kitsuchi (![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} kitsuchi) wrote,@ 2008-06-14 23:24:00 |
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The Savage, David Almond and Dave McKean
The book I was most excited to see in store today was The Savage, by David Almond, and illustrated by Dave McKean. Me being the ginormous McKean fangirl that I am*. It's a graphic novel, format-wise quite similar to Isobelle Carmody's Dreamwalker, illustrated by Steven Woolman (I know, I know, which won't mean anything to most people, but it's a great book). There's the story, and then there's the story within the story.
In Dreamwalker, the protagonist is illustrating a comic book based off a nightmare; in The Savage, he's writing a story, as part of a way of dealing with his father's death. In both, some pages have panels, some are simply illustrated text. In both, what's been written turns out to be not-just-a-story - the protagonists interact with their characters, and finish the story together.
Asides from the structure and the format, the tales don't have much in common though. (I got sick of saying 'story'.) In The Savage, the protagonist, Blue is writing about a wild boy, unconstrained by society, but also having to learn love. And as the boy does so, Blue is able to come to terms with his father's death, and to come closer to his remaining family. Also, the Savage scares the hell out of the boy who bullies him.
I'm sure the librarians and teachers will have great fun with this 'sophisticated picture book', for it is ripe for dissection. Because, you know, it has issues. (The Dreamwalker has themes, but not issues.)
It has 'issues', but I won't hold that against it. It's a story well told, and sympathetically illustrated - the adults tell Blue that the bully is really trying to hide his own weakness and insecurities, as you do, but in McKean's illustrations you can see that. And are just plain gorgeous besides, perfectly toned for the story. The palette might be melancholy greens-and-blues, but it's not at all angsty. Instead it's sensitive and affecting, and beautifully presented. Lovely.
* I bought a book about ninja cats simply for his illustrations. Turned out to be a very good book about ninja cats, and I bought the sequel not-just-for-the-illustrations. Varjak Paw FTW!
The book I was most excited to see in store today was The Savage, by David Almond, and illustrated by Dave McKean. Me being the ginormous McKean fangirl that I am*. It's a graphic novel, format-wise quite similar to Isobelle Carmody's Dreamwalker, illustrated by Steven Woolman (I know, I know, which won't mean anything to most people, but it's a great book). There's the story, and then there's the story within the story.
In Dreamwalker, the protagonist is illustrating a comic book based off a nightmare; in The Savage, he's writing a story, as part of a way of dealing with his father's death. In both, some pages have panels, some are simply illustrated text. In both, what's been written turns out to be not-just-a-story - the protagonists interact with their characters, and finish the story together.
Asides from the structure and the format, the tales don't have much in common though. (I got sick of saying 'story'.) In The Savage, the protagonist, Blue is writing about a wild boy, unconstrained by society, but also having to learn love. And as the boy does so, Blue is able to come to terms with his father's death, and to come closer to his remaining family. Also, the Savage scares the hell out of the boy who bullies him.
I'm sure the librarians and teachers will have great fun with this 'sophisticated picture book', for it is ripe for dissection. Because, you know, it has issues. (The Dreamwalker has themes, but not issues.)
It has 'issues', but I won't hold that against it. It's a story well told, and sympathetically illustrated - the adults tell Blue that the bully is really trying to hide his own weakness and insecurities, as you do, but in McKean's illustrations you can see that. And are just plain gorgeous besides, perfectly toned for the story. The palette might be melancholy greens-and-blues, but it's not at all angsty. Instead it's sensitive and affecting, and beautifully presented. Lovely.
* I bought a book about ninja cats simply for his illustrations. Turned out to be a very good book about ninja cats, and I bought the sequel not-just-for-the-illustrations. Varjak Paw FTW!