Aart Taminiau / Aart Taminiau – Wool

Aart Taminiau – Wool

Aart Taminiau – Wool

About the book

The Van Mergaerts have been extremely successful wool traders for generations, until their privileged position is destroyed by the modern age. The entire family, from grandma to a distant cousin, used to live well on the profits of the wool trade, but the acquisition of a ‘total machine’ has brought their

prosperity to an abrupt halt. Alphons, the director’s nephew, is forced to move in with his family after his father breaks all connections with his relatives and heads out on his own. Alphons soon realizes that other members of the family are failing to cope with the new situation. In truly brilliant drawings, Aart Taminiau conjures up an image of the province of Brabant during the Industrial Revolution. The extraordinary design of the book is of intrinsic importance as well, showing how darkness gains ground as business dealings falter.

‘A lineage of textile magnates goes under in their eagerness to embrace the Industrial Revolution: there are simpler themes to debut with. But the Dutchman Aart Taminiau comes from precisely such a textile family and magnificently depicts this ineffectual family’s despair in the pleasantly self-assured Wool. The stately bourgeoisie of more than a century ago also fits with his style of drawing: he combines intense hatch patterns that evoke Edward Gorey’s 19th century engravings with character faces that look like they’re straight out of a sketchbook from an expressionist like Egon Schiele.’ – Knack

‘The stifling atmosphere is perfectly depicted and gives you the feeling that you’re reading a novel by Thomas Mann or Dostoyevsky. A fantastic, truly literary graphic novel.’ – NBD Biblion

‘The design contributes equally to the story: where the family reflects on the past and warily anticipates the future, the reader has to occasionally pause on the page. When reading Wool, it is necessary to reflect on the illustrations, their cohesion and their meaning, and this adds to the quality of the book […] Taking the time to read this story pays. And even when that’s more than once.’ - 8Weekly

‘A graphic and refined novel.’**** - de Volkskrant

Author

Aart Taminiau (b. 1982) is an artist and animator. He works mainly with Indian ink and a dip pen. He was one of the authors of the journalistic comic strip The Squatter, the Policeman, the Lawyer and the City. Wool is his debut.

© Jur Oster

Additional Book information

  • graphic novel
  • ISBN 9789023422389
  • Number of pages: 176
  • World rights: De Bezige Bij
  • Price: € 24,99