#Edward Gauvin

[graphicpolicy]

Exclusive Preview: Doctor Mœbius and Mister Gir

Doctor Mœbius and Mister Gir exclusive preview. Numa Sadoul's landmark interviews with Jean "Mœbius" Giraud #comics #comicbooks #graphicnovel

[ahb-writes]

Comics Review: 'Black Water Lilies'

Black Water Lilies by Fred Duval, Didier Cassegrain, Edward Gauvin

coming of age

detective

European comics

romance

My Rating: 3 of 5 stars

For all the mystique and grandiosity embedded in the emotional architecture of dead artists, one finds the perseverance of capitalism and the hunger of opportunistic creatures of culture are the last prevailing architects of bygone aesthetics. As such, the problem, as evidenced in BLACK WATER LILIES, rests as much with pinpointing a murderer in a small community in northern France as it does with unraveling several decades of charismatic secretiveness.

This book is funny, clever, and confusing, and that's probably the point. BLACK WATER LILIES nestles comfortably into Giverny, France, as its sole backdrop, within which flocks and founders an array of characters whose motives spin into and out of control whereupon a murder or two (or three) happen upon the populace. Giverny is known globally for having housed painter Claude Monet for nearly four decades. However, these days, the tourist attraction acts as a kind of living museum for transient spectators to ogle and photograph.

Giverny is beautiful, yes, but what about the people who live there? What about the villagers who feel trapped? What about the lives left unfulfilled? What about the stunted happiness wrought from cheap water-lily-painting contests and secondary markets for smuggled art? What about the first loves? Romances of error? Aged rivalries?

What about those who die in this awkwardly preserved garden of the impossible?

Police inspector Laurenç Sérénac arrives to investigate a murder, but quickly finds himself ensnared in a peculiar but not inescapable network of uncertainties. Did a wealthy man die from someone else's jealousy? From his own petty art obsessions? From the reflexive pain of someone else's greed? The inspector's affection for a local schoolteacher might blind him to the truth, and that schoolteacher's tendency to fall in love with the idea of falling in love might blind her to the truth.

BLACK WATER LILIES integrates several scenes, locations, and points of view into a larger, mostly coherent narrative. The nature of many mystery tales is that very little makes sense until the final chapter. To wit, Cassegrain's art helps fulfill this endeavor. Expressive personalities pop on every page, exposing readers to the tilted head or wrinkling brow of characters who may (or may not) mean more than one may first intuit. Colorful and immersive background art frames much of the book's drama, as knotty old trees, weedy riverbanks, and overgrown building facades grant a shivering, pastoral allure to each suspicion, each denial, and each bated breath.

This is probably not an ideal comic book for readers more interested in contemporary fare, or whose tastes simply lean toward decidedly linear and more urbane storytelling methods. BLACK WATER LILIES sets one upon a long and twisting road, with long speeches and frequent close-ups. One might debate whether a mystery story can truly be enjoyed more than once, given the thrill of discovery, but thankfully, Cassegrain's art lends credulous detail and integrity to an otherwise fun but casual whodunnit.

❯ ❯ Comics Reviews || ahb writes on Good Reads

[tintededges]

Agatha: The Real Life of Agatha Christie

Biographical graphic novel about famous crime fiction novelist I picked up this book at a Lifeline Bookfair, I think. I haven’t read much of Agatha Christie, but a lot of my family members enjoy her work, especially her books about the Belgian detective Poirot. A graphic novel sub-genre I’ve enjoyed previously is graphic novel biographies with one of the best being “Anne Frank: The Anne Frank…

[librarycomic]

The Phantom Scientist by Robin Cousin. Translated by Edward Gauvin. MIT Press, 2023. 9780262047869. 125pp.

This graphic novel opens with the arrival of Sorokin at the 4th Institute for the Study of Complex and Dynamic Systems. The armed clean-up crew that has just finished with the 3rd Institute is leaving the site, and one of the masked men hands things over to him. Sorokin watches a video from the previous director who explains the Institute a bit, from the type of researchers it includes to the fact that the system tends toward entropy and chaos in its last year, when results are expected. Sorokin's role is to slow the spread of chaos at the end of the 4th Institute during its final year.

Then on the next page, the book jumps forward six years, to the arrival of the final researcher, Stéphane, whose field is morphogenesis. He is offered a lab plus whatever resources he needs. On the way to his lab he meets two others who live in his building, Louise (linguistics) and Vilhelm (he seems to be modeling the Institute itself). As Louise gives him a tour, a lone scientist in the woods observes them. He's the so-called Phantom Scientist of the title, a man supposedly living in their building (though he's never been seen), a researcher looking into the mathematical problem of P vs. NP.

