{"id":3328,"date":"2014-02-23T00:01:29","date_gmt":"2014-02-23T06:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=3328"},"modified":"2014-02-23T09:23:56","modified_gmt":"2014-02-23T15:23:56","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-370-featuring-william-grill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=3328","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks #370: Featuring William Grill"},"content":{"rendered":"

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“After 16 long months, the crew had found solid ground. Dehydrated and hungry,
each man ate and drank until he was full. But their troubles were not over yet,
as the coastline was exposed to the elements, and a cruel blizzard set in for days …”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

Today’s featured book is Shackleton’s Journey<\/a><\/strong><\/em> (February 2014), written and illustrated by British artist William Grill<\/a><\/strong>. This is a book that marks the centenary since polar explorer Ernest Shackleton’s 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, his attempt with a crew of men to make the first land crossing of Antarctica. It was considered the last expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n

Now, let me make something clear about this book right up front. The copy of this book that I have is incomplete. Long story, but think of it as like a sampler, so I will not be able to provide anything like a traditional review. (As noted on this page of my site<\/a><\/strong>, I don’t consider 7-Imp a traditional review blog anyway—my focus is more on illustrations—but still … just making clear that I haven’t seen the book in its entirety<\/em> yet.) <\/p>\n

Anywhoozles, with nonfiction it’s especially important to note the back matter of books; in particular, you must ask if the author included his\/her sources. I can’t tell you that about this book, since my copy is not complete, but I can<\/em> tell you the art is beautiful, and that’s going to be my focus today. Also that it comes from Flying Eye Books, the children’s imprint of Nobrow Press, who care about high-quality book production and design. This means it has things like an illustrated cloth spine. (Happy sigh.) <\/p>\n

And how about that illustration above? HOO BOY. <\/p>\n


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“Shackleton … told reporters that he had always been ‘strangely drawn to the mysterious south’ and that unexplored parts of the world
‘held a strong fascination for me from my earliest memories.'”<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

This is a very detailed and beautifully-conceived piece of nonfiction and includes (I’m talking about my sampler of sorts, that is) maps, diagrams, and lots and lots of drawings. At one moment, you have the type of grand, sweeping spread that you see opening this post, and next you have a spread filled with small figures—Grill gives us such detailed spreads as “Equipment and Supplies”; “The Crew,” noting each and every participant; and even one listing the cargo of 69 dogs chosen for the expedition—and it immediately brings the work of Elisha Cooper<\/a><\/strong> to my mind. Fans of Cooper’s illustrations may find that Grill’s work resonates as well. Bruce Handy at the New York Times<\/em> once wrote that Cooper’s work is “detailed yet impressionistic—no mean feat,” and something similar could be said about Grill’s illustrations in this one. <\/p>\n

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Left half of the “Dogs” spread<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

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The “Equipment and Supplies” spread<\/em>
(Click either image to see spread in its entirety)<\/center><\/p>\n

Again, I can’t speak for the whole book, but what I’ve seen is paced well, and there’s a great deal of drama. And what’s striking is Grill’s evident fondness for the subject matter at hand, and it makes for a gripping read. <\/p>\n

Let’s just take a look at some more art, why don’t we?<\/p>\n

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Expedition Map<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

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“Given their current position and condition,
Shackleton now decided to make a dash for Elephant Isalnd, 100 miles away. …”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

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“To combat the violent weather, Marston (the artist) had the ingenious idea to turn the boats upside down and convert them into shelters, allowing his oil paints to be used as glue so that canvas sheets could be fixed to the boats for extra waterproofing.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

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“On their trek, the three men encountered unknown mountains shrouded in loose rock and ice, fields of thick snow, gullies, deep crevasses and jigsaw-like glaciers. As well as overcoming such obstacles, they had to battle altitude sickness, dehydration, immense hunger and exhaustion. They were now reaching their limit.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

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“Finally, on 30 August 1916, help arrived for the men on Elephant Island after four failed attempts to reach the island due to heavy ice. …”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

SHACKLETON’S JOURNEY. Copyright \u00a9 2014 by William Grill. Published by Flying Eye Books, New York. Illustrations reproduced by permission of the publisher.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Note for any new readers: 7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks is a weekly meeting ground for taking some time to reflect on Seven(ish) Exceptionally Fabulous, Beautiful, Interesting, Hilarious, or Otherwise Positive Noteworthy Things from the past week, whether book-related or not, that happened to you. New kickers are always welcome. <\/p>\n

* * * Jules’ Kicks * * *<\/strong><\/font>
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1)<\/strong><\/font> Reading with my girls. It’s an assumed kick all the time, but we’re reading some especially great books this week. <\/p>\n

2)<\/strong><\/font> This cracked. me. up. when I saw it this week. Evidently, it’s a whole series, but I’m not sure how it can get any better than this one:<\/p>\n