A soft, slow and quotidian walk through the story of a man's life. The magic of this book is how it steadily envelopes you -- I'm still not sure how -- with snapshots of ordinary life and snatches of ordinary conversation so that you get to feel that you really know the man, Roland, and come to love all his quirks and bad temper and magnanimous spirit and love for his grandchildren, just as if you've really known him all your life, so that by the end of the book you are crying real tears of loss.A lovely, heartfelt tale told with a bareness and honesty that gives the story its intimacy. I love all of the Paul books - they're some of my favorite comics, something I eagerly look forward to the next translated volume of. I love the clear line style, and the bittersweet union of nostalgic reminiscences about the past and honest slices of modern life. They're all touching in a very enjoyable way, but this one got to me far more - I was moved to tears more than once, and while attempting to read the final pages I had to put the book down several times to collect myself to keep going. Maybe it's my current mental state, or my secret and mostly concealed concerns about my own aging parents, or just the quality of the work here that evoked this, but it affected me more than most graphic works ever have. Very powerful, very moving. I realize the odds are slim, but if someone were to create something like this in memory of me after I die, I think I'd consider myself to have lived a worthwhile life.But, just so no one thinks that emotion has overwhelmed the geek in me, I'll close with this - every other volume is in this series is called "Paul Does... Something" - "Paul Gets A Summer Job," "Paul Rides The Subway," "Paul Moves Out"... I believe that the original French-language version of this was called "Paul a Quebec." So, calling this "The Song of Roland" in English - I get the reference to the classic French poem about the great hero Roland, yes. But, how many of the English readers are familiar with that, as opposed the French-speaking readers? And when the rest of the series follows that same pattern of titling that this originally did, why deviate from it with this volume? I don't know - I'd just... rather this had been called "Paul In Quebec." I know that the content doesn't change with regards to the title, but I think that the impact of it in that context - as another chapter in the title character's life, showing the impact that someone close's life and death had on him - to me that might have been more appropriate.
What do You think about The Song Of Roland (2009)?
such a lovely comic about death. got me all verklempt.
—jas
C'est bon, mais ça tombe un peu à pic vers la fin
—balloons
