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Going Under
Depression feels like drowning from the inside. Welcome to the aftermath of a mental breakdown. Sophie is trying to mend the pieces of her broken life. The people around her think she is "cured," but she knows she still has a long way to go before she truly feels "better." Apnea is not a story as much as a process, fragments of a personal journey collected in order to make as much sense as possible of an experience which still feels impossible to describe. A sober portrait drawn in a minimal, almost self-erased style, Zviane's award-winning graphic novel showcases both her interest in classical music and her remarkable talent for intelligent, poignant character studies. Through this second-person account, she achieves a state of dissociation which mirrors the feelings of her protagonist - centering her narrative around emotions and the way images can convey them when words otherwise fail to do so.
92 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
2 people are currently reading
214 people want to read
About the author
Zviane
45 books107 followersZviane is the pen name of Sylvie-Anne Ménard, a Canadian comic book writer and illustrator, and musician from Montréal, Quebec.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
April 10, 2013
Une des meilleures BDs que j'ai lue de Zviane.
Pendant mon arrêt de travail pour cause de surmenage.
Ironique...
Ça m'a fait du bien...
Pendant mon arrêt de travail pour cause de surmenage.
Ironique...
Ça m'a fait du bien...
August 14, 2017
I read this book cover-to-cover while standing in a bookstore, which is not the best way to appreciate the spareness and subtlety of Zviane's work. With that said, I found Going Under to be an intriguing story abour mental illness which sets itself apart from books with similar themes. In particular, the second-person POV and the (perhaps unreliable) flashes into the future are elements that stuck with me after I'd finished.
June 28, 2022
Une BD qui nous permet de nous sensibiliser sur la dépression.
Je me suis reconnue à plusieurs moments, et j'espère qu'elle sera réveillé certaines personnes sur ce trouble...
Je me suis reconnue à plusieurs moments, et j'espère qu'elle sera réveillé certaines personnes sur ce trouble...
October 29, 2015
Tout court, tout simple, mais magnifiquement puissant et touchant. Une nouvelle auteure/illustratrice pour moi et je veux lire tout ce qu'elle a fait.
March 2, 2022
5/5⭐️. Une BD parfaite tout simplement, la dépression étant au coeur de l’histoire. Les illustrations étaient simples et captivantes. Cette auteure est une nouvelle découverte pour moi. J’ai adoré!
July 22, 2021
A simple and sparse representation of depression in a graphic novel. Short but heavy it will leave an impression.
May 15, 2017
Zviane links drowning to depression. A feeling that life is unfair for us all (except children whom she sees as having happy futures).
Sophie goes through her day to day life -- accepting that she isn't cured from depression, but that it is best to let others think so. Her perception of people is constantly pessimistic. From sex to quality family time, she finds nothing worthwhile. As the reader, we wonder if she'll ever come out of the water for some air.
The illustrations are simple yet bare for the most part allowing us to concentrate on the character rather than the background itself. Keep in mind that depression can hit anyone, anywhere, so this actually made perfect sense.
Still prefer Les Deuxièmes from the same author.
Sophie goes through her day to day life -- accepting that she isn't cured from depression, but that it is best to let others think so. Her perception of people is constantly pessimistic. From sex to quality family time, she finds nothing worthwhile. As the reader, we wonder if she'll ever come out of the water for some air.
The illustrations are simple yet bare for the most part allowing us to concentrate on the character rather than the background itself. Keep in mind that depression can hit anyone, anywhere, so this actually made perfect sense.
Still prefer Les Deuxièmes from the same author.
May 14, 2017
Sans l'annoncer, sans lui donner un nom, le sujet de la dépression et de l'anxiété est parfautement mise en image. Ne tombant pas dans les clichés.
Court et sans grands textes, les images parlent d'elle-même. Les visages sans yeux, comme si les gens étaient incapable de voir et comprendre la maladie. Ce qui est le cas, malheureusement.
Court et sans grands textes, les images parlent d'elle-même. Les visages sans yeux, comme si les gens étaient incapable de voir et comprendre la maladie. Ce qui est le cas, malheureusement.
