Beautiful
4 steloj
The Young Woman And The Sea is a graphic novel on a very different emotional scale to the previous one by Catherine Meurisse, Lightness, that I read. That work was driven by grief whereas The Young Woman And The Sea focuses on artistic discovery and has a lovely gentle humour to its narrative. Inspired and partially based on Meurisse's own sojourn in Japan, I loved her recollections of cultural and linguistic misunderstandings, and the beautiful way in which she portrays Japanese landscapes. The cartoon-style depictions of human characters - which I now know to be typical of Meurisse - contrast so effectively with her gorgeous natural scenes. In fact, there are several single page images which would be stunning if framed and hung on a wall. I was amazed to find them within a graphic novel!
There is a kind of artistic coming of age story in The Young Woman …
The Young Woman And The Sea is a graphic novel on a very different emotional scale to the previous one by Catherine Meurisse, Lightness, that I read. That work was driven by grief whereas The Young Woman And The Sea focuses on artistic discovery and has a lovely gentle humour to its narrative. Inspired and partially based on Meurisse's own sojourn in Japan, I loved her recollections of cultural and linguistic misunderstandings, and the beautiful way in which she portrays Japanese landscapes. The cartoon-style depictions of human characters - which I now know to be typical of Meurisse - contrast so effectively with her gorgeous natural scenes. In fact, there are several single page images which would be stunning if framed and hung on a wall. I was amazed to find them within a graphic novel!
There is a kind of artistic coming of age story in The Young Woman And The Sea which felt poignant when I considered it in relation to Lightness. I particularly appreciated moments such as when the Young Woman is comparing the familiarity of things, such as wisteria, between France and Japan. She recognises them, but the way in which they are situated allows her her to see them afresh, thereby sparking her artistic drive. I found The Young Woman And The Sea gave me inspiration to get out in nature again, albeit only locally to my home. I really enjoyed reading this quirky graphic novel.