There was a very artistic book series published in the 90’s called Griffon & Sabine, by Nick Bantock, about two artists who never met and didn’t know each other, but could see what the other drew in their minds eye as the other was drawing. Each thought they were just vividly daydreaming until one of them came across a postcard that the other had illustrated, and immediately recognized it. The book is their correspondence as they make contact and then start to write to each other. The format is just the correspondence, so when they send a postcard, you get the front and back of the postcard on opposite pages, and when they send a letter, there’s an envelope glued to the page with a letter inside that you need to take out and read.
What makes it even more inventive and interesting is that there are clues that hint at unreliable narrators, and without spoilers, there’s more going on than flirtatious, artistic letters. The art is beautiful, and often is linked to the story in obvious and subtle ways, where instead of just illustration or decoration, it’s part of the narrative. It’s a sort of supernatural love story, and it’s very beautiful both in terms of the physical book and art, and in terms of the story.
It was out of print for a long time, but appears to be available again and if you can find a copy, it’s amazing. There were three books in the original series, Griffon & Sabine, Sabine’s Notebook and The Golden Mean, and then some follow up books that I never got a chance to read.
There was a very artistic book series published in the 90’s called Griffon & Sabine, by Nick Bantock, about two artists who never met and didn’t know each other, but could see what the other drew in their minds eye as the other was drawing. Each thought they were just vividly daydreaming until one of them came across a postcard that the other had illustrated, and immediately recognized it. The book is their correspondence as they make contact and then start to write to each other. The format is just the correspondence, so when they send a postcard, you get the front and back of the postcard on opposite pages, and when they send a letter, there’s an envelope glued to the page with a letter inside that you need to take out and read.
What makes it even more inventive and interesting is that there are clues that hint at unreliable narrators, and without spoilers, there’s more going on than flirtatious, artistic letters. The art is beautiful, and often is linked to the story in obvious and subtle ways, where instead of just illustration or decoration, it’s part of the narrative. It’s a sort of supernatural love story, and it’s very beautiful both in terms of the physical book and art, and in terms of the story.
It was out of print for a long time, but appears to be available again and if you can find a copy, it’s amazing. There were three books in the original series, Griffon & Sabine, Sabine’s Notebook and The Golden Mean, and then some follow up books that I never got a chance to read.