Asterios Polyp

by David Mazzucchelli, Francesco Pacifico (Translator)

A cinquant'anni Asterios Polyp, celebre e brillante architetto, ha perso tutto. Il suo matrimonio con la giovane scultrice Hana è andato in pezzi, la sua casa è stata distrutta da un incendio. Per ricominciare fugge nell'anonimato, in una cittadina della profonda provincia americana, dove trova un lavoro come meccanico per auto. Parte da qui l'atteso capolavoro di David Mazzucchelli: un graphic novel realizzato nel corso di dieci anni, che a partire da un singolo personaggio allarga lo sguardo fino agli orizzonti e ai temi universali del grande romanzo americano. Come avviene in scrittori quali Pynchon, De Lillo, Philip Roth, alle cui opere questo libro è stato paragonato. Architetto "di carta", progettista di splendidi edifici mai realizzati, Asterios si trova a confrontare la sua arida razionalità con il caos dei sentimenti e degli affetti e la confusione della vita vera.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Bande Dessinée, Comic Book, Art

344 pages, Hardcover

First published July 7, 2009

About the author

David Mazzucchelli has been making comics his whole life. Known chiefly for his collaborations - with Frank Miller on seminal Batman and Daredevil stories, and with Paul Karasik on an adaptation of Paul Auster's novel, City of Glass - he began publishing his own stories in 1991 in his anthology magazine, Rubber Blanket. Since then his short comics have been published in books and magazines around the world. Asterios Polyp is his first graphic novel, and has won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and been listed as a New York Times notable book.

Reviews

[Orsodimondo · Rating 5 out of 5]

LIFE IS STRESSFUL, THAT'S WHY THEY SAY ‘REST IN PEACE’



David Mazzucchelli ha già una lunga carriera alle spalle (anche i supereroi Marvel!!) quando inizia a dedicarsi a questa sua prima graphic novel, per realizzare la quale impiegherà dieci anni.

Asterios, proprio come Elvis Presley, ha un fratello gemello morto alla nascita, Ignacio, di cui scopre l’esistenza solo molti anni dopo. Questa storia è narrata dal gemello morto col quale Asterios tende qua e là a sovrapporsi, identificarsi, scambiarsi. Da qui l’ossessione di Asterios, per binomi duplicazioni appaiamenti.



Asterios è un architetto di carta, cioè un teorico: non ha mai costruito nulla, mai visto realizzarsi concretamente nulla di quanto ha disegnato e progettato.
Ha cultura vasta ed eclettica, insegna in una prestigiosa cattedra universitaria a Ithaca (upstate New York), ed è alla ricerca (teoria) di un ordine (teorico) sia esteriore che interiore
Mazzucchelli lo disegna con il cranio che sembra un rostro (di una nave, ma anche un qualche tipo di lama) e sembra la testa adatta al tagliente sarcasmo che Asterios sfoggia e adopra per segnare e sottolineare il suo distacco.



Il matrimonio con Hana, una scultrice di origine giapponese, dovrebbe aiutare Asterios a trovare quel senso pratico, quel contatto diretto con la realtà che sembra mancargli.
Ma così non avviene, e Hana prende il largo una volta che comprende che la corazza-carapace di Asterios non è penetrabile, e neppure scalfibile.
Dopo la separazione, alla soglia dei cinquanta anni, la sua vita perde altri pezzi: anzi, va letteralmente in pezzi la notte in cui il suo appartamento prende fuoco e dall’incendio riesce a recuperare solo tre oggetti, un accendino, un orologio, un coltellino svizzero.
Man mano, lungo il suo road trip, rinuncerà a ciascuno di questi oggetti, se ne libererà donandoli, completerà lo smantellamento dell’armatura esistenziale che lo ha protetto (ma anche isolato) fin qui, alleggerendosi e riuscendo finalmente a venire a patti col lato pratico delle cose, e quindi della vita. Crescendo, diventando migliore.



Fin qui si direbbe niente di eccezionale, tutto già sentito, un bildungsroman abbastanza classico (anche se alla fine io mi sono chiesto: ma Asterios Polyp non è anche un esempio di Grande Romanzo Americano?)
Solo che Mazzucchelli è il Thomas Pynchon del fumetto: ergo, sa trasformare una storia già nota in un’avventura unica.
Come?

Prima di tutto col disegno.


Questa graphic novel è un autentico manuale per capire e studiare il mondo dei fumetti: chirurgicamente Mazzucchelli disseziona la tavola del disegno, smonta tavola e disegno, pezzo per pezzo, in un continuo viaggio fuori e dentro le forme, i contenuti, le sequenze, gli stili estetici, giocando da una parte con l’uso dei colori e dall’altra con la (s)composizione della stessa pagina.
Aggiungiamo che gioca anche col lettering, assegnandone uno per personaggio e mutandolo a secondo degli stati d’animo.
Il layout del libro è cangiante, proteiforme, flessibile, incessantemente gradevole, mai soffocante. Molte delle sue pagine hanno una composizione aperta: vignette e figure fluttuano libere nell’ampia pagina bianca, quasi respirassero più profondamente. Le vignette sono separate – in sostanza disaccoppiate – anziché sostenersi a vicenda adiacenti l’una all’altra come nella consueta struttura a griglia.



Ma anche la storia è arricchita di innesti: Calvino, Nietzsche, Joyce, Shakespeare, Hegel, Hesse, Escher, Parmenide, Bakunin, il cubismo, i pitagorici, ontologia, morale, estetica, cinema, psicanalisi, astrologia, religione, e sopra tutto, il mito di Orfeo.

Paradigma del superamento della frontiera tra cultura alta e bassa, Asterios Polyp è un’autentica torta a più strati: sfogli, osservi, leggi, risfogli, rileggi. Una miniera di dettagli, da scoprire a poco a poco.



Ma ciò che davvero libera questo graphic novel dall’occludente severità del formalismo è il modo canzonatorio e dirompente con cui Mazzecchelli affronta la questione dei sistemi e delle astrazioni (di ogni tipo). Innanzitutto ‘Asterios Polyp’ è la tollerante storia di un essere umano non priva di una salutare diffidenza verso gli assolutismi formali. Sebbene tratti di una mente – di un uomo – dedita/o alla spasmodica ricerca di una pura logica, un uomo per cui le astrazioni surclassano l’esperienza di vita diretta, fortunatamente il libro non cede alla tentazione di rifugiarsi in un oscuro ermetismo. In effetti il romanzo è una satira perfettamente elaborata di un certo tipo di pensiero: dialettico, lineare, polarizzante, sistematizzante, architettonico, acutamente estraniato ed incorporeo. Asterios, ci viene detto, ha un’incontenibile fascinazione per le astrazioni, in particolare per gli equilibri, i contrappesi, la dialettica e l’analisi lineare dello spazio. Ha altresì, come sappiamo una personalissima ossessione per i doppi che dà forma alle ricerche intellettuali del suo pensiero cosciente.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really beautiful, smart and heart-touching story of an architecture professor who, when he is 50, learns better.

