Nick Bantock
Author of Griffin & Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence
About the Author
Nick Bantock was born in Stourbridge, England on the 14th of July 1949. He went to school in the suburbs of North East London, and from there moved on to an art college in the market town of Maidstone, Kent. At the age of 23, he quit his job in a gambling house and began working as a freelance show more illustrator. In 16 years he produced approximately 300 book covers, including novels by Philip Roth and John Updike. During the winter of 1988 he moved to Vancouver Canada, and two years later started work on his own books. He is most well known for his Griffin and Sabine Trilogy, an artful representation of a long distance romance. His other works include The Artful Dodger: Images and Reflections (2000) - a visual autobiography, and retrospective, Urgent 2nd Class: Creating Curious Collage, Dubious Documents, and Other Art from Ephemera (2004) and Windflower (2006) - with Edoardo Ponti. (Bowker Author Biography) Nick Bantock is the author of numerous illustrated novels, most recently "The Artful Dodger" and the tenth anniversary, limited edition of "Griffin & Sabine". Born in England, he now lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Publisher Provided) show less
Image credit: Unattributed photo from author's website.
Series
Works by Nick Bantock
Sabine's Notebook: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Continues (1992) 2,613 copies, 34 reviews
The Golden Mean: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Concludes (1993) — Author — 2,470 copies, 36 reviews
The Gryphon : In which the extraordinary correspondence of Griffin & Sabine is rediscovered (2001) — Author — 1,208 copies, 14 reviews
The Venetian's Wife: A Strangely Sensual Tale of a Renaissance Explorer, a Computer, and a Metamorphosis (1996) — Author — 1,064 copies, 21 reviews
Alexandria : In which the extraordinary correspondence of Griffin & Sabine unfolds (2002) 928 copies, 13 reviews
The Morning Star : In which the extraordinary correspondence of Griffin & Sabine is illuminated (2003) 825 copies, 9 reviews
The Griffin & Sabine Trilogy Boxed Set: Griffin & Sabine/Sabine's Notebook/The Golden Mean (1991) — Author — 824 copies, 12 reviews
Urgent 2nd Class: Creating Curious Collage, Dubious Documents, and Other Art from Ephemera (2004) 416 copies, 7 reviews
Griffin & Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence, Tenth Anniversary Limited Edition (2001) — Author — 343 copies, 7 reviews
Griffin & Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence, 25th Anniversary Limited Edition (2016) 216 copies, 17 reviews
Ceremony of Innocence: The Mysterious Correspondence of Griffin and Sabine (1997) 22 copies, 1 review
Golden mean, The 3 copies
The Blue Guitar 2 copies
Sabine's Dagboek 1 copy
Sabine's notebook 1 copy
Associated Works
A Nest of Nightmares (Paperbacks from Hell) (1986) — Cover artist, some editions — 174 copies, 6 reviews
Aliens in Space : An Illustrated Guide to the Inhabited Galaxy (1979) — Illustrator — 108 copies, 1 review
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Bantock, Nick
- Legal name
- Bantock, Nicholas
- Other names
- Fox, Nick
- Birthdate
- 1949-07-14
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Kent Institute of Art and Design (BA ∙ fine art)
- Occupations
- artist
illustrator
author - Awards and honors
- Bill Duthie Bookseller's Choice Award (1993)
- Short biography
- Nick Bantock was born in England. He went to school in the soulless suburbs of North East London, and from there he moved on to art college in the market town of Maidstone, Kent. At the age of 23, he gave up his job in a betting shop and began working as a freelance illustrator. Over the next 16 years, he produced covers for approximately 300 books, including novels by Philip Roth and John Updike. During the winter of 1988, he moved to Vancouver with his wife and young son. Two years later, he decided to try his hand at creating pop-up books, and the legend "Griffin and Sabine" was born.
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, UK
- Places of residence
- Saltspring Island, British Columbia, Canada
London, England, UK
Maidstone, Kent, England
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Bowen Island, British Columbia, Canada - Map Location
- England, UK
Members
Reviews
I read this slim little novella when it first came out (and have a first edition). I was completely captivated and was thrilled that the feeling remains the same on my second reading.
Griffin Moss is an artist living in London. He produces a series of postcards that are beautifully illustrated with his artwork. One day he receives a cryptic postcard from Sabine Strohem, a woman living in the South Pacific island nation of Sicmon Islands. She asks him to send a particular postcard, and show more mentions an earlier version. But how could she know about that earlier version? Griffin never showed it to anyone and changed the design before ever producing the cards.
Thus begins an extraordinary correspondence between these two souls. Sabine explains that she has been seeing visions of his art for many years, though she cannot really explain why or how. He confesses he has felt “watched” but put it down to paranoia; now he feels exhilarated to have found her.
The reader feels as if she is eavesdropping on a particularly intimate exchange between two lovers as they learn more about each other and pour their hearts out in their letters and cards to one another. The illustrations begin as beautiful, colorful, drawings; Griffin’s are whimsical (a kangaroo in a red hat); Sabine’s focus on the island fauna. But as their correspondence continues the drawings become ever more fantastical and disturbing, hinting at madness and violence.
The ending takes the reader by surprise, and leaves one hanging, wanting more. show less
Griffin Moss is an artist living in London. He produces a series of postcards that are beautifully illustrated with his artwork. One day he receives a cryptic postcard from Sabine Strohem, a woman living in the South Pacific island nation of Sicmon Islands. She asks him to send a particular postcard, and show more mentions an earlier version. But how could she know about that earlier version? Griffin never showed it to anyone and changed the design before ever producing the cards.
Thus begins an extraordinary correspondence between these two souls. Sabine explains that she has been seeing visions of his art for many years, though she cannot really explain why or how. He confesses he has felt “watched” but put it down to paranoia; now he feels exhilarated to have found her.
The reader feels as if she is eavesdropping on a particularly intimate exchange between two lovers as they learn more about each other and pour their hearts out in their letters and cards to one another. The illustrations begin as beautiful, colorful, drawings; Griffin’s are whimsical (a kangaroo in a red hat); Sabine’s focus on the island fauna. But as their correspondence continues the drawings become ever more fantastical and disturbing, hinting at madness and violence.
The ending takes the reader by surprise, and leaves one hanging, wanting more. show less
Griffin and Sabine. I sigh to hear their names. Their backstory is such: Griffin is an artist in damp and dreary London. One day he receives an unusual postcard from a woman claiming to have the ability to see his art as he is creating it...except Sabine is somewhere in the South Pacific. Trying to make sense of her unusual voyeurism into his creation before it is fully formed forces Griffin to continue a correspondence with her. Soon they fall in love without ever meeting. [Been there.] show more Subsequent volumes have Griffin and Sabine trying to cross the divide to see each other face to face, but their efforts are thwarted at every turn. In Pharos Gate the star-crossed couple discover a safe place to meet: at Pharos Gate in Alexandria. With the help of a friend Griffin sets off across the globe to reach his love. And reach her, he does. But! Supposedly, this is the final book in the series and yet Bantock leaves his audience hanging once again...I adore it. show less
What a wonderful return to Griffin and Sabine! This was the book that felt like it was missing the last time we saw these two crazy kids. As ever, the artwork and letters are as beautifully haunting and evocative of another time as they always are. The rising tension was palpable, so much so that by the time I got to the end of the last letter I had to read it three times before I actually processed the words. While providing an ending of sorts, by no means is the door to this story closed. show more Beautiful and refreshing, I think I'm going to go read it again right now. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.Griffin and Sabine, 25th Anniversary Limited Edition: An Extraordinary Correspondence by Nick Bantock
I'm the baby of a big family, and my closest-in-age sibling is still four and a half years older than me. I worshiped her, and liked everything she liked, but the age gap meant she didn't particularly want to share her favorites with me.
She did, however, share Griffin and Sabine with me, when I was 13 or 14, and I fell in love with the books, the art, and the world Nick Bantock created. They will always have a special place in my heart.
Reading them as a proper adult, perhaps a rather cynical show more one, I found the nearly instant love between Griffin and Sabine a bit much. Going from strangers to explaining Sabine's strange gift of seeing what Griffin draws, to “you've made life worthwhile” in a few letters and postcards was too rapid for me. The art remains absolutely enjoyable though, and there's an extreme tactile glee I still feel pulling the letters from their envelopes.
Bantock remains a wonderful artist, with a true gift for creating unique books and combining his art and writing. I would most recommend the Griffin and Sabine books to the 12-24 age range, or older if the recipient is a sensitive romantic. show less
She did, however, share Griffin and Sabine with me, when I was 13 or 14, and I fell in love with the books, the art, and the world Nick Bantock created. They will always have a special place in my heart.
Reading them as a proper adult, perhaps a rather cynical show more one, I found the nearly instant love between Griffin and Sabine a bit much. Going from strangers to explaining Sabine's strange gift of seeing what Griffin draws, to “you've made life worthwhile” in a few letters and postcards was too rapid for me. The art remains absolutely enjoyable though, and there's an extreme tactile glee I still feel pulling the letters from their envelopes.
Bantock remains a wonderful artist, with a true gift for creating unique books and combining his art and writing. I would most recommend the Griffin and Sabine books to the 12-24 age range, or older if the recipient is a sensitive romantic. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.Lists
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Statistics
- Works
- 66
- Also by
- 13
- Members
- 17,903
- Popularity
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- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 347
- ISBNs
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