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Mein Stundenbuch
Produced in 1919, Passionate Journey uses Masereel's simple and precise woodcuts to present a story of one man's life and loves in post-World War I Berlin.
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First published January 1, 1919
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About the author
Frans Masereel
117 books30 followersFrans Masereel was a Flemish painter and graphic artist who worked mainly in France. He is known especially for his woodcuts. His greatest work is generally said to be the wordless novel 'Passionate Journey'. He completed over 20 other wordless novels in his career.
His intense, foreboding woodcuts for Oscar Wilde's 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol' add to the drama and feeling of the poem.
His intense, foreboding woodcuts for Oscar Wilde's 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol' add to the drama and feeling of the poem.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
October 13, 2022
"Look at these powerful black-and-white figures, their features etched in light and shadow . . . Has not this passionate journey had an incomparably deeper and purer impact on you than you have ever felt before?"--Thomas Mann
When Thomas Mann was awarded in 1929 he was asked to describe his favorite film, but he chose instead to name a “silent” 1919 graphic woodcut novel, Frans Masereel’s Passionate Journey that was also translated as/titled My Book of Hours. (like The Medieval Book of Hours). Later, when the widely known and popular Masereel’s works were republished in finer editions, Mann wrote an introduction to this work.
So Masereel was not an isolated comics artist. He was critically acclaimed, and friends with Mann, Hesse, Rilke, Grosz. He was shaped in part by the socialist ideas and political actions of his father, and early on, the poetry of Walt Whitman, whose ideas about--his celebration of--democracy Masereel admired.
This woodcut journey is auto-fiction, acclaimed as his greatest work, a life told in 167 illustrations. The story is one of discovered passions, over time, a recognition of the good and bad in human life, and a commitment to the good, to serving man. It is no great accomplishment maybe, but Hitler and his thugs declared his work “decadent” in large part because it recognized the needs of the lower classes. And because he had expressed opposition to WWI, from which his country benefitted. A celebration of life. One of the first and best graphic novels ever, though I like them all. I might even like his The City better. And some of you can read this and many of his works on Hoopla for free (which is consistent with his aim when he was publishing, to make his work widely available to anyone who might not be able to easily afford books).
When Thomas Mann was awarded in 1929 he was asked to describe his favorite film, but he chose instead to name a “silent” 1919 graphic woodcut novel, Frans Masereel’s Passionate Journey that was also translated as/titled My Book of Hours. (like The Medieval Book of Hours). Later, when the widely known and popular Masereel’s works were republished in finer editions, Mann wrote an introduction to this work.
So Masereel was not an isolated comics artist. He was critically acclaimed, and friends with Mann, Hesse, Rilke, Grosz. He was shaped in part by the socialist ideas and political actions of his father, and early on, the poetry of Walt Whitman, whose ideas about--his celebration of--democracy Masereel admired.
This woodcut journey is auto-fiction, acclaimed as his greatest work, a life told in 167 illustrations. The story is one of discovered passions, over time, a recognition of the good and bad in human life, and a commitment to the good, to serving man. It is no great accomplishment maybe, but Hitler and his thugs declared his work “decadent” in large part because it recognized the needs of the lower classes. And because he had expressed opposition to WWI, from which his country benefitted. A celebration of life. One of the first and best graphic novels ever, though I like them all. I might even like his The City better. And some of you can read this and many of his works on Hoopla for free (which is consistent with his aim when he was publishing, to make his work widely available to anyone who might not be able to easily afford books).
September 20, 2025
This book will make you think of your own life...abstract yet universal. If you have never been exposed to the works of Frans Masereel then this would be a very good intro to his work. I wish he would have worked on some of the works of Franz Kafka; kind of a 'dream team' that never will be. Should be read more widely today!
June 23, 2009
One of the first graphic novels ever by a cartoonist/woodcut fine artist. The pictures are amazing!
November 15, 2015
This woodcut novel moved me in a way I didn't anticipate - deep emotional resonance here paired with a story of the need to explore constantly. Life is, after all, a collection of experiences
October 14, 2012
This woodcut journey through a life of discovered passion is one of the most profound books I have ever "read." While there are no written words, the images tell a simple yet complex, deeply moving story that is resonant on so many levels.
