I didn't want any flowers
Luise Schaller
SB-004
Published by Sofort Books, Hamburg
First English Edition, April 2024
Originally self-published in German, 2023
Print: Risofort, Hamburg
"I didn't want any flowers is a graphic tale based on the poetry collection Ariel by Sylvia Plath, weaving fragmented text and visual storytelling into a world entirely its own. We are immersed in a world of lyrical echoes and visual cues—teetering between the dreamlike and the kitsch, held back only by an underlying, elemental sense of unease: "There is something in the garden," and we’re we’re left to question whether we truly want to discover what—or who—it is.
Throughout the book, Luise Schaller employs a faux-naïve lens to explore vulnerability. Her almost childlike pencil drawings delicately trace themes of powerlessness, pain, and anger—alongside an urgent desire to escape. We meander through this two-part narrative, amidst towering plants, star-speckled skies, and literal heart-shaped hearts beating in chests. yet, it's not a conventional journey. There’s no sweeping transformation, no dramatic arc. From the very first page, the 'I' is fully self-aware, narrating their experiences with a stoic detachment: "I have become so small," leading to wry, melancholic lines like "I only wanted to lie like this."
The result is a melancholic yet sharply defined worldview, steeped in dissent and emotional clarity, one that we can't help but want to integrate into our own inner worlds." (Sofort Books 2024)
Throughout the book, Luise Schaller employs a faux-naïve lens to explore vulnerability. Her almost childlike pencil drawings delicately trace themes of powerlessness, pain, and anger—alongside an urgent desire to escape. We meander through this two-part narrative, amidst towering plants, star-speckled skies, and literal heart-shaped hearts beating in chests. yet, it's not a conventional journey. There’s no sweeping transformation, no dramatic arc. From the very first page, the 'I' is fully self-aware, narrating their experiences with a stoic detachment: "I have become so small," leading to wry, melancholic lines like "I only wanted to lie like this."
The result is a melancholic yet sharply defined worldview, steeped in dissent and emotional clarity, one that we can't help but want to integrate into our own inner worlds." (Sofort Books 2024)