It all makes for a decent mystery full of drawings that I loved, and it had me searching and reading scientific terms. After finishing the book I was able to send a cryptic (to me anyway) text to the smartest math person I know, which will (I hope) lead me to a deeper understanding of P vs. NP next time we talk. If not, at least I'll have a better sense of how much my brain has petrified in recent years.

Worth noting: There's some cool stuff on plants and origami and much more in here.

[sporadiceagleheart]

Thursday edits for angels surrounded by angels Shan'ann Cathryn Rzucek and Bella&Nico and CeCe, Candela Sol Rodriguez, Alyssa Jane West, Emma Nicole Speer, Avielle Richman, Ava Jordan Wood, Leiliana Wright, Saffie-Rose Brenda Roussos, Lily Peters, Olivia Pratt Korbel, Sara Sharif, Charlotte Figi, Jersey Dianne Bridgeman, Lucy Morgan, Mercedes Losoya, Norah Lee Howard, Sloan Mattingly, Audrii Cunningham, Judith Barsi and Heather O'Rourke, Makenna Lee Elrod Seiler, Eliahna Torres, Jackie Cazares, Mary E. Sullivan, Olivia Grace Thompson, Lester Stillwell, Alexis Brianne “Lexi” Stempien, Blake Lee Stafford, Emma Grace Stacks, Kelly Doyle Sparks, Christy Lea Sparks, Kelsey Shelton Smith-Briggs, Michael Daniel Smith, Alexander Tyler “Alex” Smith, Laura Ashley Skinner, James Asa Rudder, Ashley Nicole Romer, Jennifer Jailene Rodriguez, Angel Divine Randall, Miakailah Renee Ramsey-Franklin, JonBenét Ramsey, Kelli Shay Powell, Allyceea Mabel Brynne Ennis, Janet Carol Pierick, Patricia Sue Phillips, Pete Peterson I, Kaitlyn Nikol Pukatsch Parsons, Cheyenne Rose “Chey Chey” Newton, Emanuel Wesley Murray Jr., Maud H. Munn, Doris Denise Milner, Bruce Edward Miller, Ruby Miller, Lucille Miller, Gwenyth Marie McWethy, Natallie Elizabeth McNelly, Minnie E. McKendrick, Bradley Gene McGee, Joanne Ena Lynn, Jessica Marie Lunsford, Brittani Lynn LaFollette, Eva Gladys “Gladys” Kincaid, Elisa Izquierdo, James Alan Ray Hubbard, Catherine Violet Hubbard, Janessa Micheala “Nessie” Horner, Nina Viktoria “Tori” Bashenova Hilt, Angela Dawn Harter, Michelle Heather Guse, Lori Lee Farmer, Anna Katherine Grudziecke, Edith Clare “Edie” Grierson, Aiyana Emily Gauvin, Thomas Edwards Gallagher, Gerald Alfred Gaddy, Annie L Foster, Leah Foster Whitacre, Julie Alliot, Rowan Damia Ford, Kathy Fiscus, Mary Ruth Davis, Ettie E. Davis, Joan Angela D'Alessandro, Tessara Kate “Tessa” Crespi, Samantha Joy “Sammie” Crespi, Nina Craigmiles, Lacy Cheyenne Cook, Eleanor Emily Cook, Edward Parsons Cook, Dakoda James Clapper, Nevaeh Amyah Buchanan, Hayley Renae Reasor Briggs, Noelle Elizabeth Braun, Skylar Mark Brady, Edna Louise Blank, Celeste Elizabeth Berg, Teri Earlene Bender, Katherine Marie “Kathy” Beets, Barbara Ann Barnes, Bessie Barker, Baylee Almon, Marivel Mercedez Alvarez, Jessica Anders, Elli Grace Perez-Speer, Adilynn Holmes Speer, Anniston Noel Speer, Ciara Nicole Floyd, Nelani Ciara Koefer, Jade Nicole Simmons, Elizabeth Ann Byrd, Story Wren Worth, Abigail Elizabeth “Abby” Fedosoff, Kezia Mason, Isabella Sara “Bella” Tennant, Avery Lana Linda Brown, Sadako Sasaki, Sarah McKayla Brooks, Jessica Scatterson,Jessica Marie Bock, Layla Salazar, Emma Catherine Grace Thompson,

[stoneantler]

The best graphic novels I read in 2023 in no particular order:

Shubeik Lubeik by Deena Mohamed trans. Deena Mohamed Keeping Two by Jordan Crane Tomie by Junji Ito Panther by Brecht Evens trans. Laura Watkinson Stone Fruit by Lee Lai The Tenderness of Stones by Marion Fayolle trans. Geoffrey Brock Uzumaki by Junji Ito Letter to Survivors by Gébé trans. Edward Gauvin The Daughters of Ys by M.T. Anderson and Jo Rioux

[expendablemudge]

