Bantock Books

In the tradition of Nick Bantock, it is an artful mystery more complex than many of his other works (all of which I intend to collect). It is short and combines both the metaphysical and curious ancient artifacts from other cultures. I am taken on a journey and led to think of possible connections between the items. I am sure I will reread this work many times. Each time finding something new. It's a journey in intimate archeology. I wonder what someone would think of me if they looked through my life's souveniers?

If you enjoy puzzles which carefully interweave illustration and prose, this is a good pick. The puzzle is challenging enough not to be boring, but it's not mind-numbingly hard like some others (notably Christopher Manson's "Maze," the only book of this genre I've liked better than this one). The illustrations are beautiful, and the aura of enigma created by the puzzle enticing. The only drawback I would cite is that once you make a certain intuitive leap in the puzzle's trickery, a bit of busy work lies before you to finish. But reaching that leap is reward enough. A good pick, if you can track it down.

I want to read this book very much but it has told me the same this for months, that it is not avalible! If any one knows where to get this book else where email me! locust@snet.net

For those of you trying to get hold of this (as of 2005) out of print volume, I recommend ebay or abebooks. I paid only US$12 for a very nice used copy and I treasure it.

From an artistic point of view it's really a breathtaking little volume. Bantock really does put a lot of care and thought into his constructions and collages and you can spend hours examining them (as an engineer I like that sort of art!)

I did cheat and look up the answer, but for puzzle fans I would recommend sticking with it a while. I did notice that all the drawers had different patterns on the edges which appeared to be coordinates, and figured out that Ln and Wd meant lenght and width, but besides that some of the clues were truly puzzling. But then I worked on Riven for weeks and finally had to look up a cheat to finish it...

In any case, as popular as Bantock's other works are I am surprised that it hasn't been reprinted recently. If I am decoding the publishers page correctly I think that mine is a third printing, but that is not a negative since I enjoy the book collectible or not.

It was never returned, and I mourn its absence.

To me, The Egyptian Jukebox is the "Myst" of book puzzles. With a central theme that mixes Egyptology with Rock & Roll, woven together with intriguing little trinkets, cryptic narration, and a deceivingly simple riddle to solve ("Where do my worlds join?"), it will draw in anyone who ever dreamed of solving an ancient mystery or unearthing a lost treasure.

Many with short attention spans will discard The Egyptian Jukebox before long. There are no instructions explaining how to even begin. But if you are a creative thinker and problem solver (and perhaps just a little obsessive), this puzzle will be both amusing and rewarding. The solution will amuse you, but like a favorite novel, will leave you wishing that the book never came to an end.

Nick Bantock needs to be congratulated for his amazing work in the Griffin and Sabine triology. His superb illustrations bring an intriguing story to life. Watching the correspondence of Griffin and Sabine unfold in these wonderful books is like watching a private moment unfold from the window. As you peak in at these two wonderfully real characters you not only can't wait to turn each page to see what is said but what is drawn. The style of these books was so well done they deserve the highest recognition. The realism used to create actual letters and postcards between Griffin and Sabine for the reader to take out and hold only adds to this amazing experience.

"The Golden Mean" is the best of the three books, in my humble opinion. The ending is satisfying and still somehow mysterious. Bantock doesn't spoon-feed his readers information, he seems to want to encourage them to make up their own minds about the nature of Griffin and Sabine's relationship, What It All Means, etc. Altogether, it's a wonderful, nerve-wracking book.

The hauntingly beautiful writings, will keep you returning to this book (and the previous two) to search for the meaning.

In some ways I felt like this series wrapped up too neatly, and in other ways I felt like it should have been more wrapped up. Oh well. Still a magnificent work of art combined with a compellings and intruiging story.

Rarely does an author come along who interweaves art with the story in such a way that the two are inseparable. From the postcard paintings to the handwritten letters (which the reader actually removes from the envelopes)it's as though art has come alive and the reader is an active participant in the story. I have found this to be true of all of Bantock's works and can't believe I didn't come across his talent years ago. Truly a fantastic collection.

Surreal romance, Philately, amazingly beautiful postcards and a page turner. This is a beautiful gift for your self or someone else. I have all books and the post-cards. Sorry the series ended

Griffin and Sabine are located on opposite ends of the earth -- Griffin is a lonely artist in England, while Sabine is a mysterious native of the elusive Sicmon Island chain in the South Pacific. Somehow, these two unique souls manage to find one another via a postal correspondence, and it is this correspondence back and forth which comprises the Griffin and Sabine books. Griffin and Sabine come to realize very quickly that their lives are inextricably bound up with one another, and that their coming together, face to face, is of utmost importance, not only for their own sanity, but possibly for the fate of the very world. Unfortunately, meeting face to face is more difficult than each of them could ever have imagined, and their quest to reach out to one another in a world of smoke and mirrors forms the backbone of these books.

I have loved these books since I first read them several years ago, and I keep coming back to them and rereading them over and over. They are truly able to transport you from Sabines sun-drenched paradaisical island home, to Griffin's rain-soaked isolation, and into other realms that are far less easy to describe. Excellently wrought and wonderfully creative, I encourage anyone with an imagination to read this trilogy: "Griffin and Sabine," "Sabine's Notebook," and finally, "The Golden Mean."

Words can not describe what Nick Bantcock has combined with pictures and postcards. He actually pulls you in as you must open envelopes to read the ongoing correspondence. Buy a bottle of wine, build a fire and join your significant other for a journey that will not leave you disapointed.

Reading this book is an exciting experience to read correspondence between two people who seem to touch ones life. Reading this truly does make one want to revifve the lost are of the letter. I can't wait toread the next one in the series.

SABINE'S NOTEBOOK is the second volume of Nick Bantock's trilogy that begins with GRIFFIN AND SABINE and ends with THE GOLDEN MEAN. It continues the correspondence between London artist Griffin Moss and South Seas incubus Sabine Strohem. It's a visually tantalizing book, containing actual envelopes glued to the pages with actual letters inside that can be taken out and read.

By the beginning of SABINE'S NOTEBOOK it has become clear that Sabine is merely a creation of Griffin's imagination. Griffin has received Sabine's notice that she is coming to London (on a card with no stamps...) but afraid of meeting his own hallucination he flees to Ireland, beginning a trip that will take him around the world. The notebook of the title is Sabine's record of Griffin's correspondence as she waits in his house in London awaiting his return. The connection of the story to W.B. Yeat's poem "The Second Coming" becomes much more tangible and a direct quote from the poem brings this volume of the trilogy to a finish.

Like the first book, SABINE'S NOTEBOOK is second-rate literature. Nonetheless, it is still an interesting novelty that is worth reading even though it's really Bantock's amazing images that matter. Considering that one can read the entire trilogy in about half an hour, these books aren't an undue demand on one's time. I tend to believe a young-adult audience would appreciate this books best, as I read the trilogy when I was a teenager and found them much more captivating then I did on a recent rereading.

Like some kind of low brow Mark Tansey, Sowa creates images that truly stop you in your cerebral tracks with their weight and mystery. And he does this while being damn funny. The tragic and sometimes amusing conflicts between the human world and the natural world have never been so well shown. A coffee table art book I actually pick up and look at, it's far more relevant than it seems at first glance. Buy it now and give it to someone you would like to see with a smile on their face.

Sowa has slowly taken over my heart. Everytime I saw a postcard with one of his images on it I snapped it up but never sent it. Now, in this book I can relish him with each page. His images are both beautiful and funny but most of all they touch something deep inside via the animals he uses and the dark foreboding architecture of nature and man. The back of a cat bristles with emotion and we aren't talking cutesy-pie kitties. These animals of Sowa's have souls and yearnings. They are trapped and share the dark planet with us and reflect it, perhaps, more honestly than the humans. Whether joy via diving pigs or sheer runs for life via a Christmas goose sprinting away, Sowa has touched something new and tipped his hat to the masters too. He is divine. Discover him and then buy a copy for every friend you know. Great!

