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Factory Summers
The legendary cartoonist aims his pen and paper toward his high school summer job
For three summers beginning when he was 16, cartoonist Guy Delisle worked at a pulp and paper factory in Quebec City. Factory Summers chronicles the daily rhythms of life in the mill, and the twelve hour shifts he spent in a hot, noisy building filled with arcane machinery. Delisle takes his noted outsider perspective and applies it domestically, this time as a boy amongst men through the universal rite of passage of the summer job. Even as a teenager, Delisle’s keen eye for hypocrisy highlights the tensions of class and the rampant sexism an all-male workplace permits.
Guy works the floor doing physically strenuous tasks. He is one of the few young people on site, and furthermore gets the job through his father’s connections, a fact which rightfully earns him disdain from the lifers. Guy’s dad spends his whole career in the white collar offices, working 9 to 5 instead of the rigorous 12-hour shifts of the unionized labor. Guy and his dad aren’t close, and Factory Summers leaves Delisle reconciling whether the job led to his dad’s aloofness and unhappiness.
On his days off, Guy finds refuge in art, a world far beyond the factory floor. Delisle shows himself rediscovering comics at the public library, and preparing for animation school–only to be told on the first day, “There are no jobs in animation.” Eager to pursue a job he enjoys, Guy throws caution to the wind.
For three summers beginning when he was 16, cartoonist Guy Delisle worked at a pulp and paper factory in Quebec City. Factory Summers chronicles the daily rhythms of life in the mill, and the twelve hour shifts he spent in a hot, noisy building filled with arcane machinery. Delisle takes his noted outsider perspective and applies it domestically, this time as a boy amongst men through the universal rite of passage of the summer job. Even as a teenager, Delisle’s keen eye for hypocrisy highlights the tensions of class and the rampant sexism an all-male workplace permits.
Guy works the floor doing physically strenuous tasks. He is one of the few young people on site, and furthermore gets the job through his father’s connections, a fact which rightfully earns him disdain from the lifers. Guy’s dad spends his whole career in the white collar offices, working 9 to 5 instead of the rigorous 12-hour shifts of the unionized labor. Guy and his dad aren’t close, and Factory Summers leaves Delisle reconciling whether the job led to his dad’s aloofness and unhappiness.
On his days off, Guy finds refuge in art, a world far beyond the factory floor. Delisle shows himself rediscovering comics at the public library, and preparing for animation school–only to be told on the first day, “There are no jobs in animation.” Eager to pursue a job he enjoys, Guy throws caution to the wind.
156 pages, Hardcover
First published January 26, 2021
27 people are currently reading
1373 people want to read
About the author
Guy Delisle
41 books1,835 followersBorn in Quebec, Canada, Guy Delisle studied animation at Sheridan College. Delisle has worked for numerous animation studios around the world, including CinéGroupe in Montreal.
Drawing from his experience at animation studios in China and North Korea, Delisle's graphic novels Shenzen and Pyongyang depict these two countries from a Westerner's perspective. A third graphic novel, Chroniques Birmanes, recounts his time spent in Myanmar with his wife, a Médecins Sans Frontières administrator.
Drawing from his experience at animation studios in China and North Korea, Delisle's graphic novels Shenzen and Pyongyang depict these two countries from a Westerner's perspective. A third graphic novel, Chroniques Birmanes, recounts his time spent in Myanmar with his wife, a Médecins Sans Frontières administrator.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 459 reviews
August 19, 2021
Guy Delisle is just flat out a great cartoonist. He's really by now honed his skills so we can be sure we are in more than capable hands. And I always read everything he does. He wrote sort of travel memoirs early on while traveling with his wife who went to Korea and China for her work, and I didn't think the stories he wrote of those trips were all that compelling to accompany the great art he did on those occasions. And something about his grumpy/cheeky tone bugged me. But I began to warm up to him as he became a parent and made his Bad Parenting cartoon books.
This book is a comics memoir looking back on the time Delisle's worked in a paper mill factory during summers when he was in school, the place where his Dad worked as an engineer (and did some oof his own drawing). The work in the factory is as one would expect pretty boring, and so there's not much to tell, really, and we don't really know why he is telling this story in particular, but he sort of likes some of the work, though he is an outsider, a teenager, a summer guy, not a lifer, and his Dad has an office, so there's separation he feels with other workers. He's an art student, draws when he can, reads books. So this is like the everyday memoirs of Paul in Montreal by Michael Rabagliati, a slice-of-life story about a factory.