It ought to be a five star review, but I kept feeling like the moment the whole thing came together it would be one of the best graphic novels anyone had ever done and one of the finest stories ever told... and it reached the end and left me feeling that had it all come together - perhaps had it been much longer - it would have been amazing, and as it was it was simply astonishingly good...

[Seth T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Asterios Polyp is a daunting experience. Or maybe not so much the reading, which can be accomplished easily enough, but the being able to speak sensibly about it afterward. I feel kind of like how I did after finishing 2666 , only not quite so out of my depth. Like Bolaño, Mazzucchelli's work here displays a breadth and depth that overtly requires multiple readings in order find ground solid enough to speak with any authority about the book.

But since I've only read the book once, you'll have to be satisfied with my initial thoughts. Asterios Polyp is, in the simplest terms, a coming-of-age story—one in which the fifty-year-old lead, celebrated architect Asterios Polyp, begins a quest to put away the childish things of his past and embarks on journey of both self-discovery and exploration of the world as it is rather than how he has intended to see it for so long. In this aspect, Asterios reminded me of Mr. Ryder from Ishiguro's The Unconsoled , a man at the top of his rarefied field who still must learn to grow up. And like Ryder, Asterios suffers from an inability to see the world as it is and is (really, like us all) victim to his own perceptions.

Reality, perception, and memory play a huge role in Mazzucchelli's work here even as they do in everything I've yet read by Ishiguro.

On top of this is layered the framework of Greek tragedy and specific allusion to the myth of Orpheus (this is pointed out through fistfuls of overt clues, not the least of which is a dream in which Asterios takes the role of Orpheus and his ex-wife Hana embodies Eurydice). We get narrative explanations from a meta-source in the Greek choral tradition. Comparisons to Dionysus and Apollo lead to an evaluation of dualistic systems (and perhaps systems generally) as Asterios gradually must free himself from systemic shackles in order to finally grow up. Of course we suspect if Asterios abandons one aspect he will be destroyed even as Orpheus was for abandoning Dionysus. As well, there are plenty of references to The Odyssey and this cross-pollination of mythologies only serves to enrich our experience of Asterios' journey.

The subject matter, by its summary, sounds simple enough but Mazzucchelli throws so much into this piece and exercises such deft control over the page that one can easily drown in the details. The art is very particular. Much is made of Mazzucchelli's use of colour through the book and, well, with good reason. The colouring itself offers storytelling that is available through no other means. In fact, so occasionally powerful is his use of colour that I worry for colourblind readers, that they might miss out on some of the book's more sublime moments.

On top of Mazzucchelli's tight reign over his colour spectrum, there is ample evidence that he maintains the same level of control over his linework and design. Asterios Polyp is a thoroughly designed experience, with every element from script to story to illustration to panel design to colouration to control of whitespace adding voice to the chorus of this performance. The battle between geometric and organic shapes gives the reader (who may not be familiar with all the names and ideas Asterios or his ghostly narrator reference) a hook on which to hang the interpreter's hat. One's experience of Asterios Polyp will no doubt be more enriched by a working knowledge of architectural history, familiarity with Greek mythology and Homeric tradition, and a smackerel of understanding of postmodern sculpture—but Mazzucchelli's conveyance of story through his visual sense means that even those with Asterios-sized gaps in their education can still get in there and have some deeper sense of what's going on.

As of this writing, I have only read Asterios Polyp once. Of course I still have questions. Of course I do. I think I understand the ending, but I'd like to reread and think on it again. I think I understand why he physically takes on the identity of his true last name in the book's final act (Polyp is only half his original surname, as the immigration official chopped in half the family name when his father immigrated to America). I sometimes understand what Mazzuchelli intends with his character names and sometimes not. I have the barest kernel of an idea why Mazzuchelli, in a mature work that depicts nudity and violence, insists on representing verbal obscenity with cartoony symbolic representation (e.g. "We made up a $#@*load of these"). I don't yet fully grasp Asterios' Ignazio dreams. I am certain, however, that many of these things will become more clear on subsequent readings.

As I said, I have only read Asterios Polyp once. And I can't wait to change that fact.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 5 out of 5]

My original review, 8/25/2012:

One of a few genius books I have read in graphic novels, one of the great ones. And improbably, about a theoretical architect! To really appreciate this one, you may have to BE an artist, because much if the story is told in and through form, color, and design, as may be appropriate to the story of an archtect. The work is done by a superhero artist, who for years has labored in the superhero artist background (well, consider the sourcem but one clear exception to my claim is that David Mazzucchelli is the illustrator of Batman One, written by Frank Miller, one of the greatest Batman comics ever, an artists's edition of which won an Eisner in 8/25).

Mazzucchelli breaks out in his own brilliant direction, indie/art-comics, philosophically grounded and in a style not dermined by DC's Big House. I understand it took several years to produce, too. You know, you have this almost completely unlikeable character, Asterios, who sees the world from a very logical perspective, very limited to Reason, enlightenment-based modernism, very controlling, brilliant academic, and his life has fallen apart. But in this process, the people he encounters, the situations he lives through, they profoundly affect him, I mean emotionally, and his life makes this turn, broadens out, revisioning his life.

[Oriana · Rating 5 out of 5]

book #9 for Jugs & Capes!

Also: this is my second review for CCLaP, and my first in a year-long series reviewing graphic novels. W00t!

***

This is the first in an essay series I'll be doing for CCLaP called "Jugs & Capes," where I look at graphic novels from a girl's point of view. I'm not going to say a "feminist" point of view, because I think that's a complicated word, one which any thinking woman has a complicated relationship with. And as I haven't got any kind of background in gender studies or feminist theory, I don't feel comfortable talking about what feminists think of this book or that one. I do, however, feel quite comfortable talking about what I think about something, so in this series I will happily do just that.

Asterios Polyp is a lush, fascinating, complex book. But it's that brilliant kind of complex which can be enjoyed on many levels, like Lolita, say, or The Metamorphosis, where, if you'd like, you can derive great enjoyment from the story on the surface, without doing a whole lot of delving. Or, if you're so inclined, you can peel back layers and study the symbolism and wordplay and big ideas, thus gaining a fuller, more multifaceted understanding of this deeply layered text.

