Remembrance of Things Past

    (NBM)
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Some comics fans may never have heard of French writer Marcel Proust. Proust is an author whose work is not easily read, at least not without a dictionary at one’s side; it’s not so much composed as it is painted with words, from an immense palette with a vocabulary so large that it challenges even literate readers. But his stories are also vivid with poetic imagery and beg for artistic interpretation. And Stephane Heuet’s adaptation is every bit as vivid as the source material.

With its fine-tuned detail and lush colors, this graphic novel brings Proust’s story to life in a way that mere words, no matter how lavishly used, cannot. And it’s even an enhancement, because, despite the richly worded prose, the subject matter is dry and mundane. Heuet’s well-researched visuals bring a much-needed splash of beauty to this autobiographical story from Proust’s teen years about a journey with his grandmother through several cities in turn-of-the-century France.

This isn’t casual reading but it shouldn’t be missed, because it’s a superb example of a great artist interpreting the work of a great writer.

— Jim Johnson
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