CPlants growing from books, flying nuns, and houses that appear to be rocket propelled are just some of the images found in The Mysteries of Harris Burdick originally published in 1984. This picturebook is unique in that it does not have a singular narrative, but is rather a series of drawings with titles and captions which leave the reader to create their own backstories and explanations for what they see. The analysis that follows will explore the visual, textual, and design elements of Chris Van Allsburg’s The Mysteries of Harris Burdick.
The dust jacket of the hardbound printing of the book features on the front, framed in white, an image of a group of people on what appears to be a cross between a sailboat and train. The one piloting
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the craft is wearing a sailor cap and suit. The hybrid vehicle has a sail and wheels and is on a set of tracks that span from the lower right quadrant and disappears into a fog. The tracks are surrounded on either side by a rocky border and what appears to be water. In the distance, there appears to be a castle. Sky is cloudy with dark clouds in the upper half of the image. This image is also found on the fifth opening of the text and is titled “Another Place, Another Time.” On the book jacket version, centered at the top of the page, just below the frame in orange is the title of the book, itself. The typography used for the title is in all caps with “Harris Burdick” twice as large as, “The Mysteries of...” Outside of the white frame in the black border that surrounds the image at the bottom in the same orange colored, capitalized typography is Chris Van Allsburg. The back of the jacket is all black with only the barcode found in the lower right corner. The spine of the jacket has Van Allsburg and Houghton Mifflin Company in white text on either side of the title, which is the same orange as found on the front cover. The limited text and black and white image of the front cover play into the concept of mystery as indicated by the title.
Who are the folks traveling by boat/train? Where are they coming from? Where are they headed? The black and white as well as the surrealism of the image as indicated by the hybrid nature of the vehicle a add to a feeling of mystery even prior to opening the book. The clouds and fog obscure the reader from knowing what exactly lies ahead. Will this vehicle continue on a track or become more boat than train and plunge into water? The framing of the image in a thin white line and then black border places the viewer on the outside of the image to grapple with these questions.
The feeling of the unknown continues when the reader discovers the cover below the jacket is all black with just the title and author centered in the upper half of the cover. No additional images are offered. The front jacket flap where a summary of the book is often found, interestingly tells about the origin of and inspiration for this particular book. The text is written in a mix of second and third person and tell “us” the reader that the answer to the mysteries contained within this book can be found in “our imagination.” The endpages are matte black, heavy
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paper. The title page, like the front of the book jacket, contains a black and white image that is also found later in the book. This image, found on the seventh opening and titled, “The Harp,” is unlike the cover image in that it is cropped to exclude features-namely a harp in the foreground of the lower right quadrant. The title is in black, capital letters with the same typography as the jacket front title. The space surrounding the text and image is white. The title page lacks any other colors, but is in someways an inverse to the jacket cover with a concentration of white found on the title page as opposed to the black of the jacket. A cursory reading of The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg reveals, just after the title page and dedication to Peter Wenders, a note of introduction from the author. This letter to the reader recounts a meeting between Van Allsburg and the aforementioned Peter Wenders, a retired children’s publisher. In this meeting, Wenders describes an encounter with a supposed author/ illustrator named Harris Burdick, who presented him with a series of fourteen drawings with a title and caption accompanying each picture. Showing Van Allsburg the pictures, Wenders tells of Burdick’s claims about having a story to go with each of the drawings, and that he will return the next day to deliver said accompaniments leaving the drawings in Wenders possession; however, Burdick never returns leaving himself and the stories a mystery. In the years since his meeting with Burdick, Wenders’ family has written many a story for the abandoned drawings. Wenders shares these stories with Van Allsburg all of which inspired him to, as he describes in this introduction, publish the reproduced drawings in The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, “In the hope that other children will be inspired by them…” This introduction is presented as fact by Van Allsburg, but the images in the book have an eerily similar aesthetic to other Van Allsburg works. For example, the drawings appear to be black and white pencil sketches and have a surrealistic aesthetic similar to those in Van Allburg’s other work Jumanji. The inclusion of this introduction makes clear the purpose of the text is for the reader to make meaning from the images to create their own story or explanation for each picture. The only text included for each page is the title and caption provided by Burdick, himself. Regardless of the veracity of the Wenders/Burdick narrative, the inclusion of said story provides a cohesive frame story or metanarrative that in turn connects the fourteen drawings. The layout of the remaining pages is uniform which also creates a feeling of cohesion between the seemingly unrelated pictures.
