Remembrance of Things Past: Combrayby Kim De VriesReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk.
Publisher
Credits Grade: 9 I'll start off by saying that I have not read the original version of Remembrance of Things Past, a novel originally published between 1913 and 1922, so this review is not based in any way in comparing the graphic version to the original. I comment only about how this version stands on its own.Visually, this is a lovely book — the inking is somewhat reminiscent of the Tin Tin series, but the coloring is delicate, as if it had faded somewhat in memory. And of course the story is all about memory, being an extended journey into the narrator's past. He relates the circumstances of his childhood which while financially secure, seems quite wistful, filled with longing for attention from his mother. And this in fact makes up the whole of this story, memory after memory cascade across the pages, showing us the youthful thoughts recalled by a man one night as he lay awake drinking tea. The events recalled are all small incidents — weekly attendance at church, visits to a sickly great aunt, chance meetings along a lane, but each inspires a strong aesthetic reaction in a rather overly sensitive boy. Proust captures the child's attitudes with remarkable accuracy, reminding us of how when young we can be so moved by a sunset or a picture, yet have little comprehension of the feelings of people around us. Stephane Heuet captures this experience in the illustrations, the brightest of which are those imagined, rather than those actually encountered by the narrator, and all of which are framed, and often screened by the poetic text of his thoughts, while actual conversation and even facial expressions, are infrequent and rather ordinary. This is not a graphic novel to whiz through for fun, but rather something to be savored at the same slow pace as the narration, on a warm sunny day in the quiet shade of a large tree — or at least that is the atmosphere the story invites. This book also differs somewhat from other graphic novels I've read in following not the conventions of a comic book, but of a novel in the serious tone adopted on the flyleaf, the simple design of the cover, the high quality of the paper, and the focus only on the story, rather than on the author, the publisher, or the comic book community. Essentially, this is a comic book for people who read literature, and as such it may not be to everyone's taste. But I think it is worth a taste for the beauty of the prose and the pictures, as an example of the wide possibilities available to comic book creators. Written: April 21, 2002
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