But as with his travel memoirs, I ask myself: Why am I reading this? What does he want me to know? The point isn't clear. Is it about his Dad, who also drew stuff? Nope, no reflection about that drawing, nor really about his Dad, who he was distant from and whose office he only visited once one summer. We don't know why he was estranged or who they were as son and father. The ending fast forwards to right after his Dad's death at 89, when Delisle sees his own books on his Dad's shelf, with a pretty flat and distant note to his Dad. . . it's moderately interesting, I guess, but we're left only with questions.
My main interest in the book is in the fact that I alsoworked at a factory, Keebler (cookies, pop tarts, crackers, right) as a college student two summers. My older brother who was an executive got me the job and so like Guy I was an outsider as a summer guy and because of the nepotism of my powerful bro getting me the job, so I never connected with the guys, who took breaks on the roof sometimes and never told me. What did I do every break I got? I read books! So I personally related to Guy's factory story because I had done similar things. And I sometimes tell stories of those summers, but they aren't really worth a book. Guy's book is possibly worth the time because he's a good artist and if you had your own summer work to reflect on.
This book is a comics memoir looking back on the time Delisle's worked in a paper mill factory during summers when he was in school, the place where his Dad worked as an engineer (and did some oof his own drawing). The work in the factory is as one would expect pretty boring, and so there's not much to tell, really, and we don't really know why he is telling this story in particular, but he sort of likes some of the work, though he is an outsider, a teenager, a summer guy, not a lifer, and his Dad has an office, so there's separation he feels with other workers. He's an art student, draws when he can, reads books. So this is like the everyday memoirs of Paul in Montreal by Michael Rabagliati, a slice-of-life story about a factory.
But as with his travel memoirs, I ask myself: Why am I reading this? What does he want me to know? The point isn't clear. Is it about his Dad, who also drew stuff? Nope, no reflection about that drawing, nor really about his Dad, who he was distant from and whose office he only visited once one summer. We don't know why he was estranged or who they were as son and father. The ending fast forwards to right after his Dad's death at 89, when Delisle sees his own books on his Dad's shelf, with a pretty flat and distant note to his Dad. . . it's moderately interesting, I guess, but we're left only with questions.
My main interest in the book is in the fact that I alsoworked at a factory, Keebler (cookies, pop tarts, crackers, right) as a college student two summers. My older brother who was an executive got me the job and so like Guy I was an outsider as a summer guy and because of the nepotism of my powerful bro getting me the job, so I never connected with the guys, who took breaks on the roof sometimes and never told me. What did I do every break I got? I read books! So I personally related to Guy's factory story because I had done similar things. And I sometimes tell stories of those summers, but they aren't really worth a book. Guy's book is possibly worth the time because he's a good artist and if you had your own summer work to reflect on.
August 2, 2021
Guy Delisle recounts his teenage years working a summer job at a Quebec paper mill in Factory Summers. And… that’s about it?
Delisle works the night shift and learns the techniques of his unusual job while putting up with disdainful heckling for going to university from his older, surlier co-workers. We see him finding his path, switching from a fine arts degree to animation and discovering the wider world of comics.
And it’s his years in animation and experience creating his many previous books that make this one such an easy and well put-together read. Despite some of the processes’ complexity, you understand exactly how a paper mill operated in the 1980s and what it takes to produce the daily newspapers we take for granted. It’s also about his distant relationship with his dad - sort of. It’s barely touched on really.
Masterful cartooning aside, there’s so little here that’s even slightly compelling and I was frequently nodding off reading this. I’ve been a big fan of Delisle’s memoir comics for years but Factory Summers really feels like he’s scraping the bottom of the barrel. Dull and forgettable, I wouldn’t even recommend it to Guy Delisle fans.
Delisle works the night shift and learns the techniques of his unusual job while putting up with disdainful heckling for going to university from his older, surlier co-workers. We see him finding his path, switching from a fine arts degree to animation and discovering the wider world of comics.
And it’s his years in animation and experience creating his many previous books that make this one such an easy and well put-together read. Despite some of the processes’ complexity, you understand exactly how a paper mill operated in the 1980s and what it takes to produce the daily newspapers we take for granted. It’s also about his distant relationship with his dad - sort of. It’s barely touched on really.
