Le livre des morts extraordinaires

by Cecilia Ruiz

Le Livre des morts extraordinaires relate le curieux trépas de penseurs, d'écrivains, de monarques, d'artistes ou d'illustres inconnus à travers l'Histoire. Un ouvrage plein d'ironie, à l'humour noir, où l'on apprend une multitude d'anecdotes étonnantes, absurdes, morbides et incroyables.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Art, Historical, Death, Graphic Novels, Comics

75 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

Cecilia Ruiz is an illustrator and graphic designer living and working in New York. She obtained a BFA in Graphic Design from Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City and a MFA in Illustration at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. The Book of Memory Gaps is her first book.

Reviews

[Sheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short compilation of unusual and ironic deaths throughout history. Bare bones information is accompanied by fitting illustrations that help set the scene. This unique coffee table book is a fun diversion and one that trivia lovers would enjoy.

[Shainlock · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very interesting and also very cool even considering the subject matter at hand. There are great images to go along with each death event that are a little macabre, & that give just a hint about the nature.
I wish the book was longer considering we know there have been more strange things happen out there in the wide world of weird; not that I wish anyone an eerie, kooky/ extraordinary death (or death at all), but this was fascinating. Some people leave this world with flare.

Oh, warning... my highlights are a few of the events. So they will be spoilers. But it’s also there for those of you maybe wanting excerpts to see what it is like.

[Ashley Daviau · Rating 5 out of 5]

As soon as I saw this book I knew I needed to have it for my collection! I’m obsessed with all things grim and dark which I’m sure you all know by now unless you’ve been living under a rock. This little gem was hilarious and fun and quite interesting. The weird, unlikely ways that some people have died absolutely fascinated me! The illustrations to go with each death were gorgeous and just the thing to make this little coffee table book perfect.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Morbidly fascinating little book that was eagerly passed around the circulation staff.

[Lorraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cecilia Ruiz, a Mexican writer who is living in the USA, has written a small “gift-sized” book entitled The Book of Extraordinary Deaths: True Accounts of Ill-Fated Lives. I enjoyed this book. The author chronologically explains these deaths, and she accompanies each death with her striking illustrations. I only wish it had been longer! “A welcome dose of dark humor for these dark times.” 4 stars.

[Peter Derk · Rating 5 out of 5]

[Nelson from Simpsons laugh]

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Book of Extraordinary Deaths: True Accounts of Ill-Fated Lives by Cecilia Ruiz is an interesting book accounting for some interesting deaths. This book contains wonderful illustrations with a small blurb on each death. My favourite was the first: Draco, a 7th century BC Athenian lawmaker of great talent, who suffocated under the ovation of cloaks that were thrown at him by Athenians enamored with his talent. We hear of Sir Arthur Aston, who was beaten to death by Parliamentary forces in 1649 with his own wooden leg. Or of Monsieur Le Pique, who was killed in a duel that took place on hot air balloons in the sky. Leonard Warren, a opera star, who died in 1960 of a heart attack on stage after singing the lines "Morir! Tremenda Cosa!" - To die, what a tremendous thing! Clearly a good bit of humour here, but this was a completely enjoyable read with interesting tidbits from history - like our Athenian lawmaker, with morality attached. A great little book to read with a coffee on a slow afternoon.

[Café de Tinta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Accidentes extraños y estupidez humana son un buen resumen de lo que encontramos en este libro ilustrado en el que se narran casos reales de personas (e incluso algún animal!).

[Trin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully done gift book -- like The Gashlycrumb Tinies, but with historical figures. The art is eerie and gorgeous. Wish this had existed when I was still a bookseller, because I would have pushed it on a lot of people.

[High Plains Library District · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to entice you to read this book without spoiling anything. And the best way I can think of is to tell you about one of the deaths profiled in this book.

Two Frenchmen of high societal standing discovered that they'd made the acquaintance of the same young lady. This being 1808, what's one to do? Duel, of course!

Now, a standard duel involved a couple guys, their pistols, and their seconds (seconds were guys selected by duelers. Each second made sure the duel was honorable, on fair ground, and that the weapons were equal). You can picture the rest. Couple of dudes, certain distance apart, someone gets shot. Etc.

Now, the two Frenchmen in this particular conflict decided that a traditional duel was beneath them. Literally. So they decided, instead of standing on the ground and shooting, they would duel in hot air balloons.

Yes, each man constructed a hot air balloon. The balloons were identical, and each man used a blunderbuss. Instead of trying to shoot each other, each man would attempt to shoot the other man's balloon.

On May 3rd, 1808, both men climbed in their balloons, along with their seconds, and once they'd risen about half a mile up, a signal was given from the ground, and a duel began.

One man took the first shot and missed, after which the other duelist scored a direct hit. The first shooter's balloon plummeted down. He and his second were instantly killed when they landed on a roof.

This and many other unusual deaths are briefly described and illustrated in The Book of Extraordinary Deaths. At this point, I'm confident you know whether this book is for you.

~Peter

[H.L. Burke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really short. Clever minimalist illustrations. Interesting variety of paragraph lengthed snippets. Obvious a little morbid, but interesting writing inspiration.

[Ariadna Sanz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recopilatorio ameno de muertes absurdas, curiosas y, en algunos casos, irrepetibles que se acompañan de ilustraciones claras y muy inteligentes. Una lástima que sólo se incluya el caso de dos mujeres. Hasta en el morir parece que se nos considera menos extraordinarias!

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated and tactfully humorous.

[Tanya Garg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite hilarious and I appreciate the irony. Really good for one of those nights when you just need a good laugh or rather a snort.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5--Short book profiling a number of unusual deaths throughout history. I already knew about several of them, as they have passed into the realm of legend. The sparse, dark illustrations bring to mind the feel, if not the style, of Edward Gorey.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely, and fun. Very short, quick read, with cute/quirky illustrations- I wish that there was more of it!

[Kari · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up for the morbid topic and stayed for the beautifully simplistic illustrations.

[Ruth York · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this book tonight in a bargain used bin at my local store. Came home, and read it. The title just begged me to bring it home. Somewhat morbid, but to me, also quite humorous. The way some poor unfortunate souls passed on can only be chuckled at now. Some, are bittersweet. The simplistic illustrations that accompany the tales are well done. If you, like me, have a bit of a sense of the macabre, this might be right up your alley.

[Jeimy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruiz offers no more than a handful of sentences about each of her victims. This inspired me to go online and learn more about some of them. I ended up buying a book on one of the cases described here.

A reviewer on Litsy complained about the book’s price, but I think the artwork may be why this slim tome is $17.

[Kirsti · Rating 4 out of 5]

"1649: Sir Arthur Aston, a Royalist commander during the Siege of Drogheda, was beaten to death with his own wooden leg by Parliamentarian soldiers."

Succinct and gorgeously illustrated. Book design is excellent. Minus one star for having so little content.

[Paperclippe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful. Gorgeously portrayed with simple art and simple words.

[Devan]

What an odd little book.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marvelous!

[Me, My Shelf, & I]

Fun and short with cute illustrations. There were at least a good handful of circumstances that surprised me/made me chuckle.

[Tiffany Hough · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just my cup of (poisoned) tea.

[Dries Messely · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bad Luck: the Novel. Could've been 500 pages long, would still be amazing!

[Amy (folkpants) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A charming little book. Beautifully illustrated. Wonderfully quirky.

[Titi Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun easy read. Entretenido y ligero. Historias chistosas y cortas que son acompañadas de unas ilustraciones muy bellas.

3.5 estrellas

[Edmundo Mantilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

¡Amé cada historia de este libro! Las hay entretenidas, escalofriantes, absurdas, conmovedoras, tiernas, irónicas...

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book from the Goodreads Giveaways section. It's a very unique little book. Had examples of very odd and unusual deaths throughout history in 1-3 sentence blurbs with very interesting artwork to go with it. I love the style of the book and the graphics - it's an interesting coffee table book.

It took me about 7 mins to go through the whole thing and that was because I was really looking at the artwork. Very well done.

I'm glad I won it! I enjoyed it and I plan to share it with a few of my pals who are also into gothic, and somewhat morbid, stories and such.