and I'd say Plucker was a great step towards buying more in this particular genre. It's haunting imagery goes well with the tone of the story. The story itself plays out quickly with interesting characters. The only problem I had with the book was the fact that without the pictures, a lot of what's happening would be lost in the reader's mind. Perhaps this is common with illustrated novels. I wouldn't know. It just bothered me on those occasions when something was broadly described and I had to stop and look again at the painting or drawing to see exactly what it was the author was trying to describe. Still, though, this book is a fine effort from Brom, and for fans of his art style (dark, moody, and strange), you won't be disappointed.

On a cold and rainy Saturday, after having a rather terrible couple of weeks, I took myself to a movie and then the bookstore. I bought this book on a whim, based on the lusciously gorgeous illustrations and the profoundly enticing writing - it fit the mood of the day perfectly. Only two other artists have such a rich and delightfully wicked combined creativity; Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, whose movie Mirrormask I had just seen!

Brom has sewn together a magical tale that will send you longingly into the toy chest hoping to revive the life in those precious objects of youthful imagination. Just as you wonder if there are doors in the backs of wardrobes or if the white rabbit could lead you off into Wonderland, Brom sheds new dark on the goings on in the Underbed. Perhaps one way of looking at this story is to say that the Nutcracker is sugarplum and cotton candy, Plucker is a perfectly decedent rich dark hand dipped imported chocolate truffle. If I could I would give this book a Newbery Award!

I would have devoured this story as a child and as an adult did it in one day. I would recommend it as a "read with" to those whose children liked Coriline (Neil Gaiman), Alice in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll), Keys to the Kingdom series (Garth Nix) and any good supernatural tale; basically a lover of Halloween.

For adults it's a great read for fans of Ray Bradbury, Hideyuki Kikuchi, Neil Gaiman, & early Stephan King.

This book is amazing, exactly what I could expect from the mind of Brom. I love the strange creatures, dolls, monsters and other characters. Definitely a unique, dark story from the mind of one of the contemporary fantasy masters. Very cool and very Brom.

I was already familiar with a lot of Brom's work when I was younger and now that I am older, working and able to afford to buy more I was more then happy to purchase this. His are it dark and sinister and can also be extremely beautiful. I personally love art and though there may be some who find it offensive, alot of times I dont look entirely on one picture as a whole, I personally like to look at individual details and admire how talented this artist is, and admire his work. I admire it more since he does his work by hand and it is sketched out then developed. It is more refreshing to see work that is done by hand and through a real mental process then slapped together by cutting and pasting on a screen, smudging and blending and considering that a real work of art. So before you put a bad review, specially if you weren't familiar with the artist to begin with id suggest doing your homework first and just because its dark and seems evil doesnt mean that the work itself and not worth a good rating. Technique and skills should be valued ten times more highly then someones flavor or personal likes. To me this man's work is amazing and inspiring, not only to me but to so many more.

...but the tale's a bit childish, too predictable and full of stereotypes. Brom's a skillful artist and his efforts in writing are praiseworthy, but making a story worth of adult attention requires a little more inventiveness. I must add is far from my intentions to critic the book from a grammatical or linguistic perspective (I don't speak english -sure you've noticed already!), but I'm able to judge the content as an average reader.

For the reviewer who thought this book repellent and inappropriate for children... come on, really? This is Brom we're talking about; not Neil Gaiman, or Clive Barker (both of who are very good at writing children's fiction). You don't get dark-but-quirky with some one like Brom, who draws a good amount of inspiration from fetish art, what you get is a malevolent version of Toy Story, complete with child hood treasures being ripped apart by demonic frankenstein like monsters, made from the discarded limbs of toys, devoured by a child murdering demon from south africa. So incase you're still wondering, after all that, THIS BOOK IS NOT FOR CHILDREN! However if you are a fan of movies like Pan's Labyrinth, or have a taste for slightly morbid, dark fantasy art, you will likely oh and awe over this the early European's did over indoor plumbing. The one thing this book does not have for which i take away two stars, is a compelling story. It sounds like a good idea, toys being the best way for a soul sucking demon to drain the life out of a child, but in execution even something that sounds like a potential masterpiece can fall apart. That's not to say Brom is a bad writer, in fact there are moments that shine in the story, but the moments were it falls flat on its face are far to many for me to say its worth reading. To illustrate this point let me give you two examples; at one point a period of time passes, and the book just kind of jumps ahead with out making much of an effort to fill in what happened between points A and B. Another good example of this is the moment after the grand finale. Brom never tells us what happened after the evil is vanquished, instead we just jump ahead a month or to.
In short, if you buy this book buy it for the art, and if you feel like reading the story go right ahead, just don't feel too bad when you get done and feel like screaming "THAT"S IT?!" However if you must have both story and art check out Brom's other two novels, The Devils Rose, and-forthcoming- The Child Thief. Both are very well written and beautifully illustrated.