This was gorgeous, and I enjoyed the poetry. Especially since it shows the orginal Spanish and the English translations on the same page as part of the art.

I will say this art at times feels like a fever dream, but it really works well.

What I didn't care for was the cursive font that they chose. While I typically don't struggle to read cursive this particular font I had great difficulty.

A failure for me, I strongly admit there will be many who love this book. Taking over a dozen of Garcia Lorca's poems, and presenting them in fully-illustrated fashion, in both Spanish and English in the same image, there is a lot of cleverness and graft here. But when, to my mind, the effort in the visuals is designed to present such pretentious pish-tosh as this, it's kind of wasting everyone's time. For those coming here with a graphic novel head on, the design is wonderful, the full-on Victorian surreality of the visuals nudging me to think of Lear for sure, but also Tenniel and several other illustrators whose names escape me. I would suggest it's best to expect an art book, for while there can be a narrative this seems built more of individual frames than a graphic novel would be.

I think if you are here for the Lorca, you may find some of the artwork too literal, but you should find it splendidly fitting, and the words would only seem refreshed for you seeing them presented with such a conviction and powerful level of detail. To repeat, I can easily see how wonderful this is for the right buyer – but I'm just not that person in this instance. Part of my problem was seeing it in digital form, and the inability to read the hand-lettered text at the same time as seeing the full-page image. But a lot does boil down to the Lorca original, which I really found sixth-form waffle. I wouldn't give him house room, as we say, but Tak's achievements are a different thing altogether.

Published Date 17 Aug 2021
My review on 25 Jun 2021

Many thanks to Papercutz and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read Canciones by Federico Garcia Lorca in exchange for an honest review.
Introduction by Lorca scholar, translator Christopher Maurer and pictured by Tobias Tak.

Dual-text of twenty Lorca's poetry with awesome pictures, great graphics, very special, I loved it. Beautiful, glorious poems with the sun, moon, trees, sea, wind, animals, and human characters. I enjoyed it.

Song of November and April
The Deceiving Mirror
Conch
It’s True! (my favorite)
Fable
First Anniversary
Second Anniversary
In a Girl’s Ear (my other favorite)
I didn't want to.
I didn't want to tell you a thing.
In your eyes I saw two mad little trees...

Song of the Barren Orange Tree
Debussy
The Mute Boy
Schematic Nocturne
A Song Sung
Riverside Songs
The Moon Comes Up (my next favorite)
The Street of the Mute
Foolish Song
Farewell
Song of the Departing Day (my other favorite)
...From east to west it is so hard for me
to carry you with your birds
and your arms of wind.

to carry you with your birds
and your arms of wind.
In Another Manner