Masterful cartooning aside, there’s so little here that’s even slightly compelling and I was frequently nodding off reading this. I’ve been a big fan of Delisle’s memoir comics for years but Factory Summers really feels like he’s scraping the bottom of the barrel. Dull and forgettable, I wouldn’t even recommend it to Guy Delisle fans.
February 1, 2023
3,5/5
Guy Delisle’dan daha önceden Rehine ve Pyongyang Günlükleri’ni okumuştum. Kendisinin fazla yazıya gerek kalmadan, basit çizgilerle içinde olunan zorlayıcı durumu aktarma şeklini çok seviyorum. O yüzden Fabrika Günlükleri’ne de içim çok rahat başladım. Ancak bu sefer tam da aradığım şeyi bulamadım.
Kitap, 16 yaşında yazlık bir iş olarak babasının da çalıştığı bir kayıt fabrikasında işçi olarak çalışan Guy’in yani kendisinin hikayesi. Üç yaza yayılan hikayesinde bir yandan erkek egemen bir ortam olarak fabrika hayatını, mavi-beyaz yaka ayrımını aktarırken bir yandan da kendi hayatına dair küçük detaylar veriyor. Üniversite için Fransızca’nın hiçbir hükmünün olmadığı Toronto bölgesine geçerken İngilizce ile yaşadığı sınavı, yarım kalan, başlayamayan aşklarını ve asıl dikkatimi çeken babasıyla olan mesafeli ilişkisini anlatıyor. Ancak bu sefer bütün bu konulara çok yüzeysel olarak değinip geçmeyi tercih etmiş. Okuduğunuzda bir şeyleri derinlemesine irdelemekten ziyade, bu döneme dair bir anı bırakmak istediğini anlıyorsunuz. Ama yine de biraz daha detay okuma isteği uyandırıyor insanda. Normalde ne yazsa okuyun derim ama Fabrika Günlükleri olmasa da olur bence.
Guy Delisle’dan daha önceden Rehine ve Pyongyang Günlükleri’ni okumuştum. Kendisinin fazla yazıya gerek kalmadan, basit çizgilerle içinde olunan zorlayıcı durumu aktarma şeklini çok seviyorum. O yüzden Fabrika Günlükleri’ne de içim çok rahat başladım. Ancak bu sefer tam da aradığım şeyi bulamadım.
Kitap, 16 yaşında yazlık bir iş olarak babasının da çalıştığı bir kayıt fabrikasında işçi olarak çalışan Guy’in yani kendisinin hikayesi. Üç yaza yayılan hikayesinde bir yandan erkek egemen bir ortam olarak fabrika hayatını, mavi-beyaz yaka ayrımını aktarırken bir yandan da kendi hayatına dair küçük detaylar veriyor. Üniversite için Fransızca’nın hiçbir hükmünün olmadığı Toronto bölgesine geçerken İngilizce ile yaşadığı sınavı, yarım kalan, başlayamayan aşklarını ve asıl dikkatimi çeken babasıyla olan mesafeli ilişkisini anlatıyor. Ancak bu sefer bütün bu konulara çok yüzeysel olarak değinip geçmeyi tercih etmiş. Okuduğunuzda bir şeyleri derinlemesine irdelemekten ziyade, bu döneme dair bir anı bırakmak istediğini anlıyorsunuz. Ama yine de biraz daha detay okuma isteği uyandırıyor insanda. Normalde ne yazsa okuyun derim ama Fabrika Günlükleri olmasa da olur bence.
August 11, 2021
Guy Delisle details his summers working at a paper mill in Quebec in his time off from college. He's very detailed (to the point I think I could start a job at the mill now). However, none of it is very compelling. I worked similar summer jobs through school and have way more stories to tell about how we'd pass the time and make an extremely monotonous job fun.
Received a review copy from Drawn & Quarterly and NetGalley
Received a review copy from Drawn & Quarterly and NetGalley
July 21, 2021
On the one hand its a biography of the author's summers working at a paper factory with a pretty straightforward chronological narrative. On the other hand, this is a story about alienation: alienation of labor from profit, alienation from family (the throughline of the author's relationship with his dad who works as an engineer at the factory is quietly heartbreaking), alienation from peers and toxic gender roles, and the structural alienation of good trade union jobs from a community. The cartoonish yellow and grey art is very striking as well. Quiet, but a very good read.
