Any project that involves Harlan Ellison really is a mine field...of explosive ideas, earth-shaking revelations, and mental confrontations that are not for the faint of heart. Link him up with the provocative artwork of Jacek Yerka and you wind up with something very special indeed. Mind Fields: The Art of Jacek Yerka/The Fiction of Harlan Ellison does just that. An extraordinary collection of 30 images by Yerka with short pieces by Ellison which tell his story about Yerka's artwork. As Ellison says, "...after you've read my interpretation, you can come back to Mr. Yerka's art time after time and invent a new story each visit."
As one might expect from Ellison, his interpretations are generally rather dark and nightmarish--but beautifully written and exquisitely detailed nightmares direct from the author's fertile imagination. Ellison may have an extraordinarily different point of view--but one thing is certain. The man can write. My favorites in this collection were among the shortest pieces ("The Silence," "Darkness Falls on the River," and "Paradise") with "Between Heaven and Hell" and "To Each His Own" closely following. ★★★★★
I remember very clearly beign in a bookshop in Berkeley in the late 1980s and not being able to afford getting this - I am haunted by dumb decision like that! I love Ellison - thanks very much Bev.
ReplyDeleteWow! Would you look at that cover!!! Bloomin' brilliant. Love it. Might just have to go and see how much that book costs on Amazon... prepare to remortgage the house... ;-)
ReplyDeleteFor years on LiveJournal I used little squares of Yerka's images as post icons. Such lovely detailed work. And that Ellison guy's writings are pretty okay too. ;) Thank you for reminding me about this book that I haven't thought about in quite sometime!
ReplyDeleteSergio, Cath,& katenread: this is a wonderful book. Truly. (and not all that costly, I don't think--my husband got it for me for Christmas, so I don't know precisely. But no house mortgage involved, Cath. ;-) )
ReplyDeleteBev, you're right it wasn't terrible and I forgot that I had an Amazon (US) gift token to use up so I used it on that. Can't wait for it to arrive.
ReplyDeleteBoth the artist and the author are new to me. That is the kind of car my husband and boys would like! :O)
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