Reading – “Repent, Harlequin!” Said the Ticktockman

Published in 1997, this illustrated edition of Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman* joined my collection back in early 1998 when I found it during a visit to a dusty and forgotten bookstore. Why is it forgotten? Because I can remember picking up the book, I can remember the shelves in the store were covered in dust and loaded with everything from completely new releases to 40 year-old books, but I cannot remember exactly where I was at the time. I don’t know the city. I don’t know the name of the store. I don’t even know what I was doing in the area. I’m guessing it was St. Louis, but I can’t swear to that.

Actually, it almost feels fitting that I cannot identify where I purchased a book by Harlan Ellison, since so many of Ellison’s stories leave me feeling disjointed and make me question what’s happening around me. I absolutely love his short story work, but I sometimes feel as if Ellison is writing for a completely different races of super-intelligent beings and I’m privileged to share just a taste of what those aliens fully comprehend. That sounds kinda dumb, but it’s how I feel after reading one of his short story collections.

But we can all admit that you are not here for my feelings. No, we’re here for a peek inside Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman* and maybe even a few of my thoughts on the book. But instead of discussing the story — which is entertaining and recommended — I’m instead looking solely at the artwork and design of the book. After all, battlegrip.com isn’t exactly a place to go for fiction reviews and it’s barely a place to go to see/discuss art so I’ll make this quick and painless.

Illustrations

A total of nine paintings/digital compositions created by Rick Berry (website) fill the book. Berry’s work is of a style that I find I love some days and hate other days. It’s a blurring of oil and digital work and I am constantly torn when I look at his work. I often come back to the “love” side when looking at his work, but not without several rounds of “hate” tearing at me. I can’t explain it, but in the end I think the artwork in this book works because it makes me think. And though I play with toys and games all day long I really do enjoy thinking.

Graphic Design

Editor and designer Arnie Fenner, probably best known for his work on Spectrum, a superb series of annual art books, put together a readable, attractive book with a few typographic embellishments that keep the book from being page after page of text block broken up with a few paintings. At its core it is a minimalist graphic design, but it’s attractive and the design in now way harms the reader. You could almost say the design is invisible, which is not at all a bad thing when talking about a book that is primarily meant to be read.

Closing Thoughts

Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman* is a perfect example of the type of books I am drawn to. One part enjoyable story and one part beautiful artwork there is absolutely no reason for anyone but a fan of artwork and graphic design to grab this book when the story is available in many, many other places (see the Internet Speculative Fiction Database).

I know I cannot be alone, though, in loving coffee table books and illustrated stories. And it’s for that reason that I decided to pull the book off of my shelves and share it with you. Enjoy, guys, and don’t miss the few photos of the book I posted to Flickr. A fun book, but by no means something everyone will enjoy.

If you want to learn about the story inside the book check this entry at Wikipedia for a summary and historical overview of the work.