**Thanks to the artist, publisher, and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
**Thanks to the artist, publisher, and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
January 2, 2022
Delisle delivers a matter of fact memoir of his summer job working at a pulp and paper mill in Quebec City. He contrasts his fine arts student self with the blue-collar crowd around him and vaguely makes a point about his detached relationship with his father, but it's mostly a string of day-to-day anecdotes. Having spent my summers milking cows between semesters of college, I found it pretty relatable even if it isn't 100 percent engaging at all times.
May 20, 2023
A Summer Job at the Mill
One thing about working at the mill when you're under twenty is that you can see the benefit of staying in school.
In this graphic memoir, a teenager in Quebec gets a summer job at a massive pulp and paper mill. As an aspiring artist (graphic novelist) he is a bit of an outlier and observes the regular workers, the lifers, as if they were an unfamiliar species. The factory, which produced paper, is out-sized and ancient, dwarfing the human labourers.
He works there two summers, and earns good money, enough to pay for his school year (yeah, those were the days). He makes some friends, endures mild hazing and confusing encounters, does hard and dangerous work.
Four stars because the tale is not complicated, but is sincere and quietly understated. The art is simple too, with black and white with a splash of yellow to accent a character or an action.
One thing about working at the mill when you're under twenty is that you can see the benefit of staying in school.
In this graphic memoir, a teenager in Quebec gets a summer job at a massive pulp and paper mill. As an aspiring artist (graphic novelist) he is a bit of an outlier and observes the regular workers, the lifers, as if they were an unfamiliar species. The factory, which produced paper, is out-sized and ancient, dwarfing the human labourers.
He works there two summers, and earns good money, enough to pay for his school year (yeah, those were the days). He makes some friends, endures mild hazing and confusing encounters, does hard and dangerous work.
Four stars because the tale is not complicated, but is sincere and quietly understated. The art is simple too, with black and white with a splash of yellow to accent a character or an action.
March 3, 2021
C’est la première BD que je lis sur l’univers des usines à papier, je l’ai trouvée vraiment réussie. Parce qu’elle me rappelle ma propre enfance et les questions que je me suis posées, le monde en pleine transformation que j’ai traversé. Il y a dans cette BD des évocations très touchantes, celle de la relation père-fils un peu boîteuse, celle d’un univers où la tendresse entre hommes s’exprime de manière détournée, celle d’un milieu conservateur, où la différence n’a pas sa place. Le contenu documentaire de cette BD est remarquable! Bref, à lire :)
October 25, 2021
Rachel Cooke’s Guardian review of this book last week piqued my interest, particularly her reference to “the emotionally silent world of men” – a poetic phrase for a trait that could more crassly described. But it was the illustrative panels from the book that caught my eye: the almost blank cartoonish narrator, the strong lines of the buildings and machines, the soft palette of grays set off by a bold cadmium yellow. It’s the only color allowed in the book, which first appears as smoke plumes from a massive paper mill then shifts from object to object. In a graphic novel line and color and hectic hand-lettering are correlatives for emotion. When it works, as it does here, the result is deeply satisfying.
I haven’t read any other books by Guy Delisle. I’ve seen them but the titles looked grim (Hostage; Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea) and I shied away. This book is not grim. It falls comfortably into the category of melancholy-Canadian best defined for me by Seth (aka Gregory Gallant). Delisle makes the most of the industrial Québec City setting, and his tale of an artist entangled in a blue-collar job, a transient, comical and vaguely untrustworthy figure, will ring true to anyone who’s found themselves out of their element. The truth is, for many young artists estrangement is their element. For me it brought back summers I spent on a painting crew: on long trips back and forth from job sites I’d be in the back of the van on the tarpaulins among the turpentine and paint cans reading a book. “All book-learning and no common sense.” So it goes…
A tip of the hat, again, to Drawn & Quarterly – great publisher, great bookstore!