What can one say about Michael Sowa? His painting is superb nad his sense of humor and fun is also "to die for." He is a master, and I just love him......If you ever see his greeting cards for sale, you'll know what I mean. But to have the paintings in a book is even better.

I saw one of Michael Sowa's postcards in a small stationery store in Boston, and I have been in love since. His posters are difficult to find in the United States, so I asked for this book for Christmas. It is perfect for people who love personified animals, as in the Far Side. It is absolutely hysterical.

Michael Sowa's book was introduced to me as a must to read after someone saw my own work, and I would say the same to you if you are thinking of buying this book.

If you like funny, amuzing and often surreal imagery then you'll love Sowas work. Some of the pictures are quite profound and make you think beyond what you see. They have a dream like quality in many cases. Some pleasant and others ... well... it's hard to describe...... best discover for yourself...

Words fail me in description, the best I can do is wow. The story is enthralling, the art beautiful, and the story as original as can be. I loved them.

After being introduced to these books in college, I also had to have them. Now that I'm teaching high school English, with a little censoring of language, my enthusiasm shows as they hear the story (and mystery) unfold. It makes them think, guess, hypothesize, get involved, even get angry! I left 35 ninth-graders speechless and hanging on every word!! Imagine that!!

I received the trilogypak for my birthday... I have previously read the books before, and I had to have them for myself. These books explore the dark and myterious world of 'what if' when it comes to romantic love. If you have ever felt that you have a soul mate somewhere in the world, and you felt that somehow, someway, they were with you, watching you, then these stories will enrapture and captivate your mind. This is a must read selection!

I was lucky enough to find a 'new' copy of this book. It is wonderfully and appropriately illustrated, though not necessarily for children. I recommend this to fans of Coleridge, and to fans of eclectic books in general.

All right, you may not be terribly fond of Coleridge. Or you may think he was a poet-god. In either case, I recommend this pop-up version of the "drugged-out classic" (as a prof. of mine once called it) to everyone over the age of, say, 17. Bantock's imaginative use of the familiar pop-up genre, as well as his distinctive art style, accentuate the poetry perfectly. I'm still kicking myself for not buying that beaten-up copy I found in New York. This is definitely worth the search.

This little piece of art is beautifully illustrated with incredible paper engineering for the pop-ups. I was lucky enough to find it years ago in a used book store, still in almost-new condition, and I'm still enjoying it today. I have other pop-ups by Nick Bantock - the jabberwocky and the old lady who swallowed a fly - and they are all amazingly done, but this one is my favorite.

These books were a gift to me from my son-in-law. I am an old-fashioned letter writer since I was a child (which was several decades ago) and the joy of opening envelopes and reading the letters as well as appreciating the artwork and imagination that went into this series is such a joy that I have since purchased several sets to give as gifts to dear friends with whom I have communicated over the years. Give as a gift and get one for yourself!

this book is one which you can't put down. you just keep going and going in the hopes of finding out what happens at the end. also, the formati makes it all the more interesting to read. instead of just plainly typed text, you actually get to pull out letters from envelopes and read actual stamped postcards! this was a great book!!!

I just can't understand where all the copies have gone! Did everyone find this as wonderful as I did when it first came out? Gavin Bantock is a much under-rated poet - perhaps because he spent so many years working in Japan, away from the literary limelight. The poems in this book show a sensitive, intellectual man who bridges cultures. Find a copy - soon!

Myrrha Bantock, my late Grandmother, lived in my home until her death at 89 years old. She was a talented woman whose creativity and determined nature, both inherent qualities, remained part of her until the end. She had a deep-seated admiration for her father, Granville, something which must have prompted her to write the book. The book is a journey into the life of a family whose life centred around a man whose talent is still recognised. A very personal reading experience. I miss her so.

Claire Wingfield

I received these as a gift, and what a delightful surprise. The unique and beautiful books were full of intrigue. Although these can easily be read in a few minutes, I found myself lingering, savoring, and trying to make the story last as long as possible. This was easy to do by exploring the artwork, and re-reading the letters. Great gift idea for someone who is looking for something out of the ordinary.