Isn't it part of Paris in the winter to be brooding?
Lucy Knisley took a long trip to Paris with her mother to celebrate her mom's 50th birthday (and her own 22nd birthday). Over the course of six weeks (including some time spent at her childhood home before leaving for France), Knisley wrote and drew in her journal, recording various little details: what they ate, where they went, snippets of conversation, things they bought. There are some black and white photographs interspersed throughout the book, but most of it is Knisley's own handwriting and drawings done with a brush pen in a simple, clean style.
The jacket blurb talks about a "moving, personal look at a mother-daughter relationship" but it really didn't feel to me like that was the focus of the book. Instead, it seemed more like a snapshot of life in Paris, at least as seen through the eyes of a young American. Knisley spends a good deal of time moping, fearful of the future, and then just as quickly is euphoric about a new jacket or leather satchel she's acquired.
It's a small book, one that probably won't change your life, but makes for a neat travelogue and was an interesting use of comics.
And a random tidbit to conclude: I came across this quote today on a totally unrelated site.
Isn’t it odd how many times you have thought "I should go to Paris" and how few times you have thought "I should go to moon.”
Fed to jonathan's brain | January 07, 2009
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