I haven’t read any other books by Guy Delisle. I’ve seen them but the titles looked grim (Hostage; Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea) and I shied away. This book is not grim. It falls comfortably into the category of melancholy-Canadian best defined for me by Seth (aka Gregory Gallant). Delisle makes the most of the industrial Québec City setting, and his tale of an artist entangled in a blue-collar job, a transient, comical and vaguely untrustworthy figure, will ring true to anyone who’s found themselves out of their element. The truth is, for many young artists estrangement is their element. For me it brought back summers I spent on a painting crew: on long trips back and forth from job sites I’d be in the back of the van on the tarpaulins among the turpentine and paint cans reading a book. “All book-learning and no common sense.” So it goes…
A tip of the hat, again, to Drawn & Quarterly – great publisher, great bookstore!
May 29, 2022
No sé qué me pasa con Delisle, que me resulta siempre entretenido y fácil de leer, y reconozco que hace muy bien su trabajo, pero al final siempre me deja un tanto fría. Aun así, este cómic me ha suscitado más simpatía que otros suyos.
June 6, 2021
Delisle recuerda los tres veranos que se pasó trabajando en la fábrica de papel de su ciudad natal a través de todo lo referente a la producción, su situación familiar (en especial el vínculo con su padre, ingeniero en la fábrica), y las inevitables anécdotas con el resto de trabajadores. El tema funciona sobre todo porque Delisle tiene oficio y acierta a dosificar cada uno de esos apartados. Unas vivencias son divertidas, otras tienen su retranca cuando hablan sobre los riesgos laborales desde quienes se lo toman como parte de su día a día, alguna demuestran que el paso del tiempo tampoco dejó mucho a lo que agarrarse... Esta perspectiva costumbrista se enriquece con los dos momentos en los cuales toma distancia de esa cotidianidad dejando volar la imaginación: sendas secuencias casi mudas donde está lo mejor de Crónicas de juventud. A los fans de Delisle les gustará.
April 9, 2022
Translated from the French by Helge Dascher.
The author is well known for his graphic memoirs - some I love, others not so much. I didn't really understand the point he was trying to make here. At 16 he starts working at the pulp and paper factory, and does so for three summers. He's the new kid so gets the night shift.
He's an artistic kid immersed in the life of blue collar workers. It's a rite of passage in some ways, but other than enjoying his distinct illustration style, I didn't find anything compelling about this memoir.
The author is well known for his graphic memoirs - some I love, others not so much. I didn't really understand the point he was trying to make here. At 16 he starts working at the pulp and paper factory, and does so for three summers. He's the new kid so gets the night shift.
He's an artistic kid immersed in the life of blue collar workers. It's a rite of passage in some ways, but other than enjoying his distinct illustration style, I didn't find anything compelling about this memoir.
February 7, 2021
J'habite juste en face de l'usine dont il parle, je vois sa fumée de mes fenêtres. Mais jamais plus je ne la verrai de la même manière, étant entrée par la petite porte dans la grande usine. C'est toujours ainsi que Delisle nous présente la vie: à hauteur d'être humain, on parle des grandes choses, des rêves d'un ado et de liens familiaux. J'aime son regard très documentaire sur les choses, sa façon si discrète de nous montrer l'émotion à travers de petits détails du dessin. Fantastique.
March 12, 2021
3,5
Quand Guy Delisle nous emmène dans le passé au lieu de nous emmener autour du monde, ça a un petit côté Rabagliati!
Quand Guy Delisle nous emmène dans le passé au lieu de nous emmener autour du monde, ça a un petit côté Rabagliati!
June 5, 2021
Guy Delisle raconte dans ce roman graphique son boulot d'été dans une usine de papier. C'est une expérience que ceux qui n'ont pas de parents riches connaissent tous : le boulot abrutissant en usine avec des collègues un peu white trash qui y bossent toute l'année. Pour moi, ce fut des usines agroalimentaires : viande, poissonnerie, patisserie, plats cuisinés... Mon département agricole nourrit la France et envoie même ses plats à l'étranger. J'ai passé plusieurs étés à 2°C dans des usines frigorifiques et l'expérience de l'auteur a fait écho à mes souvenirs. Cela m'a permis de me replonger dans mon passé d'intérimaire le temps de la lecture. Cela permet de relativiser le boulot alimentaire mais moins pénible que j'ai maintenant. C'est la vertu de ce livre : permettre de relativiser.
