Passionate Journey

Passionate Journey is a wordless novel by the Flemish artist Frans Masereel. First published in 1919, it tells its story through 165 woodcuts rather than written narration.

The central figure is an unnamed traveler moving through cities, crowds, relationships, work, violence, and solitude. Because Masereel provides no written narration, the reader follows the character through the sequence of 165 images.

It has the scale and sequential storytelling of a novel but uses woodcut images instead of prose. Masereel's 1919 book relies on visual repetition, gesture, and changing scenes to communicate the traveler's experience.

The book moves through modern urban life, including crowds, labor, intimacy, violence, and moments of isolation. Those themes appear across the 165 woodcuts created by Frans Masereel.