Each opening has the same layout. The verso side of the opening is a white page framed, a half an inch or so from the edge of the page, with a continuous thin black line that creates a rectangular border. Centered the upper third of the border is the title of the image printed in black, capital letters. Below the title is the caption for the drawing printed in smaller italics. Between the title and the caption is a thin, two inch long, horizontal line. The recto side of the opening contains the drawing as described by the title and caption. The image is a vertical framed by a half an inch of white boarder. The outer white border crosses the gutter to frame both the text and image. This formatting is the same from the first opening to the
fourteenth. The content of the titles, captions and images are diverse, but the drawings so have much in common in terms of composition, aesthetic, and motifs. All of the drawings are sketches done in black and white. They appear to be pencil or possibly graphite or charcoal. The images contain surreal elements such as floating orbs of light, rocks that fly back after being thrown, or luxury cruise ships crashing into the canals of venice all of which are found on the first, second and third openings respectively. The surreal elements continue on every opening. Use of light and dark to draw the reader’s attention is also common across the pages. In fact, light is a common motif found throughout the drawings whether it be a reflection from the water or a glowing pumpkin. The use of light to not only highlight or emphasize a particular part of the scene, but also to distract the reader from what lies in the shadows. The shadows conceal and hide parts of the images which adds to the air of mystery. There are additional repeated motifs that carry through several of the images. Water or rather bodies of water are prevalent in five out of the fourteen images. Four out of the fourteen images have a ship or boat of some sort. Half of the images are indoors while the second half depict outdoor scenes, yet there still seems to be an element of the outdoors in the images set inside. This is achieved through the inclusion of an open window, plant life or the inclusion of light from outdoors. These motifs are just enough to add mystery in trying to connect the dots and create some greater meann or connection between the various tableaus created on each opening. The titles and captions are detailed and provide just enough information to create buy-in from the reader, but lack enough to leave the reader with questions. Thus, the reader is forced to make meaning with limited text, but detailed and juxtaposed pictures. The book as a whole has a film noir feel to it between the mysterious and incomplete text and black and white drawings with often creepy and surrealistic scenes depicted. The overarching mystery of whether or not Harris Burdick is real lends itself to the book feeling like a whodunit. By trying to solve that mystery the reader is left to explore the peritext for evidence which in turn increases their ability to make meaning from the text.
What can you predict about the story from the back and front cover of the book?
The word “bias” has always had a negative connotation. Although it is used synonymously with bigotry and prejudice, its meaning is actually more akin to “point of view,” “personal tendency,” or “preference.” Just as every individual has her own worldview, so she has a set of biases. These biases are often observable in a person’s habits, speech, and, perhaps most explicitly, writings. Daniel Boorstin, renowned University of Chicago professor, historian, author, and librarian of Congress, is undeniably biased towards certain cultures in The Discoverers. A book chronicling mankind’s scientific history, its first words are “My hero is Man the Discoverer.” In his telling of “man’s search to know his world and himself,” Boorstin declares that
A. The Scarlet Letter. Enriched Classic ed. of the book. New York City: Simon & Schuster, 2004.
Moreover, the trip in the train gives an example of the loss of the humanity. In the train, a
These are not the only objects of importance the narrator stores in his beloved briefcase, but they are the most encompassing of his story. In the novel’s final chapter, when the narrator is trapped in the dark sewer and must burn the papers from his briefcase to see his way, everything goes. First his high school diploma, then the Sambo doll, followed by a threatening anonymous note. Everything he burns from the briefcase—the “important papers” the superintendent spoke of in Chapter one—is a symbol of the narrator’s plight as the forces pulling his strings run him around.
These “ships” symbolize a person’s goals and wishes in life. The journey to chase and obtain these ambitions is exciting and unpredictable. Similar to Janie’s journey, there will be struggles along the way. However, one can continue their journey and learn from their experiences. In life, there are many complications and harsh experiences.
Critics view the books by Pullman and Ransom as examples of literary excellence. In order to evaluate this opinion it is necessary to discuss what aspects critics consider contribute to a good book and how these books illustrate them. The American Library Associate (ALA) uses the term ‘edubrow’ (Kidd, (2009) p158) to mean the middle ground of literature with an educational emphasis. This emphasis is at the centre of the criteria for a good book by increasing the experiences of the reader through varied language, dynamic themes, rounded characterisation with comprehensive plots. The critics favour works that involve the reader in a non-passive manner to gain insights into universal aspects of human existence like love, identity, revenge, sexuality and betrayal.
