Rating:  Summary: Wonderful! Review: I have read the trilogy of Griffin & Sabine many times. I think it's amazing how much detail there is. I find something new every time i read them. All I would say is BE CAREFUL! My library has these, and they are falling apart. If you liked these, I would recommend reading The Venetian's Wife next before doing The Forgetting Room. Bon Appetit!
Rating:  Summary: Romantic Interlud Review: This is the perfect box set to give a couple in love. I received this for Christmas and spent the day after Christmas in bed with my husband, reading each letter. Although we were reading Bantock's words, they were words that we felt in our hearts. Bantock was just much more eloquent than we could ever be.
Rating:  Summary: Sogno d'amore Review: I'm italian. In Italy were published in 1994 "Griffin & Sabine" and "Sabine's Notebook". Today, finally I can read The golden mean, so I'll know how this amazing story ends. Perhaps, this story cannot ends... Do you remember? Wordsworth said that needs "a suspension of desbelief". Ciao !
Rating:  Summary: A really good book! Review: Griffin and Sabine, writen by Nick Bantock is an aswsome story of how two people get to know each other is a strange way. Sabine, since the age of 15 has seen visions of someones drawings. One day wile in a book store she finds a postcard with one of the visions she had long ago. She contacts the artist whos name is on the back of the postcard. Griffin is who she contacts. Griffin and Sabine corespond for awhile until they decided to meet they both make a trip to meet each other. To enjoy this book to its fullest, you need to be okay with the fact that it has a frustrating ending. I liked this book because it was very intriuging and i didnt want to put it down!
Rating:  Summary: FANTASTIC ARTWORK! Review: I loved all the artwork in all three books. Regarding the Evil disguised in the trilogy, I disagree because in the end, in SAbine's Letter it's states: "We are very impressed..." "..we are not convinced" So unlike her 1st letter to Griffin that states: "I think you were right-" So in the Golden Mean the "we" referred to there was presumably Sabine and Griffin because the postcard had both of their styles incorporated together. In Sabine's 1st letter she used the word "I". If it is true that she has another so-called victim why did she have to use the word "we"?If you liked Griffin and Sabine, U'll love The Venetian's Wife also by Nick Bantock.. don't worry, this story has closure so u won't feel hanging....
Rating:  Summary: Evil in Disguise Review: This is not a tale of love in any conventional sense. Rather, this is a story of a predatory, perverted love, if about love at all. Indeed, I will concede that the artwork is truly extraordinary. The suspense is palatable, and the language is poetic. But they are mere distractions--window dressing--to what is really going on. The beauty and suspense are meant to throw the reader off, to make him want to read too quickly and not carefully. The author has created something that not only works on many levels, but can also appeal to many people on different levels. A very difficult task, to say the least. But there is a genuine disrespect in the way he tricks people into believing that this is a great 'love' story. At first glance, the trilogy seems to raise more questions than it answers. However, the answers are strewn amidst the prose of the postcards and letters. Without revealing the plot, the trilogy is replete with references to Yeats' "The Second Coming," even down to the reference to the sphinx. Yeats sees the sphinx rising up to bring forth the end of the world. The indignant "desert birds" (line 17, a.k.a. humans who foresee the Second Coming) try to stop the sphinx from bringing about the end of the world, but their task is impossible. In the end, Yeats reveals no hope for the continued existence of humanity. This is relevant because the character "Victor Frolatti" in G&S is the author's personification of a desert bird. Furthermore, one of the postcards, with the very symbolic picture of a child on it, has in the fine print at the bottom that says, "and what rough beast...slouches...to be born." Straight from Yeats' "Second Coming." This postcard is addressed to a new stranger no less, and it begins exactly as did the first one she sent to Griffin: "It's good to get in touch with you at last." Sabine signs her name "Sabine M. Strohem," not "Sabine Strohem-Moss" or "Sabine Moss." Some may think, mistakenly, that since she has included the 'M' she and griffin must be married and living happily ever-after. I think not. She's added the 'M' almost as if it's a trophy. And note that the stamp is the gold fish breaking out of the glass--the picture on the first postcard presented in the first book. By the way, "The Second Coming" is not about the resurrection of a kind, benevolent Christ, it's about the resurrection of an omnipotent judge with an iron fist. It's easy to be clouded by the muse of an apparent romantic love story to even worry about the discontinuity here. In short, and at its core, "The Griffin and Sabine Trilogy" is a study in deceit and evil. Griffin receives a postcard in the mail from a stranger. The stranger knows things about him that no one else knows via 'powers' that she somehow possesses. This stranger uses her cunning to evoke feelings from Griffin that he has never felt before. Griffin eventually surrenders himself to her, and in doing so, ultimately seals his own fate. Sabine feeds her own thirst by destroying her prey from the inside out; not metaphorically, but quite literally. She is the true personification of evil. And when she has finished with Griffin, she moves on to her next victim, ready to add him to her collection of vanquished souls. This is the only logical conclusion that can be drawn after examining all the evidence. She is a predator, and those she seeks our are her prey. She uses her powers reveal the most vulnerable aspects of her victims, and then attacks using 'love' and 'passion' as her camouflage. "The Griffin and Sabine Trilogy" is not exceptional because it's a great love story; rather, it's an extraordinary study and presentation of the complexity of human nature disguised as a great love story.
Rating:  Summary: Not for everyone, but intriguing nonetheless Review: Let's get one thing out into the open right now: if you only like a plotted story with a clear beginning, a developed middle, and a firm, tidy ending, then you will probably be frustrated by "Griffin & Sabine." Those who value imaginative stories, open endings, and haunting artwork are encouraged to read further. This lush, beautiful, eerie and somewhat baffling trilogy relates a series of letters and postcards between two artists living half a world apart. The story is told entirely through the letters themselves; however, there is a twist sure to delight the voyeur in all of us. All the correspondence is printed as if it were in its original form, so we see the postcards, and in order to read the letters, we must remove them from the envelopes pasted within the book. This gives the reader the slightly "naughty" thrill of going through another person's mail. As for what actually happens between Griffin and Sabine or who they might really be, I will leave for the reader to ponder. Suffice it to say that Bantock's beautifully illustrated series will make a pleasantly diversion for those with an eye for the unusual.
Rating:  Summary: Intriguing tale told in a most unusual manner Review: Amazingly beautiful artwork surrounds a spledid tale of love. What an awesome medium to display both writing and drawing. I read read through all three books in one afternoon; completely captivating. These will hold your interest for years to come. Great for the coffee table! Will make a beautiful gift for anyone.
Rating:  Summary: Disturbing Review: To be honest, I'm not sure what to make of the ending. The art is fantastic of course, and the the language lyrical. But the ending... I'd like to think that it ended happily - i.e. they're now happy together, and the child on the last postcard is theirs. However, there's a sense of eerieness throughout the whole trilogy that disturbs me and makes me think otherwise, especially since Sabine ends up writing to another total stranger in the same way she wrote to Griffin. In a strange way, this story reminds me of the story, "The Lady and the Tiger." Both stories end ambiguously, allowing the reader to interpret them as they see fit. We're used to stories that tell us how things end. This trilogy forces us to think and reflect. I'd still like to know how it really ended... but the uncertainty is part of what makes this trilogy memorable.
Rating:  Summary: Wow, is this ever incredible...couldn't stop. Review: I started looking at this at a friend's place, and an hour later i'd read all three of the books...i didn't even know where the time went. Incredibly written and constructed!!
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