Wild Pilgrimage: A Novel in Woodcuts

Woodcuts #3

by Lynd Ward

The first novel in woodcuts to be published in America, Ward's magnificent achievement burns with a rich, highly emotional style. Through startling engravings shaded in black and red, he wordlessly tells the story of a man trapped in an industrial world, struggling between the grim reality around him and the fantasies his imagination creates.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Fiction, Comics, Art, Classics, Graphic Novels Comics, Comics Manga

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1932

About the author

LYND WARD (1905-1985) illustrated more than two hundred books for children and adults throughout his prolific career. Winner of the Caldecott Medal for his watercolors in The Biggest Bear, Mr. Ward was also famous for his wood engravings, which are featured in museum collections throughout the United States and abroad.

Married to May Yonge McNeer, several of whose works he illustrated. https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

Reviews

[Drew Canole · Rating 4 out of 5]

A silent wood-cut "graphic novel" this one has some of the story in black and some, the more fantastical elements, in red. Like many of these woodcut books, it tells the life story of a man trapped in a society/political situation with lots of symbolism. Here it's industrialism and seems to have a bit of a look towards nature.

[George K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Βαθμολογία: 7/10

Εξαιρετική εικονογράφηση που μου δημιούργησε μια παράξενη αίσθηση, αλλά η ιστορία που ειπώθηκε μέσω των εξαιρετικών εικόνων δεν μου ήταν πλήρως αντιληπτή, ούτε μπορώ να πω ότι δέθηκα ιδιαίτερα με αυτήν ή, τέλος πάντων, με τον περιπλανώμενο πρωταγωνιστή. Πάντως φοβερά σχέδια, αρκετά ιδιαίτερα και ξεχωριστά.

[Jeff Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m working my way through history’s best woodcut novels. This one is part of a collection I’m reading called “Graphic Witness.”

Like all of the other woodcuts I’ve read, there’s some tropes: a man on a journey, illicit sex, expressionism, leftist worker ideas. In this one, a man goes on a journey in the wilderness. Throughout his black and white journey, there are reddish-copper fantasy scenes. He witnesses a man being lynched, he attempts to engage a sexual fantasy with a farm wife, he is kicked off the farm, and he returns to lead a failed labor revolt.

I’m not sure if it’s the diminishing effect of reading too many woodcuts in a short time or if this book is just inferior to the others, but this one didn’t seem as good as the others I’ve read recently.

[Chris Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some great artwork here. This story was easier to understand than some of Lynd Ward's other wordless novels, but I feel like I didn't connect much with what I understood.

The protagonist has an odd upper lip that I thought at first was a mustache; I later read that it was Ward's intention to make the protagonist physically ugly. I feel like this doesn't come across because the character is also young and strong--his face just seems poorly illustrated.

I really liked the alternating colors of the panels to signify whether the protagonist was experiencing reality or dreaming/day dreaming. This mechanic vastly improved the clarity of the storyline.

[Iamthesword · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always enjoy the expressive works of Lynd Ward. And this one still felt like a step up from the other works I know. Where the others are straightforward tales, this is more complex, contrasting the real world with the imagination/illusions of its protagonist (marked by red color instead of the usual black). I talso feels closer to the actual reality of 1930s USA touching on themes of economic crisis and workers' unrest. It is a comic that will absolutely profit from a reread. But even the first encounter really slapped. Definitely try it out if you like early comics or art from the Interwar era in general.

[ComicNerdSam · Rating 4 out of 5]

2020 review: RISE UP.

2022 review: While not quite as godly as Vertigo or Song Without Words, Ward still fucking kills this book. I wish I could draw like him, a true fucking master.

[M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read somewhere about the idea of generalizing most 'comics' into a graphic novel category is a little disingenuous as not all of them contain the depth of a plot that could be attributed to a conventional novel. In these woodcuts by Lynd Ward, despite being so simple in their nature, I saw a depth of plot that easily makes them worthy of being novels and thus rightly so, confers them the title of being one of the first graphic novels, or the series that brought such an idea to the Americas.
I didn't read the abstract/plot summary and so the first red slide felt like some kind of technical error to me, but by the second slide I had picked up what was happening, and I found it very masterful. His own admission at the end of it, saying how he hopes it will allow readers to appreciate more nuance in the stories was correct. I found the art as usual fascinating and the point of making the protagonist a little less chiseled and naturally gifted compared to the one say in God's Man, was perfectly portrayed. The image of a hand reaching out to a star and then at the end it strongly grasping it left a pleasant aftertaste as I finished reading it.
I also need to talk about the idea of forfeiting from society and it being rampant in the thirties. I think to some extent such ideas have started to crop up again now, although it is very hard to detach yourself from society or the constant flux of information in such a fast-paced world. Yet seeing my own sentiments being echoed through time was reassuring...in not a good way. I think.
This series also inspires me keep on making sgraffito art whenever I can using it's slides as an inspiration.

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, so from my understanding this is a story of the working class vs. the rich class. If you find the people with the batons to be a symbol of cops protecting the assists probably those tall buildings. Our protagonist, a working class man. He sows the field and adventures out to the forest to find something. I think the forest symbolizes the discovery of the class struggle he faces and some kind of spiritual journey. He sees the unjustifiable hanging of a man and he than tries to start a rebellion against the people who hang them. It ultimately kills him in the end. The last image we see is a hand holding a star. So maybe it symbolizes the crushing will of the rich class tormenting the working class.

Ultimately that is how I interpret, but Ward's work seems to be highly interpretable, probably because there are no text. So we are ultimately assuming things based on pictures kind of like an art show. I have to give it a 5 star because I do really resonate with the story that is told through pictures. It's really a masterful in art and literature. To me this is an literary piece because you can have so many interpretations based on the story.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art work is still cool. But not as cool as the other books. And the story is simply non-comprehensible to me. And not all that interesting. Kind of disappointing. I did come to the conclusion that the red wash was a dream-state but I didn't really care.

[Garconniere · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unreal textures, use of light, and storytelling all without words. Dreamy in the most eerie, unsettling of ways.

[Canavan · Rating 4 out of 5]

✭✭✭½

[Wayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Singular and fascinating, Ward's vision and conscience is timeless. Iconic images, always.

[Laila Tarek · Rating 3 out of 5]

i had to read this for tomorrow's class and i genuinely don't get it.

edit:
i get it.

[Daniel Oster · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars- the most straightforward wordless story so far. Still fantastic art... with added bits of color too!

[Corey · Rating 5 out of 5]

What he does with just a series of woodcut drawings is remarkable.

[SmarterLilac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really loved this. Intriguing, if a bit inscrutable in parts. The shocker on page 43 is impressive, if, well, shocking. Especially for a member of my generation, not used to discussing that part of our history.

I take issue with only one thing, the comment in the back jacket blurb which declares this work as being about, 'a unique individual working, and aspiring to dream in an overwhelming mass society.' I...think there's more to it than that, even if I can't quite tell you what it is.

[liza · Rating 3 out of 5]

ok, the art is great as with anything ward did. the story on this one didn't grab me as hard as god's man and vertigo, but maybe that's my own fault.

[George Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have the original edition but this is a good choice for a reading copy.