February 17, 2014
Transcendent. A wordless book for the Seeker.
September 2, 2021
هنوز هم مطمئن نیستم فهمیده باشم دقیقا داستانی که میخواد روایت کنه چیه، و قطعا هم کامل نخواهم فهمید. خیلی از اشارات فرهنگی و اجتماعیش برای من از دست رفته، هیچ راهنما یا تفسیری هم ازش نخوندم اما ازش لذت بردم. و فکر میکنم درگیرم کرد و این چیزیه که هنر در درجه اول باید انجام بده. من با پیشزمینههای فرهنگیم برداشتی دارم که بینهایت دوره از چیزی که خالق میخواسته، اما کدوم حقیقی تره؟
با وجود اینکه تصویرهای شهر رو قویتر میدونم اما خیلی از تداعیهای اون رو اینجام میبینم. فشاری که شهر و اجتماعات انسانی به قهرمان داستان وارد میکنه، ارامشی که در طبیعت و بین بچهها و حیوانات داره. شکست، شکستهای پیاپی در اجتماع و افسردگیهای بعدش. درگیریها، ناظر بودنها و تجربهکردن به شکلی عمیق تصویری شده. اما از اونور شادیها و لذتها هم حضور قویای دارن هرچند من خیلی هم عمیق نمیبینمشون.
اما ارامش نهایی و فاصلهای که میطلبه برای من خیلی زنده به نظر میاد.
سیری که دنبال میکنه رو با برداشتی که ازش دارم دوست دارم.
با وجود اینکه تصویرهای شهر رو قویتر میدونم اما خیلی از تداعیهای اون رو اینجام میبینم. فشاری که شهر و اجتماعات انسانی به قهرمان داستان وارد میکنه، ارامشی که در طبیعت و بین بچهها و حیوانات داره. شکست، شکستهای پیاپی در اجتماع و افسردگیهای بعدش. درگیریها، ناظر بودنها و تجربهکردن به شکلی عمیق تصویری شده. اما از اونور شادیها و لذتها هم حضور قویای دارن هرچند من خیلی هم عمیق نمیبینمشون.
اما ارامش نهایی و فاصلهای که میطلبه برای من خیلی زنده به نظر میاد.
سیری که دنبال میکنه رو با برداشتی که ازش دارم دوست دارم.
January 16, 2023
Fantastic narrative and woodcuts
July 30, 2008
Breathtaking book, but I strongly encourage you to go back in time as you read it.
Consider yourself part of this same, crazy, beautiful world minus instant messages, vicarious living through films and radio (truly some of my favorite things in life); just open up and enjoy someone else's adventures. My favorite version of this book is the one with Thomas Mann's preface. Simply, this whole story is told with woodcuts, and you - the reader- can create the words. My own words for this story surprise me as I've reread this growing older and (so I like to think) wiser.
I've read this over and again. My original copy has been with me since I was a college student, and it has traveled to Spain with me, all through the United States, and down the Amazon River. I sent that same copy with my sister, Ceci, when she volunteered in Mali for the Peace Corps.
It's powerful, and I admire the time and skill of the artist, Franz Masreel.
Look it up and enjoy . . .
Consider yourself part of this same, crazy, beautiful world minus instant messages, vicarious living through films and radio (truly some of my favorite things in life); just open up and enjoy someone else's adventures. My favorite version of this book is the one with Thomas Mann's preface. Simply, this whole story is told with woodcuts, and you - the reader- can create the words. My own words for this story surprise me as I've reread this growing older and (so I like to think) wiser.
I've read this over and again. My original copy has been with me since I was a college student, and it has traveled to Spain with me, all through the United States, and down the Amazon River. I sent that same copy with my sister, Ceci, when she volunteered in Mali for the Peace Corps.
It's powerful, and I admire the time and skill of the artist, Franz Masreel.
Look it up and enjoy . . .
January 27, 2025
I liked the one woodcut before he dies where he is petting a dog in the forest. It reminds me of the dog that followed the Pandavas in the Mahabharat before they all died, too....
