The Sisters Dietl (Life)

A horror detective story about two sisters, whose world is created from the surreal visions of Vojtěch Mašek, one of the most acclaimed Czech comics authors. When one of the Dietl sisters ends up in hospital after what appears to be a brutal attack, leaving her with a mutilated face and unable to move, Mašek leads the reader on a detective story exploring change of identity, doppelgängers, deformation, hallucination and altered states of mind in contrast with idyllic family life. This comics takes place in a fictional world woven from dreams, hazy and distorted memories of childhood fears, fear of the unknown and the desire for a safe hiding place. Reality constantly disrupted by doubts, changing points of view, the neurotic need to find objective truth. All this is contained in the story about the Dietl sisters – many theories, many possibilities but seemingly with only one solution. Mašek employs a unique multilayered art style, combining backgrounds created from various texts, newspaper cuttings and patterns with the main plot taking place in the foreground. The connections and juxtapositions between these two levels brilliantly evoking the main themes of the book.

About the Author

With slight exaggeration it could be said that whatever discipline Vojtěch Mašek (* 1977) turns his hand to, his work always meets with incredible success: he was one of the screenwriters on the film 'The Little Crusader, which won best film at the festival in Karlovy Vary, while the children’s book 'Puppet, Plum Pit, Plum, Plank and Back to Puppet', story by Mašek and art by Chrudoš Valoušek, won the prestigious Bologna Ragazzi Award. However, he is most at home in the world of comics, which he creates either on his own or in partnership with other artists and writers. Since 2002, he and Džian Baban have been developing the surreally farcical world of 'Fred Brunold’s Monster Cabaret', which has appeared in five comic books, more than a dozen stage adaptations and in short films. They have also written two award-winning graphic novels with art by Jiří Grus. He also recently worked with the writer Marek Šindelka on the contemporary graphic novel 'Saint Barbara, 'art by Marek Pokorný, 2018), and his list of projects continues to grow.

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