Espé: The parakeet

Alkuteos: Le perroquet (2017)

Kääntäjä: Hannah Chute

Ilmestymisaika: 2021 (ko.painos)

Kustantaja: Graphic Mundi

Sivumäärä: 147

ISBN: 978027188051

Muoto: Sid.

Peukku: q^^

*Bastien is eight years old, and his mother is ill. She often has what his father and grandparents call “episodes”. She screams and fights, scratches and spits, and has to be carted away to aspecialized clinics for treatment. Bastien doesn’t like it when she goes, because when she comes home, she isn’t the same. She has no feelings, no desires, and not much interest in him. According to the doctors, Bastien’s mother suffers from “bipolar disorder with schizophrenic tendencies,” but he prefers to imagine her as a comic-book heroine, like Jean Grey, who may become Dark Phoenix and explode in a superhuman fury at any moment.

Based on the creator’s own childhood experiences, The Parakeet is the story of a boy whose only refuge from life’s harsh realities lies in his imagination. In his eyes, we see the confusion and heartache he feels as he watches his mother’s illness worsen and the treatments fail. Through his eyes, we see how mental illness can both tear families apart and reaffirm the bonds of love. Equal parts heartwarming and heartbreaking, The Parakeet follows Bastien’s struggle to accept the mother he has while wishing for the mother he needs.

Graphic novelist Espé was born Sébastien Portret in Mazamet, France. A graduate of the École de Beaux-Arts in Toulouse, he collaborated in the publication of several comics series, including Châteaux Bordeaux, and is the creator of L’île des Justes.*

Liikuttava ja koskettava sarjakuva. Kokonaisuus on jaettu pieniin osiin, erilaisiin lapsuuden muistoihin. Osa niistä on hyviä, osa liikuttavia ja osa surullisia. Niistä välittyy lapsen vilpittömyys ja rakkaus, mutta myös pelko ja epävarmuus. Kuvitus on hyvää jälkeä ja värit voimakkaat. Kukin osa on väritetty yhdellä tai maksimissaan kahdella eri värillä.

Pysäyttävä. Ei kevyttä luettavaa.