So I just finished Asterios Polyp, and it's clearly one of the best comics I've ever read. I literally just finished it a minute or so ago, so my mind is still in a whir.
The whole book follows dream logic, jumping from connected topic to connected topic. Narration by the protagonist's dead-in-the-womb twin brother, philosophical tangents, scenes from a deteriorating marriage, a picnic next to a giant crater, an enormously pompous person trying to put on a production of Orpheus.
The main emotion the book managed to summon from me seems to be pity. I pitied Asterious, moving through life with an air of superiority. His wife seemed too good for him. And yet, his intelligence and clarity make him seem noble. Ancient greek hubris. Felled by his own flaws. Or maybe random acts from the Gods?
The art veers from one style to another, sometimes in the same panel. Simple cartoon people, or geometrically mapped out block figures. Chapters interspersed with mostly blank pages occupied by one simple image.
Read Asterios Polyp.
Now.
No comments:
Post a Comment