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Celluloid (2011)

by Dave McKean(Favorite Author)

3.54 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

1606994409 (ISBN13: 9781606994405)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Fantagraphics

review 1: This is an amazing book! The plot itself is thin, but that's not what matters in this book. It's a simple story of two lovers that can't or won't meet. The girl settles for a night of fun with herself, and starts to look at an old erotic film on reel. When the celluloid film breaks, it reveals a door. That door brings her ever more close to real ecstasy.This book certainly is a case of "it's not what you said, but how you said it".The way McKean tells the simple story is far from simple. Not only does it symbolize the gradual fulfillment of the girl's sexual fantasies (from mere pencil strokes to actual photographs at the end), the journey to the photo-realistic climax is an amazing one. McKean not only takes us on a trip filled with ecstasy, but he also takes us on a trip... more through art history. Starting out with primitive drawings - not unlike cavemen drawings - we travel through all sorts of art periods. From impressionism to expressionism to surrealism and even film and photography: the registers McKean uses to tell his story is nothing short of amazing. He truly shows himself a skilled artist that feels at home in every style possible. At the same time, he's not just a copy cat. His own distinct style echoes through every page of this book.The story in itself might not be the most elaborate, but the drawings resonate an abundance of layers of meaning. The book is an intertextual playground that is worth every bit of your attention. I'll surely have to read it over and over again to get as much as possible. The images convey too much to take it all in at once.Exciting, in way more ways than one!
review 2: I hate to rate a McKean book this low, but this didn't do anything for me. I mean, I guess I understand the appeal for an artist of doing an "erotic" book, maybe, and this showcased a little of styles and such, but it wasn't titillating or anything, and the "story" didn't grab the attention much at all. For a fairly long book, it takes about 20 minutes to make it through this, and that's with time spent enjoying the occasionally-gorgeous artwork.I guess it's a case of someone's previous work overshadowing their new stuff, but I know McKean's capable of greatness, so that's what I expect. Not everything can be Cages, or has to be, but I'd like something a little more engaging than this. less

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