Cool art and communicates universal feelings + experiences and doesn't need any words to do so. This makes it so anyone can read and understand it, without the original piece having to go through rounds of translations which can alter the meaning in big and small ways (I have so many thoughts on translation wtf...). Upon reading into this book a little more I found out that it operates sort of like an autobiography, or at least the main character is Masereel himself and all the events are inspired by his own life, which is interesting because at the end of the book he carves himself dying and his time in the afterlife.
I have also been thinking about how laborious and meticulous it is to carve these woodcuts, and imagining how many rejected drafts of these cuts he must have gone through is headache-inducing. I have done some work with carved rubber in the past, and not only did it take forever, but it was also deeply frustrating because you can't erase a mistake -- you have to either adjust accordingly and accept it or start anew.
Art is so cool guys.
Cool art and communicates universal feelings + experiences and doesn't need any words to do so. This makes it so anyone can read and understand it, without the original piece having to go through rounds of translations which can alter the meaning in big and small ways (I have so many thoughts on translation wtf...). Upon reading into this book a little more I found out that it operates sort of like an autobiography, or at least the main character is Masereel himself and all the events are inspired by his own life, which is interesting because at the end of the book he carves himself dying and his time in the afterlife.
I have also been thinking about how laborious and meticulous it is to carve these woodcuts, and imagining how many rejected drafts of these cuts he must have gone through is headache-inducing. I have done some work with carved rubber in the past, and not only did it take forever, but it was also deeply frustrating because you can't erase a mistake -- you have to either adjust accordingly and accept it or start anew.
Art is so cool guys.
January 5, 2012
This is a book that will take you days to really read. Beyond the introduction by Thomas Mann, it will take you about ten minutes to look at the 165 woodcuts that tell the story. Then you will go back to the start and re-scan the whole story. And again. And again.
The intricacy of Masereel's woodcuts aren't apparent at first, but as you go on in the story and as you re-read the book, the raw emotion and verve of the main (and really only) character in the narrative will grad you and pull you into this black-and-white world; the emotion in this story provides more color than many full-fledged novels out there.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone and everyone.
The intricacy of Masereel's woodcuts aren't apparent at first, but as you go on in the story and as you re-read the book, the raw emotion and verve of the main (and really only) character in the narrative will grad you and pull you into this black-and-white world; the emotion in this story provides more color than many full-fledged novels out there.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone and everyone.
October 19, 2008
Awesome story - not your father's woodcuts! Masereel tells an enthralling, some would say subversive tale, in these simple woodcuts. At least they *appear* simple at first, but further examination reveals amazing detail I would've never thought possible. A must read for any graphic artist or comic fan.
Currently reading
June 4, 2007I'm reading this book in several ways: as a collection of archetypes, a skeletal storyboard for a movie, a visual outline for a conventional (prose) novel, and an exercise in characterization and dialogue (subtitles provided by me, of course). None of this is necessary. I already read the book for what it is, had about an hour of enjoyment with it, and a week later I still can't get some of the images out of my head. Now I'm just trying to a) flush out all the small moments/developments between woodcuts, and b) figure out how different nuances could be added while keeping to the spirit of the original story.
June 17, 2009
Reading Frans Masereel is like being the projectionist of a portable silent film. In his introduction, Thomas Mann instructs the reader to "Darken the room!" for a close cinematographic experience with this work. I say stick it in your pocket and read it on the subway. Suddenly you'll be interrupted by the arrival of your stop. You'll shut the book, hop off the train and head for the exit, and guess what—the book is still going on, fully seeping into your reality, only now you are the main character. Frans Masereel: brilliant.
December 17, 2019
A series of woodcuts telling a story of mostly everyday encounters. The through line, if there was one, was sometimes hard to follow. Maybe I just read it too fast. The bold lines of the woodcuts look great, and some of the images, especially the more abstract ones, are quite beautiful. Didn't really work for me as a cohesive whole though.
September 19, 2024
“Passionate Journey” is the third woodcut collection I’ve read. I was totally ignorant of this art style a month ago but I’m loving it now.
This one tells the narrative of a man (in 160 woodcuts) who comes to a city, falls in love with a prostitute, is rejected, goes out into the woods, dies, and his soul escapes (at least that’s what I think?).
I reread this twice in one sitting, but I can imagine reading it many times over.
