The Contradictions

I finished Sophie Yanow’s graphic novel _The Contradictions_ yesterday. It’s a story about a twenty year old American woman in Paris on in a study abroad context. She meets a woman who’s an anarchist, and they have an adventure. It’s so carefully understated, so simply phrased, and similarly drawn, so that nothing extraneous distracts from the pregnancy of interpretation. Each statement could be read a few ways, and the hints from facial expressions guide but a little. I like this. The page fades and you fall into the scenarios, the little unstated tensions playing themselves out here and there. The frustration of being young and newly aware of your place in a society you did not shape or opt into, the nascent hope of a better show more world even while you haven’t fully grappled with the complexities those possible worlds bring, all piled into the newness of a different place and the endless possibility of a new friendship, or something more. Negotiating norms alongside desire, plumbing comfort and stress side by side. All this comes through in simple black and white drawings of gangly folks whose understated facial expressions provide just enough of a glimpse into the oceans beneath that it seems more real than photographs. I liked it and recommend it. show less

A feckless American college student studying abroad in Paris finds herself crushing on an anarchist poser and ditches her friend to follow the hot girl on a hitchhiking adventure across Europe. I found myself disliking the book for quite a while, until I realized I was looking at it through the disapproving lens of a father with a daughter the same age as the author. Once I reflected on how I felt at 20, her actions become more understandable. The ending helped solidify my turnaround.

I love it when interesting graphic novels cross my desk. This one kind of reminds me of my daughter, as it's about a young woman with strong social and political beliefs who finds herself in Europe, doing a study abroad program. She has a hard time finding a community, until she meets Zena, and ends up planning a radical hitchhiking trip from Paris to Berlin. As expected, it is filled with missteps and unanticipated exploits, but despite what feels like the inherent risk of such a venture, nothing really bad happens. They have their radical political ideals, but they are both middle-class white American women, with nothing to stop them from exercising their privilege, except their own principles. So, they hitchhike and couch-surf, visit show more museums and take drugs, and in the end they are still friends, though perhaps a little weary of each other. It is the kind of adventure every young person should have, throwing caution to the winds, and trusting the universe to deal with them fairly. I suppose it's kind of a sad commentary on the state of the world, that I felt suspicious, even anxious, that it wouldn't end well for them. It gives me hope that it actually does. show less

I couldn’t finish this one. Maybe it’s too sophisticated for this reader. Also overuse of the F word became off putting.

This is the chronicle of the the journey of a queer 20-year-old. She is attending college as a foreign exchange student in Paris. She’s bored and it’s time for change, So surely Paris is where it can happen. Money is tight and life right now is fragile. She meets a woman named Zena, who introduces her to anarchist ideals such as veganism, squatting, worker-owned cooperatives—and shoplifting. The pair then embark on a spring break road trip, hitchhiking through Amsterdam, Ghent, and Berlin.

At first, she admires Zena and tries to be her, including going vegan. Soon into the venture tensions arise, as she show more begins to realizes that the relationship, is making her life is becoming more complicated.
The illustrations are as bland as the story, but are nevertheless fitting to the story.
I’m sure another reader will gleen a better view of this graphic novel
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B&W throughout. Student leaves America for the holidays, stays in France and hitch-hikes to Amsterdam, before flying back. Not sure how to hold the stem of a wine glass. Pickpockets. Veganism. Shoplifting.