Maison d'Ailleurs, Yverdon-les-Bains

Today, I took the train to Yverdon-les-Bains, a 40 minute ride north of Lausanne gare. This was my first solo excursion -evidently no one in my circle of friends is interested in science fiction, which will have to change. This brings me to the point of my story - the Maison d'Ailleurs, or the "House of Elsewhere." It already sounds cool; I know. You wish that you had gone.

The reason why I went to this rather incredible museum - the only one of its kind in the world - is because the intelligent people of the metro decided to post a publicity of the main exhibit in a few of its trains. Immediately after seeing the words "illustrator of Alice and Wonderland," I knew that my destiny was to go to Yverdon-les-Bains and learn about the history of science fiction and, specifically, to marvel at the works of Mervyn Peake.

Never have I seen an artist with such talent in expression and mastery of the human form. He understood how a small change in the face could create beauty or monstrosity, how a simple line in the mouth could transform a smile into a grimace. I cannot get over how detailed his drawings were: the cross-hatching lines must have taken days to complete, and the shading and contrast made everything seem so much more real. I took great delight in reading his tale of "Captain Slaughterboard," as well as his "Rhymes without Reason."

We can sometimes take for granted these beautiful drawings, but if it wasn't for the illustrations in children's books, we would often lose that sense of transformation into another world - full of fantastic adventures, strange creatures, and heroic battles. It can be depressing to think that real illustration is becoming a dying art due to the invention of high-tech computer programs. The next time you read Grimm's fairy tales, take a look at those pen strokes; those artists who took a physical pen to paper deserve recognition for their imaginative vision.