AND MANKIND CREATED THE GODS, graphic storytelling in a very very important cause via PSU Press's Graphic Mundi imprint got all 5 stars from me here:

[davidrault]

Edward Gauvin, l'excellent traducteur de ma prose pour le livre ABCD de la Typographie (Gallimard, 2018, puis Self Made Hero, 2019), vient de parler (en très bien) du livre dans sa sélection des 5 meilleures bandes dessinées européennes, pour le blog Five Books. Un très grand merci à lui ! (article en ligne ici)

Edward Gauvin, the excellent translator of my prose for the book ABC of Typography (Gallimard, 2018, then Self Made Hero, 2019), has just spoken (very highly) of the book in his selection of the 5 best European comics, for the Five Books blog. Many thanks to him! (article online here)

[tastebuds1]

Working closely with publisher Casterman and Moebius Production, Dark Horse now brings you Numa Sadoul's landmark interviews with Jean "Moebius" Giraud. The master reflects on his many lives as an artist and man, from his Heavy Metal breakthrough era to a year before his untimely passing.

Numa Sadoul--whose exclusive fourteen-hour interview with Hergé in 1971 was the basis of the 2003 documentary Tintin and I--is known for his book-length conversations with such major comics figures as Jacques Tardi, André Franquin (Spirou), and Albert Uderzo (co-creator of Astérix). Edward Gauvin, translator of over three hundred graphic novels, brings us Sadoul's English-language debut, as he explores the mind of the maestro Mœbius.

[bookclub4m]

Episode 186 - Suspense Fiction

This episode we’re discussing the fiction genre of Suspense! We talk about crime, mysteries, horror, and even suspense!

You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.

In this episode

Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Jam Edwards

Things We Read (or tried to…)

Ascension by Nicholas Binge

The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023 edited by Lisa Unger and Steph Cha

Malice by Keigo Higashino

Dead Woman Walking by Sharon J. Bolton

Alice in Borderland by Haro Aso (Wikipedia)

Night Fever by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips

Reckless by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips

A Solitude of Wolverines by Alice Henderson

Read But Not Mentioned

Find Me by Anne Fraser

Ghost Eaters by Clay McLeod Chapman

The Midnight Line: Jack Reacher #22 by Lee Child

The Phantom Scientist by Robin Cousin, translated by Edward Gauvin

Wyrd, vol. 1 by Curt Pires and Antonio Fuso

Colorless, vol 1 by Kent

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Kiss the Girls and Make Them Cry by Mary Higgins Clark

Other Media We Mentioned

Scalped by Jason Aaron, R.M. Guera, and others 

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft (Wikipedia)

Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube by Blair Braverman

Small Game by Blair Braverman

Links, Articles, and Things

Hark! Podcast

Category:Fiction about death games (Wikipedia)

What Matthew described as “escape room fiction”

Final girl (Wikipedia)

20 Suspense Novels by BIPOC Authors

Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.

The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji

Dirty Laundry by Disha Bose

A Person of Interest by Susan Choi

When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole

Sleeping with Strangers by Eric Jerome Dickey

The Between by Tananarive Due

Shutter by Ramona Emerson

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

We Lie Here by Rachel Howzell Hall

The Mantis by Kotaro Isaka

My Sweet Girl by Amanda Jayatissa

The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok

Are You Sara? by S.C. Lalli

Cherish Farrah by Bethany C. Morrow

The Man in My Basement by Walter Mosley

Ride or Die by Gail-Agnes Musikavanhu

Fish Swimming in Dappled Sunlight by Riku Onda, translated by Alison Watts

Sinister Graves by Marcie R. Rendon

There Should Have Been Eight by Nalini Singh

In the Dark We Forget by Sandra S.G. Wong

Give us feedback!

Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!

Check out our Tumblr, follow us on Instagram, join our Facebook Group, or send us an email!

Join us again on Tuesday, December 19th it’s time for our Favourite Reads of 2023!

Then on Tuesday, January 2nd it’s time for trains, planes, and automobiles (and bicycles) as we discuss non-fiction books about Transit and Transportation!

[graphicpolicy]

Get a look at The Tribute by Snowpiercer creators Benjamin Legrand and Jean-Marc Rochette

Get a look at The Tribute by Snowpiercer creators Benjamin Legrand and Jean-Marc Rochette #comics #comicbooks #graphicnovel

[wishmachines]

It stops. Its eyes are black, enormous, cold and well-meaning. Or, rather, absolutely not human, so well-meaning then.

Its antlers shine softly. Incandescence that makes me blink.

I’m human and not the slightest bit well-meaning.

I take aim.

My gun is effective.

The stag looks at me and then rears up on its hind legs. Standing there, larger than life, more than 3 meters tall, antlers included.

