Body Music

by Jul Maroh

Attraction, desire, breaking up, making up: Body Music explores the language of love and relationships. Set in Montreal, a typical metropolis where strangers meet under varying circumstances and either fall in love or break apart, Julie Maroh’s gentle hues and fanciful vignettes unearth the pleasures, surprises, and complexities of love.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, LGBT, Queer, Bande Dessinée, Fiction, Romance

300 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 20, 2017

About the author

Jul Maroh (born 1985) is an author and illustrator originally from northern France. They studied comic art at the Institute Saint-Luc in Brussels and lithography and engraving at the Royal Academy of Arts in Brussels, where they still live.

Reviews

[Shai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Body Music contains 21 beautiful short stories about love, lust and relationships. There are several stories that I did like particularly the The Ghost of Illness, On The Importance of Laughter, and The Aftermath. I was able to read this spectacular graphic novel by Julie Maroh on one seating and it made me sad, teary-eyed, and happy while reading the stories.


Thanks to Arsenal Pulp Press for the ARC of this book.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Body Music, Maroh’s third book, is about love in its many forms and stages, with a range of ethnicities and sexualities, some happy, some sad. I read Skandalon and Blue is the Warmest Color and liked them all right, 3 stars each. I think this book is a little more ambitious, and features maybe some advance in her warm watercolor art. Blue focused on one relationship and this book features 21 vignettes of love, lust, and relationships. One guy is in a wheelchair; with one couple, one guy is married to a woman, and he has an affair--It’s called “Fuck Buddies”--with a guy. Some are sexy, some are sad, some are funny, and so on. I think the range might have something to offer anyone, and they are set in seemingly romantic Montreal. The point is clearly inclusivity.

I am having trouble articulating why I am not raving about this book as many are doing. I guess the vignettes might also be seen as snapshots, or quick sketches, or moments in time, like a book of photographs of different kinds of lovers, with a touch more movement, obviously. But I am having trouble saying that I am moved by them. The back cover calls it “exhilarating,” which I think could be/is the experience of many readers. I’ll say it is my favorite work of Maroh’s so far. Maybe other reviews or a second reading will change my rating.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Julie Maroh's introduction to Body Music explains that she wrote the story specifically to show that love and sex happen with all kinds of people, not just heteronormative cisgendered folks. While I firmly applaud that storytelling vision, the way she's actually gone about it is...just not all that interesting.

Body Music is composed of about two dozen very short stories, each detailing a night of passion or season of longing or something in between. We never really get to know the characters, so it very quickly becomes a guessing game for what type of sexual relations we'll encounter in the next story. I feel like that completely defeats Maroh's purpose. We're supposed to read this collection as a way of seeing that everyone, no matter who they are or who/what they like, can feel love and rejection and joy and sorrow. But because we don't get to know who any of these people are, the rough sketch leaves the reader to focus on the only notable aspect of each story - namely, how the characters like to fuck.

Certainly, this could just be me as the reader with my own hangups. But I feel like I would have found maybe four lengthier stories more compelling than two dozen extremely short ones. If Maroh wants to show the world that love is everywhere and should be acceptable in all of its forms, I think she needs to show that these characters are full, rounded individuals, not just a person who is in a threesome, for example. Once we know who the character is outside of their sexual proclivities, we're more likely to realize that those proclivities don't determine who they are as a person.

That said, Body Music is extremely well intentioned and that deserves to be applauded. Maroh's art is also excellent, sinuous and sensual or detailed and clinical when it needs to be.

[Jenny (Reading Envy) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This graphic novel is translated from the French. Each section is a different relationship story, and they run the gamut in relationship stages, the types of people in the relationships, and whether or not they have happy endings. The art is beautiful and I enjoyed Montreal as a setting. My only complaint is that I genuinely did not want them to end.

Translation wise, there is one moment where the translation of slang does not ring true, but overall this did not detract from my enjoyment.

Thanks to the publisher for providing access through Edelweiss.

