The Book of Ballads (Hardcover)

by Charles Vess (Author)
Key Phrases: little aboon, false knight, wee boy, King Henry, True Thomas, Lord Thomas (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Ballads were little known to the literate world until the 18th century, when scholars began writing them down. Since then, they've received attention from folklorists, folksingers and, now, cartoonist Vess (Stardust; Rose). Vess and his collaborators put a little meat on the ballads' often bare-bones stories, adding fantastic elements not in the originals ("Barbara Allen"), giving them modern settings ("Twa Corbies"), sexing them up ("Savoy") and otherwise putting their own mark on them. Vess approaches them with an appropriately elegant style. His exquisitely detailed art delightfully recalls the Pre-Raphaelites here, Aubrey Beardsley there and elsewhere Winsor McCay or Gustave Doré. The best stories involve passion, whether celebrated ("King Henry" and "Savoy") or cautioned against ("The Demon Lover" and "The Three Lovers"), though even the least effective stories are still beautiful. "The Three Lovers" is especially noteworthy; in it, Vess makes clever, subversive use of comics language, presenting a story that pretends to be a play (complete with proscenium arch). "Tam Lin" may be the collection's consummate piece. In it, Vess goes for straight illustration, with each illustrated page facing a page of verse. Here Vess reaches the peak of his art, standing proudly with the 19th- and early 20th-century illustrators who influence him.
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From Booklist
In this comprehensive collection of Vess' ballad adaptations, four more join the nine that won the artist a 1997 Eisner Award. The scripters are primarily fantasy fiction rather than comics writers, though Bone author-artist Jeff Smith teams with Vess once and, not unexpectedly, affects his style: "The Galtee Farmer" features more caricatural figuration and less detail than usual for Vess. "The Three Lovers," cast as a play upon a stage, is also unusual, indebted to Little Nemo in Slumberland's Winsor McCay. Most of Vess' work reflects late-nineteenth-century influences, including Randolph Caldecott, the Kelmscott Press, and art nouveau in its swirling lines, atmospheric shading, and heavy foliage and drapery. Several writers expand the stories of particular ballads, with Midori Snyder concocting a prelude exculpatory of "hard-hearted Barbara Allen" and Charles de Lint furnishing a large, contemporary context for the skeletal (only four stanzas) "Twa Corbies." Ten of the chosen ballads come straight out of Child, the remainder from contemporary folksingers' repertoires; the text of each follows its visualization. Verbally, the adaptations are often clumsy, but Vess' artwork lushly compensates. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (October 14, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076531214X
• ISBN-13: 978-0765312143
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #870,198 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great holiday gift book!, November 17, 2004

By	Robert Pickering (Twin Cities, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Along with Kaluta and Wrightson, Charles Vess is one the great fantasy artists of today. If you've seen his work in Gaiman's Stardust or Sandman or the Charles de Lint book covers, then I've sure you'll agree.

If you're not convinced yet, then I challenge you to go to your local book store, sit down and read the first story (also by Gaiman). You'll leave with book in hand!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BEAUTIFUL, December 17, 2004

By	K. Carroll "Orange Fae" (NYC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is absolutely gorgeous and I hope Mr. Vess makes more like it. His stunning illustrations and ability to tell a story through pictures weaves a music all alone. Mr. Vess's art coupled with stories inspired by ancient and new ballads and written by some of the greatest storytellers of our time, such as Neil Gaiman and Charles De Lint, makes for a one of a kind book that can be enjoyed on many levels. A great read for anyone who likes Art, music, good writing or needs some more magick on their bookshelf.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great graphic novel, November 25, 2004

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Fantasy and comic book illustrator Charles Vess (see his work on the early Sandman comic books) provides thirteen illustrative stories written by eleven different highly regarded authors that are based on famous ballads. The tales are cleverly conceived as Mr. Vess and a renowned fantasist take a well known verse and turns it into a delightful illustrated story. The original ballad follows the animated tale for those who seek the complete package. The pictures are in black and white, but that brings a historical feel to the retelling of the ballads; thus this enhances the conversion as color would make it prettier, but subtract from the wonderful total affect. A rather different type of anthology, fans of graphic tales will appreciate this marvelous unique collection that contains wonderful interpretations of famous ballads like the Black Fox and Thomas the Rhymer by a who's who of fantasy.

Harriet Klausner