We meet Asterios Polyp in the middle of a lightning storm. He is rumpled and exhausted, lying in bed in his luxurious but extremely messy apartment, watching what we assume to be pornography (we hear what is being said, but do not see the picture). Then a blinding flash of lightning illuminates the entire page, and we see that Asterios's building has caught fire. He makes a desperate search of his rooms, grabbing a few small items--a lighter, a pocketknife, and a watch--and dashes out into the storm. Over two lurid pages, we watch his apartment burn.

After this dramatic introduction, we begin to get to know Asterios. He is an architecture professor, but a "paper architect," meaning that none of his designs have ever been built. He has always been something of an aloof genius. He had a twin brother who died in the womb, and who will be our narrator throughout the book. He was married to a sculptor and fellow professor named Hana.

Asterios stands in the rain for a little while, watching his apartment burn, and then he goes to the Greyhound station and buys a ticket that costs everything he has in his walled. He rides until he gets to a small town, where he takes a job as a mechanic, and rents a room from his boss, a big man who lives with his voluptuous wife and their pudgy son. Asterios settles into small-town life, building a treehouse with his boss, discussing spirituality with his boss's wife, going to see a local band in a local bar. Everything he does is tinged with melancholy, with regret. Asterios is clearly running away from his past, but also trying to make some sense of it. The story opens out and out, in short vignettes, the present interspersed with flashbacks, dreams, and meandering philosophical asides.

Everything about Asterios Polyp is dense, and slow, and meticulously planned and executed. It is easily the most beautiful graphic novel I've ever seen. Each vignette has a specific palate, most using only two or three colors at a time--in fact, it isn't until the book's very last chapter that Mazzucchelli uses full four-color spreads--and there is no black in the book at all. Each character's speech is written in a unique font, one which is clearly representative of that person's personality. The story itself is full and rich, the characters multifaceted and real, and everything is augmented and reified by frequent digressions, both visual and described, on perception, human behavior, physics, philosophy, mythology, spirituality, metaphysics, and on and on.

The whole story is, of course, unraveling the mystery of Hana.

Early on, during an aside, Mazzucchelli presents a random group of people, each drawn in a different style and color, as a visual representation of how unique every person is. In the group (we find out later) is Hana, rendered in swirling, shadowy pink, and Asterios, in stark, angular blue. This turns out to be a running motif, and later, during Asterios and Hana's first meeting, his blue outlines begin to fill with pink haze, and her pink shadows become outlined in blue, until they both have nearly the same appearance. Much later, when they begin to argue, their realistic forms melt back into these elementals, he once again empty and blue, she returning to unbounded pink, demonstrating that, no matter how close two people can become, they are always, at heart, fundamentally strange to one another. This is of course terribly difficult to describe, and is a superb argument for the supremacy of the graphic novel form in this book.

On that subject, I will briefly describe another small section, one of the novel's most famous. It is an eight-page spread, with almost no words. The traditional panel structure is abandoned, in favor of three somewhat parallel rows of small boxes. The rows in the middle tell a consistent, simple story, wherein Hana has lost the puff of a Q-tip inside her ear, and has a mild panic until Asterios removes it with a tweezer. Above and below this throughline are a constellation of tiny instances of Hana's corporeal life: brushing her teeth, clipping her nails, shaving, vomiting, eating, dressing, undressing, masturbating, snoring, drinking, crying, laughing, leaving, smiling. It is one of the most stunning, affecting ways to render the memory of life's unnoticed moments, Asterios recalling Hana in all of her physical glory, beautiful and rumpled, joyful and sick, hungry and dirty. It is so humanizing, so plaintive, so shockingly mundane that it elevates Hana to something of a mythical plane. It's something that could never be done in prose, and to me it is the beating heart of the novel--echoed and augmented later by a pitch-perfect, harrowing, devastating, wordless dream sequence, which is rendered as an intricate dance opera.

I've read criticism of this book that takes the opposite view of the Hana montage, accusing Mazzucchelli as reducing her to a plot device, used merely to represent Asterios's development and emotional journey. But I think that's an unfair claim. Hana is a fully developed character--as is the book's whole supporting cast, most of whom are generally more sympathetically than Asterios himself. Certainly Hana is slightly romanticized, but this is a story told through a man who is desperately longing for the life--and the woman--he once had. I don't believe romanticization is inherently reductive, and I don't believe that Hana's character was secondary or subservient to Asterios's.

There is so much more to say about this dense, gorgeous, intricate book, but I've run out of space and steam. I couldn't recommend it more highly, though; this and Fun Home are the most astonishing graphic novels--and among the most astonishing books of any kind--I've ever come across.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't really understand the hype over this graphic novel. I thought it was boring - an educated, middle-aged white man feels like his life has fallen apart so he jumps ship and tries to start over again. Maybe I just found his self-absorbed personality too off-putting, but I didn't really feel any sympathy for him or care about his ideas about how the world works. In spite of the sadness in it, it all reads like an educated, middle-aged white man's fantasy: Asterios Polyp is world-renowned in his field, he spends his time womanizing but eventually a much younger half-Asian woman just can't resist him and marries him, and even when she leaves him and his apartment is destroyed in a fire, he is immediately able to land a job working at a car-repair shop on the strength of his answer to the question "You ever work on cars before?" - "A little." Then he goes and spends an hour at the library reading about car repair so that he can fake his way in his new job. Seriously? That's just insulting to anyone who actually works in that field.

[Chris_P · Rating 4 out of 5]

"What if reality (as perceived) were simply an extention of the self? Wouldn't that color the way each individual experiences the world?That might explain why some people get along so effortlessly, while others don't. Although people do keep trying.Yet, despite such predisposition, maybe one person's construction of the world, could influence someone else's."

Don't we all, at some point or another, find ourselves stuck in a certain state? We make friendships, fall in love, communicate in different ways, yet each and every one of us is a seperate universe. At least that's how we perceive ourselves. Trapped in our own, confined space, we make believe that there isn't more to it than that. And one day, you lose the one, be it by tragedy or negligence or even choice and suddenly the walls collapse and you come to the realization that what you thought you knew was actually a pile of crap on a hot, summer day. What you thought you felt was only a cover-up, a big black veil to hide the real deal which is now deep and long since unapproachable. But what if it is too late? What if there's not to be any other peaceful spring evening with you sitting next to her, holding hands and trying to determine which smell is stronger and sweeter, the night flowers' or hers? Will just a memory ever be enough?

"To live is to exist within a conception of time. But to remember is to vacate the very notion of time."

This is a really unique and carefully made graphic novel. Everything is relevant. The colors, the fonts, the shape of the bubbles, you name it. Masterfully crafted, multi-dimensional characters and a simple, yet deep story make this graphic novel a small diamond of the genre. What I liked most was the fact that it was gripping, yet totally realistic. No superhero, no magic spells, just life, love and philosophy. I also loved the ending because it allowed me to totally relate to the whole concept.

Deep, moving, sweet and apparently unforgettable. 4/5

[MJ Nicholls · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first proper graphic novel I’ve read! This was such a beautiful and heartbreaking piece of work, it’ll be nigh on impossible to top it. It is rich in glorious meditation, comedy, irony and romance, weaving deep questions of binary opposites, architectural philosophy, life-the universe-and-everything around a dissolving relationship story. I don’t have the vocab or knowledge to comment on the artwork’s nuances, but the artist subtly conveys shifting moods, attitudes, histories, metaphors and so on with clever little flourishes and lovingly precise ATD. Makes me want to abandon prose. Maybe those hip people murmuring in my ear were right, and this is the future of storytelling.

[Jimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I might have to read this one again to catch all the subtleties of the story. What's amazing about this graphic novel is that it is jam-packed with ideas, but most of the ideas are embedded in the art itself, and not in the words (some of it is in words, but it's like a riff that plays along with the visuals). At the same time, all these ideas do not in any way make it a gooey-dense landscape to slodge through. The book is such a pleasure to read, filled with so many wide open panels, so much white space, you will feel like you are standing on top of the Pyrenees.



In addition, the colors here are just amazing, usually playing with a very limited palette (see above). And the versatility of artistic styles he is able to employ, and always for a purpose. Different characters are drawn in different styles, different color schemes, and even different fonts in their speech bubbles. These tell you so much about each character. But he's able to pull it off without being too obvious or corny.

I'm stealing these images from Parka Blogs:







The story itself is very simple, but full of digressions, flashbacks, and dream-sequences. Ideas and themes circle and come back repeatedly in different forms. In terms of ideas, it's wonderfully complex and wonderfully simple at the same time. What I like about it is that it feels breezy. There was much humor in here as well, some of which made me laugh out loud. My favorite character was Willy Illium, who was drawn in the funniest way. I especially liked it when he was drawn as a little baby.





As far as the downsides: it is a graphic novel of ideas. As such, there is a feeling that the characters represent ideals that don't really exist in the real world. At times the characters seem very real (the dialogue is well written, and the bodily gestures are so well drawn, just spot on!), but at other times they seem like symbols only of bigger ideas. This can be a little frustrating--especially if you hope to connect with these characters. Also, it seems to push these characters into extreme corners, whereas I feel like they need more room to be complex characters, embodying many different ideas and contradictions. It seems like Asterio's problems with putting things into tidy either/or boxes is also an extension of David Mazzucchelli's same impulse. Perhaps he was writing about himself a little in that part.






*** MAJOR ***
*** SPOILERS ***
*** BELOW ***

It is a testament to how distancing the story is that at the end, when the asteroid destroys everyone (itself a pretty immature narrative device), I didn't feel shocked or anything. I know this is sounding harsh, but it really isn't if you read this without expecting to care much for the characters, but only to be stimulated by the visual representation of ideas.

More thoughts on the asteroid: yes, it didn't sit well with me. I can't decide if it's a really horrible idea or just a pretty bad idea. One thing is that it circles back to the theme of randomness and chance... why one brother lived, yet the other died. Here we have something with the asteroid, which would be the taking away of this brother's life, but in an more unlikely scenario. Is it just chance or was there a reason for it? Given all this, I still don't think it is justification enough for such an ending, because it really does make the whole book too obviously about ideas and ideas alone.

Let me know what your thoughts on this are.

[James Payne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pseudo-intellectual, middlebrow regurgitation of ostensibly interesting Wikipedia-culled dichotomies and philosophical conceptions, clunkily arranged into a narrative. I mean, I do not understand how this book received the praise it did. Bad, bad writing. One dimensional characterizations. I'm not sure what age group it was written for, surely not adults? It reminded me of Paul Krugman's sick burn, "Newt Gingrich is a stupid man's idea of what a smart person sounds like."

[Roberto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quando colori e grafica si trasformano in contenuti

Asterios Polyp è la storia di un uomo che all'età di cinquant'anni, per una serie di ragioni, decide di cambiare vita e cercare il senso della propria esistenza. In questa sorta di viaggio vediamo la ricerca interiore del protagonista attraverso i flashback dei momenti salienti della sua vita alternata allo svolgimento del suo presente.

Asterios è un architetto “di carta”, progettista di edifici mai realizzati, che deve continuamente confrontare la sua ordinata e rassicurante razionalità con il caos dei sentimenti e degli affetti.

E' ossessionato da una visione assolutamente dicotomica delle cose, che vengono viste sempre e comunque come distinte e in contrapposizione: marito e moglie, maschile e femminile, astratto e concreto, reale e ideale, architettura teorica verso quella creata, linea e forma, solido e liquido, presente e passato.

Questi due modi diversi di vedere il mondo, ordinato e caotico, reale e ideale, empatico e cinico si riflettono nei diversi comportamenti di Asterios e della moglie.
Inutile dire che alla fine del suo percorso di crescita Asterios virerà verso una visione meno razionale della vita...

Punto di forza molto importante è che il tutto sia rappresentato da efficaci dualismi di colori e grafica, blu e magenta per il passato, giallo per il presente, tratteggio o linea piena, prospettive che ci aiutano a comprendere meglio lo svolgimento della narrazione stessa. Perfino il font cambia per ciascun personaggio. Il risultato è un libro graficamente molto molto bello, in ogni suo dettaglio.

Cerebrale, sofisticato, interessante, affascinante e piacevolissimo da leggere. Incantato.

[Tom LA · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Just finished in one reading session this magical work of art. Together with "Daytripper", this is my all time favorite graphic novel. I don't have much to say about it, as I don't think I have rationalized it much yet: visually, it's extremely creative and exciting. Rich with inventions and ideas.

The story reminded me of a Chinese saying: "Two thirds of what we see is behind our eyes", and a lot of this novel is about that crucial aspect of human existence.

I see this as a love story, and - among many other things - a story about the communication challenges that we experience because of our differences. The way humans interact with each other is visualized with such elegance!

But what I loved the most is that this graphic novel has a living and breathing soul, a true soul that you can see much better in the second part. I found myself to be really moved towards the end. And also I think I found a certain kind of wisdom, that sees through selfish attitudes and behaviours as something that needs to be overcome and understood, in order to grow up.