This one tells the narrative of a man (in 160 woodcuts) who comes to a city, falls in love with a prostitute, is rejected, goes out into the woods, dies, and his soul escapes (at least that’s what I think?).
I reread this twice in one sitting, but I can imagine reading it many times over.
December 7, 2020
Great graphic art, expertly designed. Powerful storyteller. Words are overrated.
February 16, 2025
Dormir, comer, labrar, jugar, leer, contemplar, caminar, estudiar, gozar, amar, sufrir, viajar, perderse, interceder, protestar, salvar, morir. Vivir sin correr, observar para vivir, involucrarse.
January 28, 2021
DOUBLE REVIEW!!WEIVER ELBUOD
Passionate Journey by Maserell vs Destiny: A Novel in Pictures by Otto Nückel: two Weimar era period, wordless graphic novels about the trials and personal tragedies of two Germans. Who will win and who is a wee bit shite?
The Plot:
Passionate Journey:
The adventures of a nameless young man who comes to the big city. Enamoured by alcohol, ladies of the night and the fun to be had, he slowly developes a sense of class consciousness and recognises the need for socialist change in a poverty stricken world.
This guy seems to be having the time of his life, and his struggles are fairly minor, save his rather creepy rescue of an abused girl who he later seems to fall in love when she grows up, who then dies of cop-out 'un-named female withering disease'. Mostly he's a strong, willful fellow who wanders from one sitation to another and seems fairly beloved by all who meet him, especially children. The story failed to give much punch or drama, as his hardships seem elastic at worst.
Destiny:
The tragic life of a young woman, from losing her mother and alcoholic father, to her run in with a despicable rakehall, a stint in prostitution, three marriages and a violent death.
If Passionate Journey's punches didn't land, Destiny was a swift kick to the bollocks and then spitting on me while I groan. This is a dark, realist tale of misfortune, bad choices and hopelessness. It's a sympathetic portrayal of a woman trapped in a cruel, opportunisic, vengeful, vicious and unsympathetic society.
First round: Destiny.
The Art Style:
Passionate Journey is a series of expressionist woodcuts, putting me in mind of a colourless and castrated George Grosz or early soviet posters. They're rather lifeless and unmemorable, and the story presented isn't always clear. Thomas Mann offered a rather gushing introduction in my edition, and without some of his summary I think I may have missed key plot points.
Destiny is also a fairly expressionist in style, with bulky law enforcement, creepy clowns and dark, dreary and claustrophobic settings. Moody and atmospheric, I needed no summary or introduction to understand what was happening, with Nückel's story always clear, though the motivations and gaps in story telling allow for space for some horrible workings in your own imagination.
Second Round: Destiny.
The Politics:
Passionate Journey is a rather flagrant propaganda piece, with evil capitalists and an untouchable and indefatigable lower class hero, who even goes to Africa and his beloved by all the little village children and at this point I felt somewhat offended and talked down to. While the politics is overt, it doesn't really say anything, and the depiction of sex workers (a vulnerable group who needed the support of class aware political figures) isn't shown in the best light, while other episodes, such as the young girl he raises to be his girlfriend *hurk* are just out of place tangents.
There is nothing as overtly political in Destiny. There are no revolutionaries, just an unfeeling and unjust world, where poverty is rife and tainted by alcohol, where there is no safety net, no psychological help and prison simply punishes rather than reforms. It's an unspoken cry at a system that leaves people vulnerable and destitute, the 'Destiny' of the title referring to the protagonist's doomed siutation as an orphaned, lower class woman. A far more effective comment on society's ills.
Third Round: Destiny
Final result: Knock out win for Destiny.
As utterly miserable as Destiny is (you will need a cheery counterweight to its abject wretchedness to hand if you read it), it was a welcome emotional sucker punch after the bland and condescending dreariness of the mistitled Passionate Journey. The latter will only be interesting to those studying early graphic novels or German expressionism, while the former for is for those same people, but also those with even a passing interest in humanity.
Passionate Journey by Maserell vs Destiny: A Novel in Pictures by Otto Nückel: two Weimar era period, wordless graphic novels about the trials and personal tragedies of two Germans. Who will win and who is a wee bit shite?
The Plot:
Passionate Journey:
The adventures of a nameless young man who comes to the big city. Enamoured by alcohol, ladies of the night and the fun to be had, he slowly developes a sense of class consciousness and recognises the need for socialist change in a poverty stricken world.
This guy seems to be having the time of his life, and his struggles are fairly minor, save his rather creepy rescue of an abused girl who he later seems to fall in love when she grows up, who then dies of cop-out 'un-named female withering disease'. Mostly he's a strong, willful fellow who wanders from one sitation to another and seems fairly beloved by all who meet him, especially children. The story failed to give much punch or drama, as his hardships seem elastic at worst.
Destiny:
The tragic life of a young woman, from losing her mother and alcoholic father, to her run in with a despicable rakehall, a stint in prostitution, three marriages and a violent death.
If Passionate Journey's punches didn't land, Destiny was a swift kick to the bollocks and then spitting on me while I groan. This is a dark, realist tale of misfortune, bad choices and hopelessness. It's a sympathetic portrayal of a woman trapped in a cruel, opportunisic, vengeful, vicious and unsympathetic society.
First round: Destiny.
The Art Style:
Passionate Journey is a series of expressionist woodcuts, putting me in mind of a colourless and castrated George Grosz or early soviet posters. They're rather lifeless and unmemorable, and the story presented isn't always clear. Thomas Mann offered a rather gushing introduction in my edition, and without some of his summary I think I may have missed key plot points.
Destiny is also a fairly expressionist in style, with bulky law enforcement, creepy clowns and dark, dreary and claustrophobic settings. Moody and atmospheric, I needed no summary or introduction to understand what was happening, with Nückel's story always clear, though the motivations and gaps in story telling allow for space for some horrible workings in your own imagination.
Second Round: Destiny.
The Politics:
Passionate Journey is a rather flagrant propaganda piece, with evil capitalists and an untouchable and indefatigable lower class hero, who even goes to Africa and his beloved by all the little village children and at this point I felt somewhat offended and talked down to. While the politics is overt, it doesn't really say anything, and the depiction of sex workers (a vulnerable group who needed the support of class aware political figures) isn't shown in the best light, while other episodes, such as the young girl he raises to be his girlfriend *hurk* are just out of place tangents.
There is nothing as overtly political in Destiny. There are no revolutionaries, just an unfeeling and unjust world, where poverty is rife and tainted by alcohol, where there is no safety net, no psychological help and prison simply punishes rather than reforms. It's an unspoken cry at a system that leaves people vulnerable and destitute, the 'Destiny' of the title referring to the protagonist's doomed siutation as an orphaned, lower class woman. A far more effective comment on society's ills.
Third Round: Destiny
Final result: Knock out win for Destiny.
As utterly miserable as Destiny is (you will need a cheery counterweight to its abject wretchedness to hand if you read it), it was a welcome emotional sucker punch after the bland and condescending dreariness of the mistitled Passionate Journey. The latter will only be interesting to those studying early graphic novels or German expressionism, while the former for is for those same people, but also those with even a passing interest in humanity.
September 15, 2016
Intriguingly vital expression of the interwar humanism flowing out of nineteenth-century progressive thought (e.g., Whitman, who provides an epigraph) even as aesthetically it looks backward to the medieval breviary and forward to the contemporary graphic novel. Pretty crudely executed, however, in ways that make it difficult for me to see what, say, Thomas Mann saw in it. As discussed here and here at greater length, I prefer Lynd Ward in this vein.
February 28, 2025
“Passionate Journey”, geschreven door de getalenteerde Belgische kunstenaar en auteur Frans Masereel, is een uniek boek dat sterke illustraties combineert met een verhaal over liefde en zelfontdekking. Masereel staat bekend om zijn houtsnedeprints en heeft veel invloed gehad op graphic novels. In “Passionate Journey” gebruikt hij opvallende beelden om een emotioneel verhaal te vertellen zonder woorden te gebruiken, wat zorgt voor een interessante leeservaring.