January 12, 2022
Factory Summers, Guy Delisle (1966- ), 2021, 152pp., ISBN 9781770464599
Summer job at a paper mill in Quebec City, early 1980s. Comic-book format. Black, white, gray, and yellow.
We learn:
Why to stay in school. (Hope to qualify for some non-paper-mill job.)
How to move a massive roll of paper on hanging hooks without it penduluming back and forth. (As it swings to its farthest-forward position, quickly move the support hooks forward over the roll.)
Why logs are no longer floated downstream. (Waterways clog with bark.)
The drawings are good, showing the big machines. He reports the crude comments of his co-workers, which we could do without.
Quiz time!
https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work...
Summer job at a paper mill in Quebec City, early 1980s. Comic-book format. Black, white, gray, and yellow.
We learn:
Why to stay in school. (Hope to qualify for some non-paper-mill job.)
How to move a massive roll of paper on hanging hooks without it penduluming back and forth. (As it swings to its farthest-forward position, quickly move the support hooks forward over the roll.)
Why logs are no longer floated downstream. (Waterways clog with bark.)
The drawings are good, showing the big machines. He reports the crude comments of his co-workers, which we could do without.
Quiz time!
https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work...
August 23, 2022
Yaz aylarında babasının da çalıştığı kağıt fabrikasında çalışan ve çizer olmak isteyen genç Guy'ın hikayesi.
Bu noktada bir baba-oğul hikayesi umuyoruz ama bu yok. Yani babası aynı fabrikada çalışmasa ya da babası hikaye de hiç olmasa çok da bir şey fark etmezdi. Hikayenin bu yönü oldukça eksik.
Öte yandan fabrika ortamı, beyaz yaka mavi yaka durumları, çalışanların psikolojisi vb. durumlar olduğu gibi gerçekçi bir şekilde ve güzel çizimlerle yansıtılmış. Fazlası da yok.
Bu noktada bir baba-oğul hikayesi umuyoruz ama bu yok. Yani babası aynı fabrikada çalışmasa ya da babası hikaye de hiç olmasa çok da bir şey fark etmezdi. Hikayenin bu yönü oldukça eksik.
Öte yandan fabrika ortamı, beyaz yaka mavi yaka durumları, çalışanların psikolojisi vb. durumlar olduğu gibi gerçekçi bir şekilde ve güzel çizimlerle yansıtılmış. Fazlası da yok.
Read
January 2, 2022Graphic autobio about working a difficult summer job in between semesters away at art school.
I've come to expect rawer, uglier stuff from memoiristic storytelling, and was surprised to find almost no struggle at all in these tidy, light pages, either within or between characters, even though its protagonist is going through what is traditionally--particularly for men--a period of troubled searching and resistance. Or maybe that's just what I think most people do because it's what most people write about. Maybe there are plenty of people who just sort of set out to do what they think they'd be good at, and then they just get started doing it. Actually maybe there are plenty of people writing about that, too, and I have just been drawn to the ones who struggled.
Anyway.
The panels and pages are cleanly, tidily arranged, and tell this plain little mechanical workaday story--about learning how to do work you don't want to keep doing while you study work you would like to keep doing--with a close attention that feels thoughtful and forthright in a way that is a pleasure to read.
It's not a peaches and cream sort of story, either, though. There is real menace at the paper plant--a possible creep coworker, dangerous equipment, terrible hours for the human body, and the maliciousness that can arise between the bored and stupid on jobs where a narrow standard of behavior, comportment, and character are internally policed.
Even these, though, are touched upon lightly and then passed over. DeLisle has created here a bit of a bildungsroman, insofar as it is the story of a young man forging his identity very nearly in the literal shadow of his father, but it is a bildungsroman without personal growth, because our hero was more or less fine from the get-go. A memoir where nobody cries and nobody screams and nobody blames anybody for how miserable they are or were. Wild stuff. Very Canadian, if you've got the stomach for it.
85% out of 100%. Charming, interesting workplace memoir. I would read it again, and I would recommend it.
I've come to expect rawer, uglier stuff from memoiristic storytelling, and was surprised to find almost no struggle at all in these tidy, light pages, either within or between characters, even though its protagonist is going through what is traditionally--particularly for men--a period of troubled searching and resistance. Or maybe that's just what I think most people do because it's what most people write about. Maybe there are plenty of people who just sort of set out to do what they think they'd be good at, and then they just get started doing it. Actually maybe there are plenty of people writing about that, too, and I have just been drawn to the ones who struggled.