The effectiveness of this compacted novel is greater than those of a thousand paged. The story within this book is not entirely unfamiliar,
...’ (21). These rhetoric questions force readers to stand on her side and to ponder in her direction. She compares the contents of the twentieth-century chapters in current books to ‘a modern-art museum’ (22), which ironically and humorously criticizes the fancy design of the current books. She also directly quotes the original texts to show the changes of current books such as a paragraph from Sellers’ book ‘As It Happened’.
The representation of the new age of exploration, which serves as an allusion to man’s potential, is starkly contrasted with the depiction of Icarus that serves as an allegory for man’s limits, indicating the shift from a euro-centric universe. This painting is an oil canvas landscape of the sun setting on the horizon of the ocean sea, while the ships were sailing through the body of water. The focus on humanism during this period is clearly portrayed by the presence of the plowman, shepherd, and fisherman performing their daily task. Lighter colors are used, which differ from the darker colors that were emphasized during the Dark Age or Medieval period. Shadows can be seen on the ground next to the plowman, showing the increasing artistic methods that begin to be utilized.
The story’s theme is related to the reader by the use of color imagery, cynicism, human brotherhood, and the terrible beauty and savagery of nature. The symbols used to impart this theme to the reader and range from the obvious to the subtle. The obvious symbols include the time from the sinking to arrival on shore as a voyage of self-discovery, the four survivors in the dinghy as a microcosm of society, the shark as nature’s random destroyer of life, the sky personified as mysterious and unfathomable and the sea as mundane and easily comprehended by humans. The more subtle symbols include the cigars as representative of the crew and survivors, the oiler as the required sacrifice to nature’s indifference, and the dying legionnaire as an example of how to face death for the correspondent.
The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Voices in the Park were published at either end of the twentieth century, a period which witnessed the creation of the modern picturebook for children. They are both extremely prestigious examples of picturebooks of their type, the one very traditional, the other surrealist and postmodern. The definition of ‘picturebook’ used here is Bader’s: ‘an art form [which] hinges on the interdependence of pictures and words, on the simultaneous display of two facing pages, and on the drama of the turning of the page’ (Bader, quoted in Montgomery, 2009, p. 211). In contrast with a simple illustrated book, the picturebook can use all of the technology available to it to produce an indistinguishable whole, the meaning and value of which is dependent on the interplay between all or any of these aspects. Moebius’s claim that they can ‘portray the intangible and invisible[. ], ideas that escape easy definition in pictures or words’ is particularly relevant to these two works.
The human voyage into life is basically feeble, vulnerable, uncontrollable. Since the crew on a dangerous sea without hope are depicted as "the babes of the sea", it can be inferred that we are likely to be ignorant strangers in the universe. In addition to the danger we face, we have to also overcome the new challenges of the waves in the daily life. These waves are "most wrongfully and barbarously abrupt and tall", requiring "a new leap, and a leap." Therefore, the incessant troubles arising from human conditions often bring about unpredictable crises as "shipwrecks are apropos of nothing." The tiny "open boat", which characters desperately cling to, signifies the weak, helpless, and vulnerable conditions of human life since it is deprived of other protection due to the shipwreck. The "open boat" also accentuates the "open suggestion of hopelessness" amid the wild waves of life. The crew of the boat perceive their precarious fate as "preposterous" and "absurd" so much so that they can feel the "tragic" aspect and "coldness of the water." At this point, the question of why they are forced to be "dragged away" and to "nibble the sacred cheese of life" raises a meaningful issue over life itself. This pessimistic view of life reflects the helpless human condition as well as the limitation of human life.
The construction of children’s literature was a gradual process. For a long period of time children’s books were frowned upon. The stories were said to be vulgar and frightening. Adults censored children’s ears to stories of daily life, tales with improbable endings were not to be heard. It was not until the mid 1800s that stories of fairies and princesses began to be recognized. Although children’s literature was accepted, the books were not available for all children. With limited access to education, few public libraries, and the books’ costs, these texts were only available to the middle and high- class. As public education and libraries grew so did the accessibility of books and their popularity. They no longer were considered offensive, but rather cherished and loved by many children. Children’s literature became orthodox and a revolution began, changing literature as it was known.
Though Wilde wrote in the preface to this book that " To reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim", we can still trace the shadow of the author himself in all of the three major characters.