Het verhaal volgt een jonge man op zijn zoektocht naar liefde en voert hem door verschillende omgevingen, van drukke steden tot het rustige platteland. Terwijl hij verschillende mensen ontmoet, ervaart hij momenten van geluk en eenzaamheid en legt hij de ups en downs van romantische relaties vast. Hoewel er geen gesproken woorden zijn, zijn de beelden in het boek zo beeldend dat ze de gevoelens en worstelingen van het personage perfect overbrengen.
Een van de dingen die ik erg waardeer aan “Passionate Journey” is hoe Masereel het tempo van het verhaal bepaalt. De illustraties zijn zo gerangschikt dat de lezer wordt aangemoedigd om de tijd te nemen voor elke scène en na te denken over de verschillende emoties die worden uitgebeeld. De hoofdpersoon is naamloos, waardoor lezers zich gemakkelijk in zijn schoenen kunnen verplaatsen. De prachtige achtergronden, van levendige stedelijke gebieden tot serene landschappen, benadrukken de spanning tussen je verbonden voelen met anderen en je geïsoleerd voelen, iets waar iedereen zich wel eens in kan verplaatsen.
De illustraties zijn echt het hart van dit boek. Elke afbeelding is diep en emotioneel en laat alles zien, van vreugde tot hartzeer. Omdat er geen woorden zijn, moet je je echt concentreren op de beelden om te begrijpen wat er gebeurt, wat zorgt voor een boeiendere ervaring. Masereels gebruik van licht en schaduw voegt nog meer emotie toe aan elke scène en zet je aan het denken over de complexiteit van liefde en gezelschap.
Concluderend kan ik “Passionate Journey” van harte aanbevelen aan iedereen die geïnteresseerd is in een oprecht verhaal verteld door middel van kunst. Masereels vermogen om een verhaal zonder tekst te creëren is indrukwekkend en biedt een frisse kijk op het thema liefde. Dit boek is niet alleen prachtig gemaakt, maar zet lezers ook aan om na te denken over hun eigen ervaringen met liefde en relaties. Als je openstaat voor een andere manier van vertellen die de essentie van de menselijke ervaring weergeeft, is “Passionate Journey” zeker de moeite waard om te lezen!
Het verhaal volgt een jonge man op zijn zoektocht naar liefde en voert hem door verschillende omgevingen, van drukke steden tot het rustige platteland. Terwijl hij verschillende mensen ontmoet, ervaart hij momenten van geluk en eenzaamheid en legt hij de ups en downs van romantische relaties vast. Hoewel er geen gesproken woorden zijn, zijn de beelden in het boek zo beeldend dat ze de gevoelens en worstelingen van het personage perfect overbrengen.
Een van de dingen die ik erg waardeer aan “Passionate Journey” is hoe Masereel het tempo van het verhaal bepaalt. De illustraties zijn zo gerangschikt dat de lezer wordt aangemoedigd om de tijd te nemen voor elke scène en na te denken over de verschillende emoties die worden uitgebeeld. De hoofdpersoon is naamloos, waardoor lezers zich gemakkelijk in zijn schoenen kunnen verplaatsen. De prachtige achtergronden, van levendige stedelijke gebieden tot serene landschappen, benadrukken de spanning tussen je verbonden voelen met anderen en je geïsoleerd voelen, iets waar iedereen zich wel eens in kan verplaatsen.
De illustraties zijn echt het hart van dit boek. Elke afbeelding is diep en emotioneel en laat alles zien, van vreugde tot hartzeer. Omdat er geen woorden zijn, moet je je echt concentreren op de beelden om te begrijpen wat er gebeurt, wat zorgt voor een boeiendere ervaring. Masereels gebruik van licht en schaduw voegt nog meer emotie toe aan elke scène en zet je aan het denken over de complexiteit van liefde en gezelschap.
Concluderend kan ik “Passionate Journey” van harte aanbevelen aan iedereen die geïnteresseerd is in een oprecht verhaal verteld door middel van kunst. Masereels vermogen om een verhaal zonder tekst te creëren is indrukwekkend en biedt een frisse kijk op het thema liefde. Dit boek is niet alleen prachtig gemaakt, maar zet lezers ook aan om na te denken over hun eigen ervaringen met liefde en relaties. Als je openstaat voor een andere manier van vertellen die de essentie van de menselijke ervaring weergeeft, is “Passionate Journey” zeker de moeite waard om te lezen!
February 8, 2021
Turning the pages of this volume I realize I have no idea what Masereel wants to tell. Sure. It is a journey, but the meaning is lost over the cultural changes. Still, I find it very valuable for what his graphics help me understand.
The graphics themselves are ugly. Sure, they look interesting. They are exotic. They are quite unusual for 2021 and that sets them apart.
What I see there is the discourse related to the independent woman who owns her body. Sure, she might have an old lover. Yet that old lover is offering her financial autonomy and comfort that the "honest" women couldn't hope for in their lifetime. Hence the hate. The liberated woman is the cheater. She is not better than "us", those who followed all the rules of purity. Also the sexuality of the liberated woman is threatening, this time to the men as well. She is a harlot and she has to be destroyed. She can't go around throwing her body at whomever she pleases, "we" should decide who owns her and who controls that "body", preferably a man. Fast forward 2021. The independent woman does not need to have the older lover, she can be successful on her own. But on the side of sexuality things are exactly the same, only the wording has changed. And most feminists of today are just glorified breeders who hate those who own their bodies.
It's also nice to see this book's publishing year: 1919. Apparently was a success. And other publishers went on to sell this book. Or publish other books in this vein. Now, I have read quite a few books on the history of Comics, mostly by Government lap dogs, licensed historians. And most (all?) talk about censorship of Superman or Bat Man. Sure. Violence might be a credible argument in the 2000s. But when you were living in the 1940s, it was pretty obvious the only product of Governments and Lawmakers is violence and blood shed on a large scale. It seems that these sort of books were the threat, like Passionate Journey which depict sex, nudity, and the ability to freely choose your sexual partner.
The graphics themselves are ugly. Sure, they look interesting. They are exotic. They are quite unusual for 2021 and that sets them apart.
What I see there is the discourse related to the independent woman who owns her body. Sure, she might have an old lover. Yet that old lover is offering her financial autonomy and comfort that the "honest" women couldn't hope for in their lifetime. Hence the hate. The liberated woman is the cheater. She is not better than "us", those who followed all the rules of purity. Also the sexuality of the liberated woman is threatening, this time to the men as well. She is a harlot and she has to be destroyed. She can't go around throwing her body at whomever she pleases, "we" should decide who owns her and who controls that "body", preferably a man. Fast forward 2021. The independent woman does not need to have the older lover, she can be successful on her own. But on the side of sexuality things are exactly the same, only the wording has changed. And most feminists of today are just glorified breeders who hate those who own their bodies.
It's also nice to see this book's publishing year: 1919. Apparently was a success. And other publishers went on to sell this book. Or publish other books in this vein. Now, I have read quite a few books on the history of Comics, mostly by Government lap dogs, licensed historians. And most (all?) talk about censorship of Superman or Bat Man. Sure. Violence might be a credible argument in the 2000s. But when you were living in the 1940s, it was pretty obvious the only product of Governments and Lawmakers is violence and blood shed on a large scale. It seems that these sort of books were the threat, like Passionate Journey which depict sex, nudity, and the ability to freely choose your sexual partner.
January 9, 2021
For my German class on graphic novels.
This is the first book we'll be discussing this quarter. The introduction was in some ways more interesting than the artwork itself as it discussed how innovative and compelling the graphic narrative is.
As for the graphic novel itself, it is interesting as there are no captions on any of the photos so the reader is meant to interpret them/the entire journey however they will. At times it feels like there is a narrative and at other points it just feels like random drawings that all connect to one central idea: the universal nature of humanity. Our hopes, our desires, our feelings, our experiences. This novel touches on these ideas at its core. It doesn't go much further than that, but it is a very quick read (since there are only two opening quotes in terms of reading). Good for passing the time, I went through the intro in about 20 to 30 minutes and all the artwork in about 10 to 15 minutes.
This is the first book we'll be discussing this quarter. The introduction was in some ways more interesting than the artwork itself as it discussed how innovative and compelling the graphic narrative is.
As for the graphic novel itself, it is interesting as there are no captions on any of the photos so the reader is meant to interpret them/the entire journey however they will. At times it feels like there is a narrative and at other points it just feels like random drawings that all connect to one central idea: the universal nature of humanity. Our hopes, our desires, our feelings, our experiences. This novel touches on these ideas at its core. It doesn't go much further than that, but it is a very quick read (since there are only two opening quotes in terms of reading). Good for passing the time, I went through the intro in about 20 to 30 minutes and all the artwork in about 10 to 15 minutes.
October 29, 2025
A story about a young man who walks to train station following his normal routine, has sex with a prostitute I believe and afterwards follows his normal routine. He eventually just walks to woods and finds this girl. He takes her home and has sex with her mother, than he gets sad for some reason. Probably out of routine. He goes to the coast and strips down naked attempts suicide but doesn't succeed. He eventually just is I am going to travel the world and he does. He goes all over the place and does so many wonderful things. As he returns back to the forest he just gets struck by lighting and dies.
I give it a 5 stars for how awesome his journey was and the ironic ending of it all. He had a fantastical life and he died in a fantastical fashion.
I give it a 5 stars for how awesome his journey was and the ironic ending of it all. He had a fantastical life and he died in a fantastical fashion.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 20, 2021
Today while showing a friend a stack of Finnish-language IWW periodicals (Tie Vapauteen= the Road to Freedom), I commented on the prevalence of chimneys in the graphics and he responded by asking if I had heard of Frans Masereel. I had not and after googling, proceeded to spend much of the rest of the day reading a few of his books, learning more about his work, and wondering where he'd been all my life. I remember when I first read William Blake, being struck by how the visuality influenced my reading of the words. Masereel offers no words, but he doesn't need them. You see the stories, and if you're one of those people who thinks in words like I do, you provide the words. I love it.
October 7, 2017
While an interesting concept, I couldn't understand much of the story without finding a synopsis to read online. At least I had the uncensored version. Those expunged woodcuts were the ones that stuck out for me before I read that that had been cut in some editions. Upon second "reading" this novel reminded somewhat of the journey of the hero in Somerset Maugham's "The Razor's Edge".
The novel was first printed in 1919, the same year as the film "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" and the styles are similar. Might one have influenced the other?
The novel was first printed in 1919, the same year as the film "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" and the styles are similar. Might one have influenced the other?
January 12, 2024
I read this book a decently long time ago, but some of the images still stick. Fans of the graphic novel format and, surrealism in writing and art, will find alot of meat here to pick apart and dissect. It should be noted that this is a 'wordless novel'; the story is told solely through pictures and sparcly has dialog or city signage unless it's absolutely nessisary to tell the storyt; gladly this doesn't ditract from the material. Some of the art could use some tasteful restrain, but otherwise there is alot to be enjoyed about this book and Frans Masereels other work.
October 17, 2019
It's unusual that I feel so moved and confused at once. Even a quick google search for meaning of, say, the giant character urinating on the city gives one interpretation a rich upperclassman pissing on the city indiscriminately while another frames it as our working protagonist, fed up and pissing on the city before departing for the romance of the country. Like Mann's introduction suggests, it felt like watching a movie. Very nice to breeze through at the park.
December 3, 2020
Brilliant. I love woodcuts and prints, and have a particular fondness for Masereel and the Belgian School. Ingenious novel without words: highly emotional woodcuts that use heavy, chunky blocks of black and white (a holdover from Masereel's newspaper days - fine lines and details wouldn't set on cheap newsprint)...cinematic in scope, it's a powerful meditation on lived passion.
September 24, 2022
Καθώς θά γυρίζετε αὐτές τις σελίδες, βυθίστε τόν ἑαυτό σας στο μεγάλο γρίφο αὐτοῦ τοῦ ὀνείρου τῆς ζωῆς ἐδῶ στή γῆ. Μοιάζει μέ ἕνα τίποτα, μιά καί τελειώνει και διαλύεται στή ἀνυπαρξία. ῞Ομως, παντοῦ σέ αὐτήν τήν ἀνυπαρξία, διεγείροντάς την σέ ζωή, τό ἄπειρο βρίσκεται κοντά! Κοιτᾶξτε καί χαρεῖτε καί ἀφῆστε τήν ἀδελφική ἐμπιστοσύνη νά κάνει πιό μεγάλη τή χαρά τῶν ματιῶν.
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