It utters deep, guttural sounds. I tell myself that if a tree could talk it would sound like that.

The stag lowers its front legs, then walks off, turning its back on me and leaving me alone.

Obviously I didn’t shoot. I weep.

— Jean-Luc André d’Asciano, “The First Tree in the Forest” (translated by Edward Gauvin)

[universitybookstore]

Georges Blondeau, also known as Gébé, was a frequent contributor to Le Square's magazines Hara-Kiri, Hara-Kiri Hebdo and Charlie Hebdo. He died in 2004. Now available for the first time in an English translation from Edward Gauvin and New York Review Comics, a dark comic fable of a post-apocalyptic postal worker, Letter to Survivors, by Gébé.

[newvesselpress]

MOVING THE PALACE, the novel by Charif Majdalani exquisitely rendered into English by Edward Gauvin, has been long listed for the National Translation Award. The New York Times calls the book "a Middle Eastern heart-of-darkness tale that flows like a dream ... crackling with razor-sharp humor."

https://literarytranslators.wordpress.com/2018/07/16/announcing-the-2018-national-translation-award-in-poetry-and-prose-longlists/

[thecomicon]

Fighting To Bring More Green To Cities: Previewing 'Guerilla Green' OGN

Fighting To Bring More Green To Cities: Previewing ‘Guerilla Green’ OGN

For fans of Relish: My Life In The Kitchen comes a new original graphic novel from the team of Cookie Kalkair & Ophélie Damblé. Translated to English by Edward Gauvin, with letters by Jim Campbell, Guerilla Green OGN drops from BOOM! Studios’ BOOM! Box imprint this Wednesday, April 21, 2021.  ‘A thirty year old city-dweller has joined the guerilla gardening movement fighting for decades to bring…

[exhaled-spirals]

« It is customary to establish reality before disrupting it, but some works are uncertain from the get-go. We all know that voice, of contemplation or reserve, into which madness gradually leaches, or in which it is revealed to have been lurking all along — the idea of a weird tale being to leave us without a place to stand, or a leg to do it on, before the vast, malign indifference. Still, there are stories where our first step falls not on firm ground, but on sand at the water’s edge. And already the tides, rushing out, are robbing us of foothold.

The water’s edge, that porous border, is a good place to start with Eugène Savitzkaya: a creature of limens, spaces of detente, unlikely juxtapositions. [...] Another feature might be emphasis on language: meticulous, painstaking emphasis, the sense that at every moment the entire work hinges on, lives or dies by the next word choice, the syllable-by-syllable propagation of some established rhythm. It’s not that the prose is abstract — in fact, it is often exceedingly concrete, blunt, simple, stripped of metaphor and complex syntax — but that (as in Evenson, Butler, or even Beckett) something has been subtracted from it, making us work harder for a fuller picture of what is being described. The result is a certain destabilization, dislocation, an alienation that does not distance you so much from the text as lock you alone inside it. Hence the usual adjectives: hallucinatory, intense, incantatory… the feel and unease of Weird.

Consider the opening paragraph of Savitzkaya’s short eulogy “In Memory of Tabacchino,” in the latest issue of Anomalous:

Tabacchino was a child. Tabacchino was a dormouse. Tabacchino was a dog, a bird, a squirrel, an almond tree, a living being. Child, dog, dormouse, bird, squirrel, or almond tree, he breathed, drank water, had a clean smell, a unique charm, and grew old. He bore inside him sap that flowed groundward through openings planned and improvised. The wind would muss his hair, rumple him, refresh and sometimes torment him. The first Tabacchino to get the coup de grâce was the almond tree: drought, then woodcutters. They wept then, lovers of almonds, the child first among them. No one could put the tree back as it had been. The dormouse, terrified by an owl, succumbed to a heart attack, rotted, and was scattered to the winds. Not the slightest sign of that bird in the skies now. Seek the dog’s grave in vain. Then came the child’s turn: crushed, ground, and scattered.

What, exactly, is Tabacchino? All of these things? None of them? Is he really a man; are these merely metaphorical comparisons? And if so, are his transformations meant as fable? If this is allegory, where is the key? (One might also dismiss this as “poetry.”)

[...] We cling to every word as if to handholds in a rock face, because at every moment we have no idea what to expect. In the absence of conventionally established expectations, anything is possible. Every word defers the promise of sense; in fact this creeping progress is Savitzkaya’s narrative drive. Story lies in smithereens. This is narrative atomized, moving forward by crumbs; we can see no further than the next word, focus yoked to this infinitesimal progress, like a tile in a vast mosaic, a scrutiny of minutiae, while all around us is a spreading sensation of alarm that the bigger picture, could we but see it, is quite terrifying. »

— Edward Gauvin, Experiments with Weird: Eugène Savitzkaya, in Weird Fiction Review