Asterios and Hana are one of the most fascinating and real couples I've ever encountered in fiction. Bravo, David!! Straordinario!!

[Gregsamsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I so wish more graphic novelists did what Mazzucchelli did in this one. Rather than merely have the graphic element supplement the story, Asterios Polyp makes graphics a part of the theme, using it to highlight conflicts and characterize its protagonists.

Asterios Polyp is a critically respected and self-regarding "theoretical architect," meaning that he has created some prize-winning designs and plans--none of which has ever been built. The narrative structure is framed by the new more humble life he has set out to claim after his Manhattan apartment went up in flames, as we get his pre-disaster life through flashbacks.

The visual style used to contrast the small-town escape from his previously elite life are what you'd expect: curves, visual ellipses, and informal open-framed illustration versus squares, cubes, angles, and tight frame composition. In the latter (the NY flashbacks) we see the womanizer Asterios finally settle down with one woman, Hana, an age-inappropriate Japanese-American modernist artist in her own right whose star threatens to rise once she's asked to do the set design for an avant-garde production of Orpheus. This invitation is off-handedly dismissed by Asterios when he incorrectly assumes that it is directed to him; when Hana accepts, the beginning of the end of their relationship is signaled by his condescending self-superior attitude toward the director and the composer while Hana (finally) gets tired of his smug self-superiority, resulting in the eruption of some expressionist graphic explosions illustrating their fights. Hana as a distinct person fades into a blurred red approximation of herself while Asterios finds himself segmented into his constituent shapes, his arms jointed cylinders, his torso and head crude blocks.

These graphic experiments set themselves off distinctly from the depiction of the small-town life Asterios has settled into as an assistant to a car mechanic who rents him a room. They share the house with the mechanic's son and wife, a curvy wiccan Earth-mother type as far removed as imaginable from the sort with whom he surrounded himself in his previous life.

Before the fire, Asterios was prone to lecture others on his own theories of design which he elevated to a philosophy of life, being a quasi-Platonic jumble where a theory of balance between the ordered and the passionate is contradicted by his evident overemphasis on one side of the scales, (demonstrated by an omniscient narrator picturing actual scales). A perfectionist even in the smallest things, Asterios applies this to even the banal as he holds up his favorite type of shoe and declares it a perfect example of "shoeness." Later his feet hurt; his supposed vaunting of the functional is seen to be foolishly subordinate to form, disrupting his pet theory that in the finest design the two are one and the same.

This is a story of redemption, of sorts, not only in the moral sense but in the graphic, on the level of visual design, a narrative and thematic utilization of the graphic in "graphic novel" that I would love to see taken up more in this genre.

[Fuchsia Groan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Con esta novela gráfica he quedado fascinada sobre todo en el aspecto formal: el dibujo, el cambio en los colores para caracterizar a los personajes o para indicar el tiempo... en la tipografía, las formas de representar a los personajes, toda la cantidad de detalles (por ejemplo del mobiliario). Una grandísima obra, imprescindible diría yo para todo el que disfrute con el género, y muy recomendable para aquellos que todavía piensan (parece imposible que puedan existir, pero sí, por ahí andan) que los cómics son un género menor.

Maravillosa la parte en la que en unas pocas páginas da un repaso a la vida cotidiana de Asterios con Hana, también ese descenso a los infiernos en modo Orfeo para recuperarla.

Lo que menos me ha gustado, los momentos en los que se pone demasiado trascendental.
De todas formas, y aunque la historia me ha quedado un poco en un segundo plano, me ha gustado mucho el personaje de Asterios, la genial Ursula, la ironía que utiliza.

Una vez terminado he vuelto a las primeras páginas y veo un montón de cosas nuevas: los vídeos, la navaja, el reloj, los gemelos siempre presentes incluso en pequeños detalles (los libros que salen: El príncipe y el mendigo, El hombre de la máscara de hierro...). Lo releeré en algún momento y creo que puede ser que ahí lo disfrute al 100%.

[ατζινάβωτο φέγι. · Rating 3 out of 5]

“But why must choices always lie along a linear spectrum with two poles instead of say among a sphere of possibilities”

[Maksym Karpovets · Rating 5 out of 5]

Перша прочитана книжка в цьому році - і відразу в десятку. Автора цієї графічної історії знають ті, хто читав культового "Бетмена. Рік перший" Френка Міллера, адже Девід Маццукеллі малював похмурий і водночас реалістичний сеттінг Ґотема. Тут все інакше. Перед нами історія про архітектора Астеріоса Поліпа, який нічого за все своє життя не побудував, тому й ввжається "паперовим архітектором" в університеті Нью-Йорка. Його світ побудовий із прямих ліній і гострих кутів, з якого він зверхньо поглядає на інших. Студенти рідко коли вирізняються для нього, а будь-які почуття чи емоції легко вписуються у зазделегідь підготовлені схеми й концепти. Люди для нього - чергові проекти, формули або й форми (зв'язок із Платоном тут дуже важливий як і з грецькою філософією), які снують немов заглушені копії самих себе. Правда, фраза "what if reality (as perceived) were simply an extention of the self?" в середині книжки ламає сурову геометрію Астеріоса, як і руйнує несподіваний вогонь його квартиру й житло.

Фізичний світ Астеріоса згорає дотла. Він втрачає рукописи, втрачає своє місце, а отже - сенс (адже людина без місця неможлива, її тваринних інстинків недостатньо для виживання). Далі починається подорож Америкою та власними спогадами, що блискуче передає перо Маццукеллі. Ви знаєте, настільки оригінальної візуальної мови я вже давно не зустрічав. Безліч оригінальних шрифтів, які відповідають настрою, часу, епосі; неймовірно лаконічні й емоційно болісні панелі, які передають усю самотність Астеріоса; блискуча гра на контранстах; експерименти з формою (чого варті візуалізації різних характерів людей завдяки різним формам), переходами й ґаттерами. Напевно, єдиний автор, близький до стилю Маццукеллі - це геніальний Кріс Вайр. Останній, правда, більш академічний, надто недосяжний для пересічного читача, більше принагідний для дисертацій, присвяченим коміксам. Стиль Маццукеллі досяжний для будь-кого, він позбавлений надмірної складності, хоча й далеко не простий.

Основне ж в цій історії не стільки блискуча, геніальна візуальна складова, а емоційне і філософський наповнення. Історія Астеріоса - це боротьба не стільки із зовнішніми викликами, а власними привидами й демонами, упередженнями. На жаль, ми не можемо позбутись того, що нас травмувало, але це не означає, що ми повинні травмувати інших, робити їхнє життя нестерпним. Ось ця невимовна екзистенційна напруга вирізняє роботу Маццукеллі з-поміж інших, де візуальні образи прекрасно допомагають передати те, що не завжди можливо зробити словами. Астеріос усе життя шукав спокою, досконалості, прагнучи наблизитись до невливомого ейдосу, а насправді шукав свою другу половинку, втрачену внаслідок розз'єднання. Повертаючись до неї, життя мало би налагодитись, але порядок - це лише маленький острівець посеред хаосу, який дає про себе знати у найбільш неочікувані моменти.

Life is stressful, that's why they say 'rest in peace'

[Marc Kozak · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've noticed that ever since I became single earlier this year, I can't stop talking about myself.

This is pretty unusual. I am a reasonably quiet person unless I'm around people I have known for a while, and usually listen more than speak. However, lately I've noticed myself sharing personal details in situations where it isn't warranted. Nothing super sexy or anything (you pervs), but details that could have easily been left out of the conversation. Or to be clearer - I've been entering personal details into group conversations that can easily be interpreted as trying to funnel the spotlight of the narrative onto myself. (And yes, I understand that this review is more or less doing the same thing - isn't this supposed to be about a book? Hang on, I'll get there.)

I'm sure there are plenty of reasons for this that could be explained using behavioral psychology, but really, I just want to stop. I get that part of conversing in general is the act of sharing, but not to the level of attention-grabbing and narcissism. So it was a good time for this book to come along when it did.

Asterios Polyp is, believe it or not, the main character's name - a brilliant professor of architecture who is re-examining his life after losing his wife due to his own self-absorption. His ex-wife, Hana, is a quiet, humble sculptor - clearly going for the whole "opposites attract" thing. Which makes sense, as duality is the main theme of the book, of which their relationship is only one particular example. Mazzucchelli does work here that is absolutely unrepeatable in any other medium, utilizing his art (and particularly, color) in ways I've never seen in a comic book. Asterios is often represented in blue lines, much like an architectural blueprint, while Hana is reflected in simple pink.

The technique is used to great effect when highlighting the different ways the pair look at the same things. Asterios is brash and cocky, whereas Hana is calm and reserved. Eventually, Asterios' selfishness drives Hana away. There's a beautifully conceived, mostly wordless six-page, multi-panel scene of Asterios sadly remembering everything he loves about Hana that will send sensitive types scrambling for tissues. Again, I can't speak highly enough about Mazzucchelli's art - you can tell it took the guy years to make this. Every page is bursting with symbolism, intelligence, and creative panel design.

For Asterios, duality was a central tenet of his life - things were one way, or another. Nothing, including his own relationship, was too complicated to be reduced to an either/or system. This obsession over opposition led to arrogance, bitterness, and ultimately loneliness. As with most stories based on the Greek myths (as this one is), Asterios hits rock bottom before he can transform and get back on the road to realization.

I think this is an incredibly relevant and important look at relationships in modern times - where solipsism rules over sacrifice. Mazzucchelli has produced the best case for comic books at serious literature that I've ever come across. It was a good reminder for me to stop talking so much, and get back to listening. Freud said that narcissism is a natural part of the human makeup, but damaging when taken to the extreme. A simpler concept in theory than in execution, but Asterios Polyp shows exactly why it's worth thinking about.

[Λίνα Θωμάρεη · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ήταν τέλειο... και το τέλος ήταν ουπς ....

[Moira Macfarlane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Een werkelijk prachtig getekende en tot in de puntjes verzorgde mooi vormgegeven graphic novel! Alles is in balans, een tekenstijl en lettertype die zich vormen naar de personages, mooi subtiel kleurgebruik, het juiste papier, van goed verdeelde witruimtes tot en met het gewichtige eindeloze gevoel van de 344 bladzijden en de kartonnen met linnen kaft aan toe. Mijn oog was gestreeld. Maar mijn geest ook.

Asterios Polyp is een man van vijftig, een succesvol architect, hoogleraar en echtgenoot. Vol van zijn eigen intellectuele vermogens en zekerheden verkondigt hij nietsontziend zijn visie op het leven. Wat is feit en wat is fictie, het rationele systeem tegenover de willekeurigheid der dingen en vele andere tegenstellingen in de kunst, muziek, het leven passeren de revue. En ja daar laat hij zich bij tijd en wijlen van een behoorlijk arrogante en onwrikbare kant zien.
Als zijn appartement in New York in vlammen opgaat, staat zijn leven op zijn kop en volgen we hem op de weg die hij dan inslaat. In flashbacks zien we zijn leven aan ons voorbijtrekken en de mensen die zijn pad kruisen. En hoe zit het met zijn wat verlegen, slimme, zachtaardige vrouw Hana met wie hij ooit zijn leven deelde? Waar en waarom raakte hij haar kwijt?

Het is een boek waar ik nu al naar uitkijk om te herlezen, want gaandeweg ontvouwt zich de wereld van Asterios Polyp en die zit nog zoveel mooier in elkaar dan ik in het begin dacht. Hoe verder ik in het boek kwam hoe meer ik zag dat alles tot in de kleinste details klopte. Tekst en beeld. Erg mooi. En dan de stof tot nadenken, want iedere ontmoeting in het boek leidt tot nieuwe standpunten die naast die van Asterios Polyp kunnen worden gezet. Wat is waarheid? Wat is wijsheid? Hoe zie ik zelf de wereld?

'Leven is (voor zover ik heb begrepen) het bestaan binnen een besef van tijd. Maar herinneren is het loslaten van het besef van tijd. Iedere herinnering, ongeacht hoe ver het onderwerp ervan ook verwijderd is, vindt altijd 'Nu' plaats, op het moment dat ze weer in gedachten wordt geroepen. Hoe vaker een bepaalde herinnering terugkeert, des te meer gelegenheid de hersenen krijgen om de oorspronkelijke gebeurtenis te verfijnen. Omdat iedere herinnering een kwestie is van herscheppen, niet van terugspelen.'

[Núria · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Asterios Polyp' es un cómic complejo, inteligente, riquísimo, satisfactorio a múltiples niveles, que habla de temas como filosofía, arquitectura, ficción, arte, etc. La historia no es nada nuevo, es la de un hombre que pasa por una crisis y acaba perdiéndolo todo, porque sólo perdiéndolo todo se dará cuenta de qué es lo realmente importante, y sólo así podrá cambiar. Asterios Polyp es un arquitecto reputado de 50 años, aunque ninguno de sus diseños ha sido nunca ejecutado, porque su fama viene de su tarea como profesor. Es un hombre cínico, egocéntrico, esnob, práctico y materialista que no da importancia a lo que tiene. Hasta que un día lo pierde todo. Luego empieza de nuevo en un sitio aleatorio. Y la gente que se encuentra por el camino, gente muy diferente a los intelectuales con los que está acostumbrado a tratar, le ayudarán a evolucionar.

En el fondo es una historia de amor: chico pierde a chica y no es hasta que la pierde que se da cuenta de hasta qué punto ella era importante para él y hasta qué punto él la anuló como persona hasta que ella no tuvo más remedio que dejarlo. No es nada nuevo, pero está contado de una forma (narrativamente y visualmente) original, inteligente y eficaz. En el fondo habla de cómo nos adaptamos a las personas que nos encontramos en el camino, cómo estas nos hacen cambiar, lo difícil (y maravilloso) que es encontrar una persona con la que sea fácil adaptarse y que nos ayude a salir de nuestro caparazón y nos haga ver que las cosas no son siempre o blancas o negras, que en medio hay muchos matices. Una obra realmente deliciosa.

[Lee Klein · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Wah," I said aloud when finishing this. "God. Lovely. Really great," I also said. Unputdownably beautiful. A blatantly philosophical, simple love story. Vivid characters. Funny. Touching: in fact, it successfully revealed the presence of my heartstrings -- sentimental loon I am not, but I definitely felt something pull in the vicinity of my chest region toward the end. Sort of like Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth meets a way more formally sophisticated The Elegance of the Hedgehog, spiked with references to the Odyssey, apparently (so sayeth the blurbs I just read). The blurbs also say it's "difficult," but the time shifts won't be a problem if you're semi-accustomed to Faulkner and Chris Ware -- handled really fluidly and elegantly here, with the various temporal threads color-coded (eg, yellow pages indicate a dream sequence) the way Faulkner originally wanted for The Sound and the Fury. Will lend my copy to my mama and will read again when she returns it. Perfect deep winter company.

Thanks to Mr. Vollmer for the rave ("not eye candy -- this is eye crack"). But how'd I just find out about it a few days ago?! What else is similarly supergood and lurking around the corner?

[Billie Tyrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The other day a friend of mine said I was cheating on Good Reads because I was listing so many graphic novels. The thing is, I read them fairly often because they are quick to read, and often they aren't so intellectually stimulating and usually involve people whacking each other in the face. Even the comics by popular Vertigo writers like your Neil Gaimans and Alan Moores will usually have a violent factor in most of their work.

So anyway.... what does any of the above have to do with Asterios Polyp. Well, there's barely any violence at all in this comic. Really, not much happens, but at the same time a lot of things happen. I think this is up there with some of the best serious literature I've read. Sometimes when I read things I like to imagine why the person who created it did so... so the more unique a piece of art the more I start to wonder this. Why would anyone want to make such a well crafted and carefully thought through graphic novel about an architect struggling with his preconceptions on the nature of duality? Being able to ask that question is a wonderful feeling.

SPOILER WARNING

I was really sad about the cat at the end.

[Salman Sakib Jishan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli হলো এমন একটা গ্রাফিক নভেল, যেরকম গল্প আপনি সচরাচর গ্রাফিক নভেল কিংবা কোনো উপন্যাসেই তেমন দেখবেন না।

পঞ্চাশ পৌছুনো একজন প্রায় সফল আর্কিটেক্ট, যার অর্থবিত্ত, জ্ঞান, কিংবা নারীসঙ্গ কিছুরই কমতি ছিলনা। যার একটা প্রেম ছিল সিনেমার মতো। এরকম 'সফল' একজন ব্যক্তি একটা সময় আবিষ্কার করলেন তিনি ততটা প্রতিভাবান, ততটা গুরুত্বপূর্ণ কেউ নন যতটা তিনি নিজেকে কল্পনা করতেন। তার এই মোহ, এই মানসিক দৃঢ়তা, আত্মঅহংকার সব ভেঙে পড়তে থাকে এই উপলব্ধির পর।
নিউইয়র্কে তার এপার্টমেন্ট-এ আগুন লাগার পর সে বেড়িয়ে পড়ে সব কিছু ছেড়ে। তার ব্যাংকের সকল পূঁজি তাকে যতদূর নিয়ে যেতে পারে, ততদূর। কিন্তু কেন আসে এই উপলব্ধি? কোথায় যাচ্ছে সে সব ছেড়েছুড়ে?

মানুষের জীবনে কিছু উপলব্ধি ভয়াবহ ভাবে নাড়া দিতে পারে সমগ্র জীবনকে। সেই গল্পটাকে চিত্রিত করাটা খুব সহজ কাজ নয়। পাতার পর পাতা লিখে যাওয়া যেত যে গল্পে, সেটাকে অল্প কিছু পাতায় চিত্রিত করা অত্যন্ত কঠিন। এরকম একটি গল্প, যার আর্ট স্টাইল, গল্প বলার ধরণ, তীক্ষ্ণ পর্যবেক্ষণ সব এতো নিঁখুত...এরকম ভালো একটা কাজের সাথে আমার এতদিন পর পরিচয় হলো? খোদ নেল গেইম্যান সাহেবও প্রশংসা করতে ছাড়েননি এই ওয়ান অফ দি গ্রেটেস্ট আমেরিকান গ্রাফিক নভেল কে নিয়ে।

[Merve Eflatun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beklediğimi tam anlamıyla veren bir çizgi roman Asterios Polyp. Öyle harika detaylar var ki, ilk temasım basılı haline olmadığı için üzüldüm. Alışıldık çizgi roman fontunun dışında her karaktere ayrı bir font verilmiş ve tahminimce fontlar (ben öyle yaptım) karakterlerin genel duruşu hakkında bir okuma, anlatıya çizgilerin dışında bir portre kurulmasını sağlıyor. Hikaye geçişlerindeki renk kurguları, hikayenin zamansal olarak sadece karelere bölünmüş bir şekilde yaşatılmaması da diğer bir güzelliği. Ana karakterin ''paper architect'' oluşu ve bununla ilerleyen hayatını sorgulama sekansları ile ilerleyen hikayesi, mimarlık adına da iyi bir kaynak. İyi ki birileri sabırla böyle şeylerle uğraşıyor. 5/5

[Ignacio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hay en este cómic dos capítulos consecutivos que son de lo mejor que he visto nunca. Uno cuenta casi sin texto lo que es la cotidianidad de una relación de pareja desde una multiplicidad de tiempos y situaciones que se desarrollan o no consecutivamente, dependiendo de su posición en la página o el color utilizado. El segundo es una ensoñación muda que recrea el mito de Orfeo y Eurídice desde una perspectiva moderna. Ambos son la enésima constatación de la maestría de un Mazzucchelli que lleva pasándose el arte secuencial desde mediados de los 80 y que aquí demuestra una vez más a lo largo y ancho del tebeo. Una historia donde entrelaza forma y fondo para contar la vida de un personaje atrapado por una visión dual del mundo. Hay pequeños detalles de guión que resultan simplones, pero el resto es un despliegue que invita a ser disfrutado en futuras relecturas.

Apoteósico.

Ante esto, es imperdonable la edición sin corregir que ha reimpreso Salamandra este año, con varios textos con errores. Nueve años han tenido para corregirlos.

[Larnacouer de SH · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life is stressful, dear. That's why they say "Rest in Peace".

//

Yalnız bu enfesti ya! İllüstrasyonların tarzı, yazarın kalemi, akıcılığı. Cidden, tam benlik. En bi' sevdiklerim rafına yakışır bir şeyler okumayalı uzun zaman olmuştu.

[Keyo Çalî · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tiştê ku gelek bala min kişand nitila(design) komîkê bû. Ji ber ku çîrok li ser profîsorekê mîmar e,...
Ez ê berdewamîya wê paşê binivîsînim

[Oblomov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fifty year old Asterios Polyp, architectect, philsopher, ladies man and burdened with a name that sounds like it should be examined by a dermatologist, had already fallen on hard times when he has the poor misfortune of his home burning down. Now without family, job or friends, he uses the last of his money to go to the arse end of no where and stumbles into an eccentric family's care, giving him time to ruminate on how he got there, in particular the story of losing his beloved ex-wife.

Art: 5/5
Mazzucchelli uses colour and framing to great effect and care, ruined only slightly by constantly bringing the readers attention to it like he's showing off. The story switches between the past with its many colours, motifs and stylised geometry:


And then to the present with a more straight forward comic style and an ever present yellow tint.


The characters feature a range of body types, from slim, atheletic, grotesque fat and buxom fat, and can vary in drawing style so widely it occassionally feels like different artists added their efforts, and it all makes for one highly interesting visual treat.

Story 4/5
This is one of those books where I feel a little uncomfortable for liking it so much, mainly because it's so much up it's own arse it's nearly turned itself inside out. In many ways it's an absolute mess of forced psyhcological, sociological themes and philosophy, covering and critiquing all manner of art forms (music, sculpture, theatre, architecture) and paying particular attentions to ideas of dualism, especially with our initial narrator, the protagonist's still born twin. It also fights it's own battle between tentatively addressing issues of sexism, sexual harrassment and self image, while also being highly objectifying and using some mean if not crass caricatures, particularly with the story's antagonist, a babyish bodied, ridiculous stereotype of the pompous auteur.


Despite the muddled chaos and it's inherent pounciness, the book kept me fully invested, mainly because what ideas it discusses are fascinating and because it's also very self-aware of what its doing. Yes, Asterios is very smart, but he's also an insufferable prick, who not only suffers for it but gradually comes to terms with it. There is a distinct character arc, likeable people and gorgeously inventive visuals. It's a thoughtful piece, well worth your time.

[Ksenija · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jedinstvo forme i suštine?

Asterios Polyp je grafički roman čiji celokupni sadržaj može da se pročita prvenstveno, ako ne i samo, iz njegovog stila. Čak i ako bi se dijalozi uklonili, crtež bi i dalje preneo većinu priče, i pre svega dubine.
Upravo je tenzija, koja se odmah primećuje, između krute forme i emotivne suptilnosti ono što je glavni Macukelijev alat, ali i osnovna tema romana.

U neku ruku Künstlerroman, ovaj strip je priča o antipatičnom Asteriosu Polypu, sredovečnom proslavljenom arhitekti (ali samo na papiru), kog srećemo u dubinama depresije posle razvoda. Nakon što grom udari u njegovu zgradu, a stan i sve što je posedovao (i tako temeljno kreirao) nestane, Asterios kupuje kartu u jednom pravcu za "što dalje" sa namerom da se oproba u životu potpuno suprotnom od svog - onom u kom forma ne prati uvek funkciju.

Narativ nas kroz ceo roman prebacuje iz sadašnjosti u Asteriosova sećanja, ma koliko tačna, ali uvek obojena dvojnošću kroz koju on posmatra svet.
Ta dvojnost se stilski ogleda prvenstveno u bojama koje predstavljaju likove, a njihove misli i različiti pogledi na svet su jednostavno i efektno prikazane formom - kruti Asterios u geometriji i modernizmu i njegova divna žena Hana, nežna skulptorka, u organskim, fluidnim oblicima.

Paralele sa antičkom grčkom mitologijom su prelepo istražene u modernističkom stilu, a i sama veza sa prezimenom glavnog lika (koje je skraćeno od Polyphemos, kako "narator" kaže, i označava Kiklopa) savršeno je uklopljeno u njegovu estetiku i sam karakter od početka do kraja.

Iako na prvi pogled možda deluje kao vizuelna kakofonija, svaki element ima svoje mesto i nosi značaj za priču, i čini mi se da je ovo delo koje poziva da se iznova čita i preispituje iz različitih uglova.

Što kaže Neil Gaiman - "astonishingly good"

[Licha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished this over a week ago and for some reason haven't felt like writing a review on it. Maybe cause it's a little hard to describe without making it sound common. One reviewer described this best as a 40-something year old man's coming of age story. I would have to agree that that is what Asterio's story is about. Asterios must take a deep look at what dissolved his marriage. Most people would probably find him to be a jerk, but I really liked Asterios. He's just a man with many flaws but in general, a person with a good heart.

There's a part in the story where as his wife is growing more distant from him and she finally bursts out at him. A slimy dance producer keeps making terrible, dirty innuendos at Hana in front of Asterios. We are led to believe that due to Asterios' inattention at his wife, she is falling for this dirty scumbag. Thsis dance producer throws crude remarks at Hana right in front of Asterios. He notices, but never says anything, perhaps believing he's already lost his wife to this producer. Hana finally has enough and yells at Asterios, asking him how come he never says anything to this perv. I found it so sad to see how the lack of communication, of inattentiveness towards one spouse, the appearance of seeming not to care could so easily crumble a marriage.

It is an excellent story I hate to give that average looking 3 star rating to. This is a high 3.5 stars for me.