Passionate Journey: A Novel Told in 165 Woodcuts

-- 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

Like the Tarot, the images here are universal and transformative. They have the additional benefit of a wry sense of humor and subtle undercurrents of a humanist sensibility.A must have for any searcher or thinker.

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.

I do not agree with the reviewer that wrote the following lines concerning Masereel's work: "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." This commentator seems to arrive at this statement from an overly-pessimistic outlook. Perhaps it would be better to comment merely on the genius of the work rather than make broad socialogical/philosophical judgements which are not well grounded, (or rather which are grounded in the reviewer's own pessimism). I suggest weekend outings as a alternative to staying home and reading a novel.

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