Asterios Polyp...

What a wonderful graphic novel. Asterios Polyp by David Mazzuchelli.

The story isn't entirely linear, and it's about a lot of things. It's about the life of Asteriosr Polyp, an architect and university professor, and his relationship with his wife, seen in retrospect after he loses everything and goes to the midwest to become a car mechanic with a kind man, his chain-smoking astrologist wife, and their crazy kid.

It's about his non-existent twin brother, who died in the womb,and who shadows and observes the life it never got.

It's about dualism, and dichotomy, and how marriages are built, or come apart.

It's about philosophy, and different types of vision; different types or art; about paying attention.

It's a story about breaking things apart to see how they work, and the difficulty of putting them back together.



And it isn't just about its plot and themes. The art speaks volumes: sometimes by contrasting styles, sometimes by echoing its subject in placement and form, sometimes by repeating themes.



A clever book, a thoughtful book. David Mazzucchelli put everything into it, and the result is one of the most intelligent and thought-provoking graphic narratives I have ever read. And it manages not to be judgemental or pretentious.

It seems to work from every side of the brain.