Cave-In
by Brian Ralph
Highwater Books

"Cave-In" is a strange little literary critter.

This crisply illustrated book uses single color illustrations (with ink that changes color at every natural break in the narrative) to tell the story of a cave dweller and his gentle underground adventures. His mini-odyssey takes him through a village of tiny people, a forbidden tomb and the belly of a monster, but he keeps his cool and travels with an easy-going style reminiscent of the unflappable Snoopy.

Since the first bit of cave-graffiti went up on some long-lost subterranean wall, people have been concerned with conveying meaning through pictures. Eventually, these pictures became increasingly stylized, standardized and abstracted, giving us writing. Author and artist Brian Ralph chucks out all those millenia of refinement and takes it back to the basics. By deft depiction of emotive gesture and facial tics, Ralph conveys volumes without writing a word.

"Cave-In" has what it takes to stand up as really solid work of art — it thrives at many levels of comprehension. From the eyes of a child, "Cave-In's" accessible, streamlined drawings tell a strange and intriguing story that clicks from the first page. From the eyes of a cynical observer of culture and literature, the book has a smooth, minimalist and cyclical narrative that effectively depicts the impact of a single determined organism on a carefully balanced and complicated ecosystem. From the eyes of a human being, the damn thing is a lot of fun.

It is unlikely that another storybook with "Cave-In's" clarity, simplicity and real beauty will come out any time soon — there isn't a pre-made niche market for this sort of thing, and it can't be easy to put one together and have it work. It's worth a look.

— James Norton (jrnorton@flakmag.com)