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Loading... Epilepticby David B.
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. 3   stephmo | Feb 2, 2009 |  Masterful storytelling until the end, when it degenerates into a dream journal. Might have been better set entirely in the past, with a set stopping point. (  ) Girl_Detective | Jun 3, 2008 | this graphic novel (a collection of 6 sections) is the narrative of David B. when he was a young boy growing up in france. as a young child, his older brother is diagnosed with epilepsy, and the novel describes the multitude of strange, demeaning and ultimately unsuccessful paths the family travel to try to him. i enjoyed how authentic david describes his experience, he talks about how he hates his brother at times, how he feels lonely, like he needs a shield to protect himself, and how devastated he is that he cannot save his brother. while the story is unique and stands alone, the artistry in this graphic novel is outstanding. virtually every panel is an intricate artistic piece. some of the larger panels have so many layers, with so many different images connecting, the reader really needs to slow down to take it all in. i really have no idea how he was able to come up with page after page of art that has so much going on, and also fit it within such a small physical space. i only had a few complaints: one was that there was no marker between sections, so at times it felt like i was reading on and on with no end at sight. i also i am not particularly interested in a lot of the new age type treatment he writes about, but then again, the art kept the dialogue going and kept it very interesting. in the end, it is obvious why this is considered one of the best graphic novels of time. (  ) folkthepolice | Sep 2, 2007 | This is a must read for comics lovers. Life-altering for anyone aspiring graphic novelists. The story is fascinating and the art worth enjoying over the course of a life time. (  ) belleyang | May 30, 2007 | A truly wonderful book, both because of David B's beautifully executed drawings and the fabulously compelling narrative that he constructs from his family history. One of the best books that I have ever read about family life and the relationships between siblings, and truly one of the high points of the world of "graphic novels" over the last few years. David B is a world-class talent and Epileptic is a masterpiece. ( ) dr_zirk | Oct 14, 2006 | 
 Illness may be of dubious use as metaphor, as Susan Sontag famously argued, but it's an even unlikelier theme for a comic book. By both origin and reputation, comics (or graphic novels, as one is now more or less obliged to call them) are the ultimate vessel of nerdy wish-fulfillment: blocky, oversaturated fantasy pieces in which everyday schmoes acquire superhuman powers and wreak righteous vengeance on their villainous tormentors.  David B's autobiographical Epileptic [368pp, Jonathan Cape, £16.99], on the other hand, is a staggeringly original work of real power. Its creator developed his cartooning style as a way to cope with his brother's debilitating illness. In his childhood bedroom, with Bach on the stereo, he would pour all his fear, aggression, sympathy and detachment into intricate comic strips. A book with a title like Epileptic does not raise high expectations: will it be an account of suffering nobly borne, or a worthy medical treatise perhaps? Not a bit of it, this memoir is a graphics extravaganza spread over 361 pages, bursting with energy and wild imaginings, a comic tour de force that is as emotionally gut-wrenching as it is visually stunning. To eviscerate, according to the OED , is "To take out the entrails of; to disembowel; to gut"; fishermen do it. Evisceration is also, of course, a familiar and often pretty fishy form of literary self-display, all the way from the Psalmist to Dave Pelzer - writing conceived of, produced and presented as a form of self-dismemberment or mutilation through which the writer saves him or herself from some real or imagined pain. From childhood, French artist Pierre-François Beauchard had a firm hand on his demons, and was capable of channeling them into supportive and constructive channels. His hefty graphic-novel memoir Epileptic (initially released as the multi-volume French series L'Ascension Du Haut Mal, and published under his nom de plume, David B.) shows him as a child obsessed with war and death, and prone to seeing the world in terms of monsters and metaphors.
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0375423184, Hardcover)Hailed by The Comics Journal as one of Europe’s most important and innovative comics artists, David B. has created a masterpiece in Epileptic, his stunning and emotionally resonant autobiography about growing up with an epileptic brother. Epileptic gathers together and makes available in English for the first time all six volumes of the internationally acclaimed graphic work.David B. was born Pierre-François Beauchard in a small town near Orléans, France. He spent an idyllic early childhood playing with the neighborhood kids and, along with his older brother, Jean-Christophe, ganging up on his little sister, Florence. But their lives changed abruptly when Jean-Christophe was struck with epilepsy at age eleven. In search of a cure, their parents dragged the family to acupuncturists and magnetic therapists, to mediums and macrobiotic communes. But every new cure ended in disappointment as Jean-Christophe, after brief periods of remission, would only get worse. Angry at his brother for abandoning him and at all the quacks who offered them false hope, Pierre-François learned to cope by drawing fantastically elaborate battle scenes, creating images that provide a fascinating window into his interior life. An honest and horrifying portrait of the disease and of the pain and fear it sowed in the family, Epileptic is also a moving depiction of one family’s intricate history. Through flashbacks, we are introduced to the stories of Pierre-François’s grandparents and we relive his grandfathers’ experiences in both World Wars. We follow Pierre-François through his childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, all the while charting his complicated relationship with his brother and Jean-Christophe”s losing battle with epilepsy. Illustrated with beautiful and striking black-and-white images, Epileptic is as astonishing, intimate, and heartbreaking as the best literary memoir. (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:53 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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Wikipedia in English (1)
There are times where David B's level of disclosure can seem uncomfortable. Worse yet, much of the alternative medication in our pill-driven society can seem downright cruel until you realize nearly every pharmacological treatment for his brother ends up in complete failure. Then it becomes a story about a family willing to take any weapon up against a cruel tormentor, no matter how slim the chances of success. Even so, he presents this story honestly, showing the toll that a fight with no real end will take on all participants involved.
As an illustrator, David B's work is reminiscent of intricate wood-cuttings where one can get lost in the details for hours. The depictions of the seizures and the onset of depression are an accomplishment unto themselves, and well worth a look through the book. Each of the backgrounds contains characters and spirit guides that serve he and his siblings well in their active fantasy life.
Highly recommended. (