What do you think?
The Dorbott of Vacuo: How to Live with the Fluxus Quo
Foreword by Michael Heseltine. Red cloth, 79 pages, color and b&w illustrations, 8.5 x 12"
80 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1990
About the author
Patrick Woodroffe
36 books17 followersPatrick James Woodroffe was an English artist, etcher and drawer, who specialised in fantasy science-fiction artwork, with images that border on the surreal. His achievements include several collaborations with well-known musicians, two bronze sculptures displayed in Switzerland and numerous books.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 1, 2020
And so on to the latest Patrick Woodroffe book - I would say that this is a heavily illustrated story book rather than an art book however rather than splitting hairs I would say that this approach actually helps.
The story is truly bizarre but not impossible to follow but what it does help with is understanding the unique art that epitomises the artists style. It does beg the question - which came first the story or the art (or the other way around).
Either way this is a fun book which to me encapsulates the sheer strange joy that was Paper Tiger at its height. A celebration of creativity without boundary or definition - sadly it seems that this was lost somewhere along the way and was further compounded by the changing tastes of publications means that I think now books like this are consigned to niche markets and specialist publications.
But rather than ending on sad note lets end on a note from the book - In Vacuo nothing may breath but a Chimaera, nothing may burn but an idea
The story is truly bizarre but not impossible to follow but what it does help with is understanding the unique art that epitomises the artists style. It does beg the question - which came first the story or the art (or the other way around).
Either way this is a fun book which to me encapsulates the sheer strange joy that was Paper Tiger at its height. A celebration of creativity without boundary or definition - sadly it seems that this was lost somewhere along the way and was further compounded by the changing tastes of publications means that I think now books like this are consigned to niche markets and specialist publications.
But rather than ending on sad note lets end on a note from the book - In Vacuo nothing may breath but a Chimaera, nothing may burn but an idea
September 1, 2026
A whimsical surrealist story with a mediocre plot at best. Its qualities lies within the superb wonderful art with its accompanying narrative describing the world of the story.
I’ve always admired Woodroffe...they say never meet your heroes….while the story is completely disconnected from reality, one line thrown at the beginning wasn’t! And I can’t think of another explanation of its inclusion other than genuine hatred…why?
قصة سريالية خيالية ذات حبكة متواضعة في أحسن الأحوال؛ إذ تكمن قيمتها الحقيقية في الرسوم الرائعة والمذهلة وما يصاحبها من وصف لعالم القصة.
لطالما كنت معجباً بـ "وودروف" … ويُقال دائماً "لا تلتقِ بأبطالك"... ورغم أن القصة منفصلة تماماً عن الواقع، إلا أن عبارة واحدة وردت في بدايتها لم تكن كذلك! ولا أجد تفسيراً لإدراجها سوى الكراهية الصرفة... لماذا؟
😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕
I’ve always admired Woodroffe...they say never meet your heroes….while the story is completely disconnected from reality, one line thrown at the beginning wasn’t! And I can’t think of another explanation of its inclusion other than genuine hatred…why?
قصة سريالية خيالية ذات حبكة متواضعة في أحسن الأحوال؛ إذ تكمن قيمتها الحقيقية في الرسوم الرائعة والمذهلة وما يصاحبها من وصف لعالم القصة.
لطالما كنت معجباً بـ "وودروف" … ويُقال دائماً "لا تلتقِ بأبطالك"... ورغم أن القصة منفصلة تماماً عن الواقع، إلا أن عبارة واحدة وردت في بدايتها لم تكن كذلك! ولا أجد تفسيراً لإدراجها سوى الكراهية الصرفة... لماذا؟
😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕
September 4, 2022
I just re-read this for probably the 5th or 6th time, and am still absolutely in love with it. Hard to classify - is it a graphic novel? Too much text. Certainly not a children's book (see the puns on legal terminology in chapter 1), unless it's a children's book written on two levels, so the adults in the family can enjoy it too. Maybe it's a cross between Monty Python and Alice in Wonderland.
The setting is the planet of Corporesano, specifically a wandering Swamp with a mind of its own. The Dorbott, who lives in the Swamp, is "the eponymous hero of this book, ... Warden of the Mud (which he adored), Keeper of the Keys (which he had lost) and Master of the Rolls (which now lay buried under the Swamp)." His sole possession seems to be a large record collection and a gramophone, which he listens to as he relaxes, submerged in the swamp "for whole days at a time, only his nostrils and ears protruding above the slime." He has minor adventures with other residents of the Swamp like the Grigglebix. Also, "He loved to try to tidy up the Swamp, revelling in the idiotic futility of it."
Don't you love him already?
The lush, colorful illustrations of the Dorbott and other residents of the planet Corporesano, including the Ligamenti, the Pigmenti, the Squoochlik, the Queeks and Fuddigongs, are wonderful. The major conflict comes from the Dustpan-Jandrum, ruler of the planet Regulo, who is "an aggressively tidy personage" served by an army of char-ladies who abhor dirt and mess. You can imagine how well they get along with the inhabitants of a sentient swamp which hates being tidied up and tied down.
Not long enough even to be a novella (80 pages), nevertheless this book has enough story to keep an adult entertained, and you'll come back to it again and again. Highly recommended to lovers of the Absurd.
The setting is the planet of Corporesano, specifically a wandering Swamp with a mind of its own. The Dorbott, who lives in the Swamp, is "the eponymous hero of this book, ... Warden of the Mud (which he adored), Keeper of the Keys (which he had lost) and Master of the Rolls (which now lay buried under the Swamp)." His sole possession seems to be a large record collection and a gramophone, which he listens to as he relaxes, submerged in the swamp "for whole days at a time, only his nostrils and ears protruding above the slime." He has minor adventures with other residents of the Swamp like the Grigglebix. Also, "He loved to try to tidy up the Swamp, revelling in the idiotic futility of it."
Don't you love him already?
The lush, colorful illustrations of the Dorbott and other residents of the planet Corporesano, including the Ligamenti, the Pigmenti, the Squoochlik, the Queeks and Fuddigongs, are wonderful. The major conflict comes from the Dustpan-Jandrum, ruler of the planet Regulo, who is "an aggressively tidy personage" served by an army of char-ladies who abhor dirt and mess. You can imagine how well they get along with the inhabitants of a sentient swamp which hates being tidied up and tied down.
Not long enough even to be a novella (80 pages), nevertheless this book has enough story to keep an adult entertained, and you'll come back to it again and again. Highly recommended to lovers of the Absurd.
August 11, 2018
Beautiful illustrations, surreal but brilliant imagination A true work of genius that should have had a MUCH wider audience amongst child children and adult children
Who could not fall in love with - amongst other things - a migrating swamp that has to be tied down with chains (Yeah, like that's gonna work!)
and one of the sweetest puns EVER set to paper
"Blanche was a born mother, because her child was a born baby."
Who could not fall in love with - amongst other things - a migrating swamp that has to be tied down with chains (Yeah, like that's gonna work!)
and one of the sweetest puns EVER set to paper
"Blanche was a born mother, because her child was a born baby."
July 8, 2011
Weird, wacky, surreal children's book with lush illustrations.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews