Griffin & Sabine Trilogy: Griffin & Sabine + Sabine's Notebook + The Golden Mean [B2214]

A set of three 1991-1993 HCDJs (8.5x8-inches) in nice clean condition, apparently complete with all letters in their pockets. "Few books are more romantic than this trilogy, nor more surreal. Griffin Moss is a rather doleful, lonesome, gaunt, and haunted postcard designer in London. Sabine Strohem is an illustrator of stamps living on an island in the South Pacific. One day Griffin gets an extraordinary letter from Sabine revealing that she knows all kinds of things about his life and work--somehow, she can share his soul from afar. They start exchanging love letters, yet it remains an open question whether Griffin and Sabine are two hearts that mystically beat as one, or simply illusory. "You're a figment of my imagination," Griffin accuses Sabine. "You cannot turn me into a phantom because you are frightened," Sabine replies. Phantom or soul mate, Sabine is pursued across the globe by Griffin in an increasingly impassioned fashion, and the mysteries deepen.

This legendarily popular trilogy of books containing the Griffin-Sabine correspondence literally contains the correspondence: postcards, front and back, and letters in envelopes pasted into the book, which the reader must open and read--a temptation few can resist. Nick Bantock's story was way ahead of the computer game Myst, with which it shares a moody allure. Bantock designed hundreds of book covers (for Philip Roth, John Updike, and others) before he fled London for a lovely island off the west coast of Canada with his rather Sabine-like artist wife and became improbably famous by dreaming up this trilogy. His artwork is gorgeous, and countless romances have been intensified by exposure to that of Griffin and Sabine." -Amazon Review by Tim Appelo.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "When I was in grade 7 I was looking for something to read, and my teacher gave me these books. They were not out on the bookshelf for the rest of the class to enjoy, the envelopes and letters surely would have been damaged by sticky and clumsy middle school fingers. But he trusted me to be careful with them, and I felt special. Upon my first read through, I was deeply confused by the ending, so I read the books again the next year and learned more. There is something magical about this series, so I suppose I will read them again in 10 years and again something new will be revealed to me.";

"The format is beautiful and has plenty to enjoy beyond the storyline. Very good jumping off point for entering a whole world of make believe; I can imagine getting absurdly deep into designing postcards and stamps and stories of my own if I had read this as a child.";

"This is a beautiful story of impossible love. The design of the book is interactive, with letters tucked into little envelopes that you have to unfold to read. It feels like when you're going through someone's belongings and find letters from a life lived long ago...it's very special."