Parenthesis

I found the early pages confusing and difficult to connect with until I realized the author was trying to literally share her own confusion and disconnection through her art and narration as she gradually realizes she is falling victim to a medical condition that is literally erasing portions of her life. Once I surrendered to the presentation I was filled with terror as things continue to deteriorate for the memoirist and she begins an odyssey through the medical establishment. So scary and gripping.

Parenthesis is Elodie Durand's debut graphic novel. It is a memoir of five years of her life suffering from tumor induced epilepsy. The author changes her name, calling herself Judith, but it is her story and she wrote it ten years after it occurred. After finishing all her classes for a master's degree, Elodie only had her thesis to write. She began having momentary spells that continued to be spells of several minutes. Soon she was having multiple seizures daily that increased in length as well as period of recovery. She moved back in with her parents who eventually even had to dress her. Elodie had severe memory loss that lasted weeks. Her neurologist recommended her for gamma knife brain surgery which she underwent a few months show more later. However, she continued to get worse. There is a recovery but in my mind getting there was worse than the descent into darkness. Elodie had to deal with cerebral edema that comes with this type of surgery.

The author does a great job of describing what life was like when she was barely conscious. I felt as though as I was there with her, something that I have not felt when reading stories of those who are dealing with cancer or paralysis. Her drawings also show the darkness of her memories from when she was barely awake. It is interesting that there was an awareness of something going on but she couldn't put her finger on what is was. Elodie's story is moving, scary and gripping all at the same time. The choice of a title for the book is perfect: her normal life was interrupted by the opening of a parenthesis that she was not sure would ever close.

5 out of 5 stars. show less

When seeking to learn about epilepsy as a novice, it is natural to turn first to a standard written text. However, Durand's graphic novel turns this premise on its head. Alongside her illustrations, she provides a point-by-point text that comprehensively describes the most common experiences in eplilepsy from a patient’s perspective. I found it startling that her path reflected my own so precisely from the inherent fatigue of the disease, to the double vision caused by certain drugs, to the impaired concept of time, and the recurrent spatial disorientation. In my American doctor’s office, I am asked to walk a straight line in order to check balance, touch finger to nose with my eyes closed, and report the day and month of the show more moment. In a French office, doctors apparently do the same procedures (Durand is from France and the original book is in French). With these sharp parallels, I felt that handing the book to a friend would give them an almost complete picture of my own life experiences with epilepsy!

Durand’s images typically depict the young girl’s portrait state of mind. Some are slightly hard to understand but express experiences well all the same. She also draws particularly realistic and informative images of technology such as the GAMMA knife. Her text descriptions of the procedure complete the reader’s education.

She goes beyond technology and deep into psychological experiences which focus on memory problems in particular. For example her character doesn’t care for socializing extensively with friends and especially with people whom she suspects that she has met but whom she cannot remember. With a world full of gaps, she psychologically links to certain individuals very tightly.

The overwhelming percentage of illustrations depict people and mainly herself. Implicit in their preponderance lies a subtle message. This message is that people with epilepsy are first and foremost people too. Parenthesis is a great resource for education. show less

A young woman experiences a brain tumor and epilepsy which first hospitalises her and then causes her to drift half-asleep through her early twenties without much memory. She documents this difficult, medicated, half-remembered time in her life with the help of her drawings and her parents' memories.

nonfiction graphic memoir, translated from the original French. A multiple award-winning debut book about an art student's journey through diagnosis of a cancerous and inoperable brain tumor causing epileptic seizures at 22, through treatments with medications that didn't seem to help, and eventually being seizure-free five years after the (then brand new) Gamma ray radiation treatment. Set in France (Paris in 1998, Marseille for Gamma Knife treatment the previous years).

skillfully drawn black-and-white drawings provide a telling glimpse of the frustrations of being a patient that can remember so little for such a long stretch of her lifetime, living with an invisible disability during that time, and also a glimpse of what her mother show more went through as her primary caretaker during those years. show less

Epilepsy and brain tumor

Crazy art that tells the story perfectly
Helps to understand this disability