November 12, 2017
What does depression feel like? The scent of water. Quiet, almost empty at times, still... Going Under is a horribly accurate depiction of what depression can feel like. Beautiful, albeit haunting comic.
September 15, 2018
Quand tu as vécu la dépression tu sais que c’est exactement ça l’abysse.
June 27, 2022
Ouf! Cette BD m’a fait pensé à ma dépression en 2018 et les pensées intrusives constantes liées à mon anxiété. Les propos sont forts et font mal, surtout quand ils rappellent des souvenirs.
June 19, 2020
Un court récit qui décrit bien comment on peut se sentir submergé par une dépression. C'est rare de trouver ce genre de livre sur les maladies mentales.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 2, 2020
A book that’s like a punch to the guts. I’m not recommending this book to people in my non-online life because my friends don’t like it when I recommend them media about depression, for some reason. (I still haven’t found anyone I could convince to try playing Sea of Solitude, despite it being a very solid game.)
This book adresses everything: executive disfunction, self-sabotaging, preventing yourself from doing things you’d actually genuinely enjoy because you’re afraid of how other people will judge you for it (a common factor that impedes recovery), having to force yourself through sex for the sake of a parner. Obviously, this book comes with a massive trigger warning and is not for everyone.
Going Under (which I read in the original french) is a comic that was planned, sketched and inked in a matter of weeks. I know that because I went to the same university than Zviane attended, and she came and gave a talk to our class one day. It reads pretty much the same, in one single block of time, and then it takes months to properly process. It sits in your stomach, feeling like the truth, feeling too close to reality, and you can’t probably articulate why the book came and grabbed you the way it did.
On the surface, the main character of Going Under feels similar to another character in literature, the main character of The Stranger by Albert Camus. They both feel nothing, and do not really care but still continue to live their life, mimicking the right things to say and the right things to do so their entourage doesn’t realize how empty they are inside. But Sophie is a lot more relatable and interesting. She cared, at one point, and wants to do so again, but is trapped inside of her struggle. The guy in that Albert Camus novel was just an asshole. (Don’t @ me.)
Like in Sea of Solitude, the metaphor of depression is expressed through water. In this comic, Sophie likens her depression with drowning, being trapped under with no idea of when she will resurface. She sees all of the other characters she interacts with through a layer of cynicism, guessing at their future with the certainty that she is right and that life cannot possibly ever be good, for anyone. When she is proved wrong, when someone mentions off-hand a detail that is different than what she had guessed/theorized, its like it doesn’t even sink it. (hint: that’s because depression is a lying a-hole.)
The art style is also disarmingly simple, even naive at times, but it serves very well to portray it’s subject matter, where everything seems devoid of details or life, and dissociation makes everything fall away. Five panels become two panels become a blank page; anyone who has felt their own brain go through that same process will find it relatable. And it allows the story to breathe, to strech on, to take on that endless quality.
So, yeah. Three stars because the book was very good and I still think about it, even have a vivid memory of it, years after having read it. But no more because, according to my rating scale, four stars is for books that I would recommend, and I just cannot bring myself to tell my friends and family to read it. I’ll talk about it and praise it, but I won’t rec it. It’s a book that you have to discover for yourself, I feel, and decide to read on your own terms.
This book adresses everything: executive disfunction, self-sabotaging, preventing yourself from doing things you’d actually genuinely enjoy because you’re afraid of how other people will judge you for it (a common factor that impedes recovery), having to force yourself through sex for the sake of a parner. Obviously, this book comes with a massive trigger warning and is not for everyone.
Going Under (which I read in the original french) is a comic that was planned, sketched and inked in a matter of weeks. I know that because I went to the same university than Zviane attended, and she came and gave a talk to our class one day. It reads pretty much the same, in one single block of time, and then it takes months to properly process. It sits in your stomach, feeling like the truth, feeling too close to reality, and you can’t probably articulate why the book came and grabbed you the way it did.
On the surface, the main character of Going Under feels similar to another character in literature, the main character of The Stranger by Albert Camus. They both feel nothing, and do not really care but still continue to live their life, mimicking the right things to say and the right things to do so their entourage doesn’t realize how empty they are inside. But Sophie is a lot more relatable and interesting. She cared, at one point, and wants to do so again, but is trapped inside of her struggle. The guy in that Albert Camus novel was just an asshole. (Don’t @ me.)
Like in Sea of Solitude, the metaphor of depression is expressed through water. In this comic, Sophie likens her depression with drowning, being trapped under with no idea of when she will resurface. She sees all of the other characters she interacts with through a layer of cynicism, guessing at their future with the certainty that she is right and that life cannot possibly ever be good, for anyone. When she is proved wrong, when someone mentions off-hand a detail that is different than what she had guessed/theorized, its like it doesn’t even sink it. (hint: that’s because depression is a lying a-hole.)
The art style is also disarmingly simple, even naive at times, but it serves very well to portray it’s subject matter, where everything seems devoid of details or life, and dissociation makes everything fall away. Five panels become two panels become a blank page; anyone who has felt their own brain go through that same process will find it relatable. And it allows the story to breathe, to strech on, to take on that endless quality.
So, yeah. Three stars because the book was very good and I still think about it, even have a vivid memory of it, years after having read it. But no more because, according to my rating scale, four stars is for books that I would recommend, and I just cannot bring myself to tell my friends and family to read it. I’ll talk about it and praise it, but I won’t rec it. It’s a book that you have to discover for yourself, I feel, and decide to read on your own terms.
November 25, 2018
A sparse, relatable look at depression.
In the last section, I couldn't help but be dragged back to how I had a ticket to see Linkin Park in 2008 but didn't go: I couldn't even fathom moving from my dorm room bed. That's a period I seldom discuss - so I suppose I am including it here as way of a content warning. If something like that might stir up memories you'd rather not visit... maybe take caution.
In the last section, I couldn't help but be dragged back to how I had a ticket to see Linkin Park in 2008 but didn't go: I couldn't even fathom moving from my dorm room bed. That's a period I seldom discuss - so I suppose I am including it here as way of a content warning. If something like that might stir up memories you'd rather not visit... maybe take caution.
October 2, 2022
Cette BD aborde la dépression et l’anxiété de façon réaliste. On y voit l’isolement, les pensées oppressantes et l’effacement. On ressent la douleur, la sensation du vide.
Une bd que je conseilles à ceux qui ont déjà mit leur vie, leur projet sur pause à cause de la dépression. 🖤
Une bd que je conseilles à ceux qui ont déjà mit leur vie, leur projet sur pause à cause de la dépression. 🖤
December 20, 2014
Lu dans un bain.
«Encore cette odeur d'eau. Ça durera encore longtemps.»
En apnée.
«Ce que toi-même, t'aurais bien voulu devenir.»
«Encore cette odeur d'eau. Ça durera encore longtemps.»
En apnée.
«Ce que toi-même, t'aurais bien voulu devenir.»
January 10, 2021
j'ai eu des ti frissons en le lisant. il y a quelque chose de percutant, d'émotionnellement très juste et très vrai -- les relations sexuelles qu'on a pour le bien des autres, l'espèce de "je sais absolument pas pourquoi un jour tout est devenu sans intérêt" qu'on a avec la dépression, et cette paranoïa subtile qu'on a par rapport aux jugements et aux mépris des autres --- nos perceptions faussées, non fiables, qui causent tant d'anxiété. mais on y croit.
et tout ça, la BD le transmet avec finesse, sans verser dans le trop-dit -- au contraire, on laisse les images, les silences, les émotions poindre, s'étaler, s'installer.
j'dis trop de mots pour en parler. ça se lit rapidement, mais je pense que je vais la relire plus tard, pour attraper les échos, pour voir ce qui ne quitte pas dans ces émotions. einmal ist keinmal comme on dit :)
et tout ça, la BD le transmet avec finesse, sans verser dans le trop-dit -- au contraire, on laisse les images, les silences, les émotions poindre, s'étaler, s'installer.
j'dis trop de mots pour en parler. ça se lit rapidement, mais je pense que je vais la relire plus tard, pour attraper les échos, pour voir ce qui ne quitte pas dans ces émotions. einmal ist keinmal comme on dit :)
September 19, 2025
An emotional wrenching book. Sophie is doing better— in the sense that doing things are more bearable/“well” for her. She has a negative view on people and when doing things. This is evident when she meets Anne, and says that she dies from lung cancer from being a chain smoker.. but later in the book we learn that she’s never even touched cigarettes. Even when she’s going out or doing things, it’s not a happy take. She thinks it’s not worth her time or she’s scared of how others perceive her.
The only time she has a positive outlook is whenever she sees kids. She believes that they will grow up to be happy and well-off or well-known, which makes me think that she sees hope in kids and doesn’t want depression to get in their way.
The book is relatable, and sometimes the events that happen and the way she thinks is very real. However, I rate this 3 stars because the feeling that I felt after reading this made me feel.. down. There are some parts in the book where it makes you think about what you went through, and maybe this is what the author intended, or maybe not, but that’s just how I felt. This isn’t a book that I’d recommend to others because it is a trigger warning for people (e.g. depression, suicide, non consented sex)
The only time she has a positive outlook is whenever she sees kids. She believes that they will grow up to be happy and well-off or well-known, which makes me think that she sees hope in kids and doesn’t want depression to get in their way.
The book is relatable, and sometimes the events that happen and the way she thinks is very real. However, I rate this 3 stars because the feeling that I felt after reading this made me feel.. down. There are some parts in the book where it makes you think about what you went through, and maybe this is what the author intended, or maybe not, but that’s just how I felt. This isn’t a book that I’d recommend to others because it is a trigger warning for people (e.g. depression, suicide, non consented sex)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 5, 2023
I kinda expected more from the book upon taking it home,hoping for maybe some relatable words and some solutions or comedic relief.. but it was very short. Indeed relatable, but can’t say it gave me a sense of positivity at the end…kinda just makes you think about how bad your depression is. Not really anything to tie together this women’s sad life in the book:/ disappointed in the ending I guess you could say.
July 30, 2019
Yeeeeesh.
Save this for a beautiful day and read it outside- in the sun.
A true slice of life that luckily didn't carve into her wrist.
My edition is titled "Going Under" if "Apnea" is hard to find.
Save this for a beautiful day and read it outside- in the sun.
A true slice of life that luckily didn't carve into her wrist.
My edition is titled "Going Under" if "Apnea" is hard to find.
August 13, 2022
Un récit tout en subtilité, remplie de non-dits et de silences. Une BD touchante avec des dessins simples et efficaces. Malgré la lourdeur du sujet (la dépression), j’ai vraiment apprécié la lecture qu’il faut faire lentement, très lentement…
April 8, 2023
A small slice of the life of a person battling depression. It's short but conveying so much, from the social anxiety, overthinking, strained relationships underpinned by complacence, it's quite well done. I only didn't give it five stars because it feels too abrupt.
June 3, 2023
Courte BD mettant en scène une jeune femme qui essaie de se reconstruire après avoir vécu des moments difficiles, probablement une dépression. Chaque fois qu’elle croise un personnage, elle décrit au lecteur le destin et la fin qu’elle leur imagine.
May 11, 2025
I'm in love with the narration style of this comic. I feel like it really captures the headspace of mental illness excellently.
"It smells like water somehow. that's because - you don't know it yet - you are about to go under. And you won't surface for a long time. A long long time."
"It smells like water somehow. that's because - you don't know it yet - you are about to go under. And you won't surface for a long time. A long long time."
September 18, 2017
Graphic novel about mental illness
September 24, 2017
I could connect to some bits of this but most of this story I just couldn't personally connect too.
November 6, 2017
An entertaining and insightful look at life after a breakdown. Loved it.
June 1, 2018
Incursion dans le sentiment dépressif, quand l'oxygène se fait rare. Très belle lecture.
November 25, 2018
The cover is initially what drew me in. Zviane likens depression to drowning and I can't say that I disagree.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews