Last autumn I spent a couple of days in Porto and as someone who rereads the Harry Potter books every once in a while, I had to visit Livraria Lello. Livraria Lello is a bookshop which has some very magical looking stairs and which has supposedly served as an inspiration for J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. You need to pay a couple of euros to be able to enter the bookstore, which you'll get back in the form of a voucher that you can use to get a discount on your purchase in the store. I could have bought something Harry Potter related, which half of the bookstore was, but I decided to pick up a book that I never heard of and that would bring me something new. I ended up with Vazio by Catarina Sobral, which definitely did that.
Vazio is a picture book, with solely pictures, and no words at all to accompany those pictures. There were a lot of picture books without any words in Livraria Lello, so I am guessing that young Portuguese readers are accustomed to those kinds of books. I was drawn towards this particular one, because of how chaotic and dark the pictures looked. Later, I found out that the work of Catarina Sobral, the creator of this book, has been rewarded and nominated several times already.
Vazio, which is Portuguese for 'empty', tells the story of a man who goes through everyday life feeling empty and alone. He seems to be going through the motions of life and he appears to be able to experience his surroundings, but in the end always is left feeling empty. That feeling changes when he meets a woman, who causes him to feel less empty and leaves him feeling like he has a heart.
The story that Vazio tells is a rather serious one that touches upon some fairly existential life questions. This heaviness of the theme is countered by the playfulness of the images that Sobral has created. Every page is a joy to look at and every detail seems to be very well thought out. Sobral has not shied away from using different techniques in this book, which makes it feel like the images are very real and could come to life any second. Moreover, these different techniques give the book a certain raw edge, making it stand apart from other picture books.
Sobral has a way to use colours and textures to create a certain mood and sphere around the pages, which has enabled her to convey emotions in a very clear, yet subtle way. By making images fade away or using an all-white illustration in which the main character cannot be identified anymore (since he is also white), the emptiness and loneliness of the main character become very present for the reader.
All in all, I think that Sobral has created a beautiful picture book with tons of beautiful, playful and relatable images, which has allowed her to explore deep human emotions without getting too melodramatic or cliché.
Vazio is a picture book, with solely pictures, and no words at all to accompany those pictures. There were a lot of picture books without any words in Livraria Lello, so I am guessing that young Portuguese readers are accustomed to those kinds of books. I was drawn towards this particular one, because of how chaotic and dark the pictures looked. Later, I found out that the work of Catarina Sobral, the creator of this book, has been rewarded and nominated several times already.
Vazio, which is Portuguese for 'empty', tells the story of a man who goes through everyday life feeling empty and alone. He seems to be going through the motions of life and he appears to be able to experience his surroundings, but in the end always is left feeling empty. That feeling changes when he meets a woman, who causes him to feel less empty and leaves him feeling like he has a heart.
The story that Vazio tells is a rather serious one that touches upon some fairly existential life questions. This heaviness of the theme is countered by the playfulness of the images that Sobral has created. Every page is a joy to look at and every detail seems to be very well thought out. Sobral has not shied away from using different techniques in this book, which makes it feel like the images are very real and could come to life any second. Moreover, these different techniques give the book a certain raw edge, making it stand apart from other picture books.
Sobral has a way to use colours and textures to create a certain mood and sphere around the pages, which has enabled her to convey emotions in a very clear, yet subtle way. By making images fade away or using an all-white illustration in which the main character cannot be identified anymore (since he is also white), the emptiness and loneliness of the main character become very present for the reader.
All in all, I think that Sobral has created a beautiful picture book with tons of beautiful, playful and relatable images, which has allowed her to explore deep human emotions without getting too melodramatic or cliché.
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