[Jim Angstadt · Rating 2 out of 5]

This graphic novel is about love, expressed in a variety of ways. But, rather than unifying the concept, it felt fractured. Anger, despair, rage, and loss all seemed to chip away at love.

[Melody · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this. I was a big fan of her earlier book, but this didn't work for me. There are 21 unconnected short stories herein. The faces look too much alike, I was probably halfway through before I realized that the stories were not connected. I kept trying to match the people up, because the stories are plotless slices of life. They don't start, they don't end, and I don't get a sense of the people other than that tiny slice. I wanted more depth.

[Raina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of short sexy pieces depicting many different relationships.
Great visibility for a variety of diverse lives and lifestyles (body type diversity, skin tone diversity, and more). Extra yay for including polyamory (more than once!).

I ate this so fast.
Many of the pieces would fit right in at Oh Joy Sex Toy.

I don't remember there being any recurring characters, or anything tying the stories together besides the theme, and possibly the city/setting.

A small range of illustration approaches - sometimes more shading, sometimes more contrast. All grayscale (though am I imagining some variations in the gray base tone?).

Super yummy.
To amp it up even more, i would have loved to see Maroh add some color-work here, since it was such a pivotal strength of Blue is the Warmest Color.

But yes, good.

[Sebastien Plante · Rating 1 out of 5]

Je ne sais pas trop quoi en penser... Beaucoup de portraits, tous trop courts pour être vraiment bien développés. Un certain côté didactique franchement déplaisant: on a l'impression d'être devant un catalogue des possibilités amoureuses, mais il n'y a pas vraiment d'histoires qui tiennent la route.
Le pire défaut est toutefois le suivant: tout ça se déroule à Montréal et Julie Maroh affuble ses personnages d'une langue invraisemblable, d'un français québécois si mal maîtrisé que j'ai grimacé tout au long de ma lecture. Comme si ce n'était pas assez, le tout est alourdi de renvois ridicules à l'usage d'un public français pour vulgariser des sacres et des expressions qui sonnent terriblement faux.
En outre, le "Canada" fantasmé qui y est dépeint n'existe qu'à travers le seul prisme d'un Montréal cliché, élevé exagérément au rang de Mecque de l'acceptation de la diversité sexuelle.

[Figgy]

Review to come.

Overall a varied and interesting collection of relationships and experiences. Some are more well-rounded than others, and a couple of the short and seemingly incomplete stories come back into play later in the collection.

The art style is really interesting, somehow simple but complex all at once.

[Athena Lathos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Julie Maroh wrote that her intention with Body Music was to illustrate the realities of "bow-legged, chubby, ethnic, trans, pierced, scarred, ill, disabled, old, [and] hairy" people who are too often "outside all the usual aesthetic categories" that we associate with love stories. Though some of these stories were simple in terms of dialogue and scope, the beautiful, surprising, and innovative images in this graphic novel do justice to her intention. There is something gentle and cozy about each of the vignettes in Body Music, and it is really affirming to see so many relationships constructed of people who are "outside" of socially normative aesthetic categories depicted with such sincere tenderness. A few panels in particular-- like those that illustrated a deaf man's hands signing in an argument with his partner-- were so creatively designed that they reminded me of why it is so important to read stories told in this graphic format.

[Floflyy · Rating 4 out of 5]

j'ai adoré ces petits instantanés de vies amoureuses à la sauce Montreal. l'amour sous toutes ses formes à toutes les étapes, très apprécié

[Soobie is expired · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bottino di Lucca 2017!!

L'ho preso solo per il nome dell'autrice. Non avevo nemmeno aperto il volume per vedere di cosa si trattasse. Colpa mia!

Il blu è un colore caldo mi era piaciuto parecchio. Ma già Skandalon aveva preso una sola stellina da me.

Questo non mi è piaciuto perché non è una storia unica ma sono una ventina di storie brevissime, e ognuna rappresenta un tipo diverso di amore. Ecco, forse questa è la forza del libro: la rappresentazione di una realtà ampia e variegata.

I disegni non sono proprio il mio stile.

Peccato. Mi sa che mi prendo una pausa da Julie Maroh...

[Emma Rund · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is only the second graphic novel I have ever read but this was LOVELY. The artwork is beautiful and it read like poetry. A thoughtful and gorgeous meditation on love in its many forms.

[Solux]

c'est sans doute pas franchement le bon timing pour que je lise des histoires d'amours variées et overly cutesy
le côté catalogue ne me dérange pas en soi mais c'est vrai que ça n'aide pas à rentrer dedans
je ne saurais pas pointer mon problème mais je n'arrive pas du tout à accrocher au dessin de jul maroh donc c'est un autre repoussoir
le dernier clou de mon cercueil c'est les notes de bas de page qui traduisent lourdement les québécismes (ce qui n'est pas forcément un choix de l'auteurice) que je suis physiquement incapable de ne pas lire

[Juan Quiroga · Rating 4 out of 5]

RESEÑA COMPLETA EN MI BLOG: https://lavidadeungamerprincipiante.b...

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the inclusiveness of sexualities, genders, race and ethnicities in this collection of vignettes about love and sex. I'm just not really a fan of tiny stories about small moments though. I think fans of that type of storytelling will find this very appealing.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book in one sitting. It's a series of vignettes that take place in various Montréal neighbourhoods, which gave it a big time nostalgia factor for me, between a wide variety of characters. It's super queer and sex positive, and it even deals with polyamorous relationships without judgement, which is definitely outside of the status quo. It deals with fears, insecurities, problems, and the amazing moments of falling in love, lust, and everything in between. None of this should be surprising if you've read Julie Maroh's previous work, Blue is the Warmest Color.

Julie brings the city of Montréal, including it's iconic architecture to life and I also loved some other key aspects of the art, like the French Bulldog in one vignette and the ginger cat in another. I didn't love ye drawings of most of the characters...just not my style, and I was surprised to see that most of the book was monochromatic with the occasional light amount of blue to signify the snow and ice.

[Eris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este libro no es para todos.... y es solo para ti, porque son historias muy intimas que solamente quien ha amado y se ha preguntado “¿este le habrá pasado a alguien más? temo preguntar” podrá entenderlo.

Súper francas las historia, y con detalles muy tiernos con contrastan con escenas eróticas.

Otro libro que no encuentras en librerías y es una perla poderlo leer.

[Juan Naranjo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorprende mucho que, tras hacer una de las novelas gráficas más lúcidas y de mayor impacto de los últimos años (“El azul es un color cálido”), Julie Maroh haya perpetrado un libro tan simple, tan deslucido y tan carente de interés, en el que cuenta una serie de historias de amor, a modo de cortometrajes, en las que el único elemento llamativo es la diversidad (racial, sexual, funcional) de las personas retratadas.

[Mateen Mahboubi · Rating 4 out of 5]

21 short stories of love in all it's colours, shapes and sizes.
Wasn't expecting this to be set in Montreal and was pleasantly surprised (even a brief Guy Maddin mention). The art and stories are simple but it's nice to see the variety of love shown here. Some stories are about the beginning of a relationship, some about the end and everything between.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very ambitious. I value representation and I detest an echo chamber; why was I not blown away by this? Maybe I was expecting more happiness? The vignette style was fine, made me think of the films Paris, Je T’aime & New York, I love You: short stories of various kinds of love all taking place in the same city on an ordinary day (not a holiday). Some of the vignettes connect, but the two story lines that I clearly saw connect seemed like they just should have been told together, or otherwise have been more cohesive. The zero and first chapter make nice book ends that tie together with the near penultimate and last sections, even if I didn’t love their content.

chapters zero and 21 (the last) are about the person who is moving and they talk about love and break ups and on the last page they key their previous lover’s car with ‘I still love you’.
In chapter one we see a mom people watch and mentally set people up as her adult son is impatient with her and then in chapter 18 the talk of his father’s death and the importance of laughter. I didn’t care for chapter one and thought chapter 18 would have been stronger if had more of a connected topic with chapter one. But I did appreciate a familial love being shown as well as the topic of grief being covered.

Loved two of the chapters that discussed polyamory, chapter 7 where it wasn’t the male character’s preference and chapter 9 where one asks to be a part of a polyamorous relationship or a triad/thruple. Wasn’t sure about the one in between ‘Fuck Buddies’ - was the married man bi (or something)? Was he no longer attracted to his wife and just staying due to the societal pressure? He doesn’t seem to care very much for the other man, while the other man seems to deeply care for the married man. So the situation is kind of interesting, but it makes both characters unappealing to me.

Maybe it is just the usual way of a collection of stories is bound (a necessary pun) to have a mix of things you like and things you don’t.



Read this all in one sitting.

[BlurryBug · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a selection of short stories all about relationships and I want a full book of most of them.
Short stories are rarely enough for my curious self it doesn't mean it wasn't satisfying or a good read it just means I wanted more.

I cant fault the book for being what it is. so therefore 4,5 star is the right rating for me.
I loved the diversity of colour, genders and ability in this book. I feel like it is easy to find someone recognise themselves by in this book.

[Jessica Roque · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historias de amor súper diversas en todo el sentido de la palabra. Me encantó cómo se abordaron historias diarias de los personajes, me encantó que los personajes podemos ser nosotros, nuestros vecinos, familiares, amigos… me encantó la normalización de la diversidad de género y sexualidad en los personajes y que justo estas situaciones no fueran el centro de atención porque ¿por qué tendrían que serlo? No había leído nada parecido y por eso creo que vale la pena.

[rhizo · Rating 5 out of 5]

i adored this, which is partly why i devoured it in 24hrs. i picked it up from the library when the graphic memoir i intended to check out ended up being MIA & it proved to be a very reflective, and beautiful replacement read

the color way is in grey/black/white and is just as gripping and full of emotion as a brightly designed comic. really adored the drawing style as well and what was conveyed through moments when speech or thought wasn’t happening

kinda need to go to montreal now!

[Nadine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A series of short stories, or rather vignettes of life. The stories, conversations, impressions of a wide variety of love and relationships are absolutely beautiful. The art style was sometimes realistic and sometimes comedic, and this juxtaposition wasn't for me. I urge everyone to read it when you can though; for the stories.

[David]

In a way, Montreal itself was the "star" of this book--at least I loved seeing the city in graphic novel fashion. Definitely a diverse collection: I can't immediately think of anyone who doesn't see some representation here. And Maroh is true to her intention to celebrate love in all its mysteries, and not be at all judgmental. I think my favourite vignettes are the wordless ones.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ce n'est pas Le Bleu est une couleur chaude MAIS le dessin, les jolies histoires qui racontent l'amour, authentique, divers, avec ses joies et ses peines font qu'on passe de jolis moments. Et je suis contente de l'avoir lu.

[Assh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful vignettes about love from different angles aspects, whether it be at the cusp, in the middle or even the end of the affair. This book doesn't focus exclusively on cis/hetero love either, instead crossing over gender, ethnicity, as well as monogamy and polyamory. Really great collection.

[Sílvia Catalán · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una meravella. Tant les petites històries que expliquen i transmeten moltíssim en poc espai, com els dibuixos brutals i realistes que fan que entris en cada una de les històries.

Petits contes d'amor i relacions molt diferents al que estem acostumats. Un llibre ideal per a obrir les mires.

[LuckyVV · Rating 3 out of 5]

Une BD très chouette aux multiples tons. C'est un peu le pendant relationnel du Vrai sexe de la vrai vie de Cy. Le trait de Julie Maroh est superbe, et les histoires variées et traitées avec réalisme et pudeur.