Codex Seraphinianus

When I got this book in on hold, I just left it in my workroom and flipped through it whenever I was on break. I think it's the best way to read it, just open to random pages and see what you find. I love the gibberish text and how it was laid out. I love that the illustrations are done in pencil crayon.

When I was looking through it as an art book, I had a great time savouring all the little details. How much work must have gone into putting it together, and Serafini's weird imagination. But then I started thinking about it as a travel guide and it freaked me right out. I tried to imagine that I was planning a trip to this world, and I grabbed an encyclopedia to prepare. Everything got real uncanny valley for me pretty quick. I imagine I'd be delighted for a few days, taking in all the weird sights (and I'm sure, sounds and smells that aren't available in book form) and meeting the people who live there. But pretty soon, I'll hunger for something familiar, and everything I see will start to haunt me with its just-not-rightness. I kept thinking about that episode of Futurama where Fry's girlfriend ends up in the future and just can't handle all the new weird stuff that's happening. After a (probably pretty short) while, I'd want to just see or feel or eat or experience something comforting, and it would slowly destroy my psyche that I couldn't. It would be even worse than a place that is totally different from what I'm used to, because this world would tease me with familiarity. I would feel gaslighted by this vacation. I wouldn't be able to trust anything. Oh, ok, that animal looks like a hippo, that's pretty comforting but oh god its two halves are actually connected by wires ok ok I'll just look at this dog, it looks fluffy and normal and NOPE it doesn't have a head it's just a clear orb well that's fine, that's fine, we have clear orbs on Earth too, maybe I'll just have a bite of this juicy looking pear to calm me down AND IT'S BLEEDING THE PEAR IS BLEEDING INTO MY MOUTH OKAY I'm going to sit down here by this lake, lakes are nice and tranquil, though this lake is staring back at me with multiple pairs of eyes, which is unsettling, I think I'll go back to my room and lie down. I won't even be able to take comfort in making love for fear that my partner and I would turn into a crocodile. I mean I can't say I'm not intrigued by the idea of being one half of a crocodile for a short while, but I'd have to know that I could become human again and eat some food without it bleeding on me afterwards. Flipping through the pages of this book got slightly anxiety-inducing after thinking about going to visit. I'd have to get a room in the Earth Town neighborhood where people hold pens to write with instead of grafting nibs to the tips of their fingers and I can eat a banana that is banana all the way through and not partially made of tiny beads. Call me closed-minded but my tolerance for change is low.