Anyway.
The panels and pages are cleanly, tidily arranged, and tell this plain little mechanical workaday story--about learning how to do work you don't want to keep doing while you study work you would like to keep doing--with a close attention that feels thoughtful and forthright in a way that is a pleasure to read.
It's not a peaches and cream sort of story, either, though. There is real menace at the paper plant--a possible creep coworker, dangerous equipment, terrible hours for the human body, and the maliciousness that can arise between the bored and stupid on jobs where a narrow standard of behavior, comportment, and character are internally policed.
Even these, though, are touched upon lightly and then passed over. DeLisle has created here a bit of a bildungsroman, insofar as it is the story of a young man forging his identity very nearly in the literal shadow of his father, but it is a bildungsroman without personal growth, because our hero was more or less fine from the get-go. A memoir where nobody cries and nobody screams and nobody blames anybody for how miserable they are or were. Wild stuff. Very Canadian, if you've got the stomach for it.
85% out of 100%. Charming, interesting workplace memoir. I would read it again, and I would recommend it.
November 29, 2021
A slight change for Guy Delisle here, he's still the outsider observing a different culture, but this time it's his memories of a couple of summers working in a huge paper mill. As usual his observations are spot on, well worth checking out
February 14, 2021
Grâce au petit dernier de Guy Delisle, voilà une improbable incursion pour le lecteur dans l’univers d’une « shop » dans les années 1980, celui de l’usine Daishowa, un milieu exclusivement masculin.
Réflexions sur la masculinité, sur les relations père-fils, sur l’art, sur la valeur du travail. Parfois drôle, parfois étonnant, parfois nostalgique, ce roman graphique se lit sans trop d’effort. Et on passe plusieurs minutes à observer les images et à comprendre le fonctionnement des machines. Une fiction documentaire où les détails mécaniques subtils s’enchevêtrent avec les relations humaines tout aussi finement présentées.
Si vous vivez à Québec, ou comme moi tout près de la rivière St-Charles, vous serez doublement enchanté!
Mon fils de 9 ans et mon mari ont aussi bien aimé.
Réflexions sur la masculinité, sur les relations père-fils, sur l’art, sur la valeur du travail. Parfois drôle, parfois étonnant, parfois nostalgique, ce roman graphique se lit sans trop d’effort. Et on passe plusieurs minutes à observer les images et à comprendre le fonctionnement des machines. Une fiction documentaire où les détails mécaniques subtils s’enchevêtrent avec les relations humaines tout aussi finement présentées.
Si vous vivez à Québec, ou comme moi tout près de la rivière St-Charles, vous serez doublement enchanté!
Mon fils de 9 ans et mon mari ont aussi bien aimé.
January 23, 2021
Un bel album de Guy Delisle, qui se rapproche presque des Paul de Michel Rabagliati dans le ton. Bien qu'il soit assez différent des autres Chroniques, Guy Delisle est toujours passionnant et informatif!
August 6, 2021
As someone with experience working in this type of factory for a couple summers during school, knowing that it wouldn't result in a career for me, this did work for me. Ultimately it was a "small" story that I do wonder why Delisle felt strongly about telling the story about. Especially compared to the much more significant works that Delisle has done in the past. If you've read any of his previous work, you know that he can tell a great story and his art is on point, as always.
July 18, 2021
Delisle’s newest is a departure from his usual travelogue format. He recounts stories of working summers in a loud, stifling paper mill during his teenage and college years. Excellent cartooning from end to end, and will go down with Derf’s “Trashed” and others as one of the great “crappy first jobs” graphic novels.
December 20, 2025
Já disse que Guy Delisle é sinônimo de uma avaliação que merece cinco estrelas, e em Crônicas da Juventude não é diferente. O curioso é que não fiquei sabendo que este quadrinho tinha sido lançado no Brasil, embora seja de 2021. Nele, acompanhamos Delisle contando suas experiências durante seu trabalho de verão (coisa do Norte Global) em uma fábrica de papel no Canadá. Talvez muitos diriam: "Tá, mas que graça tem acompanhar uma rotina diária de trabalho cansativa e repetitiva?" A graça é como o autor conta utilizando a linguagem dos quadrinhos. É tão cheio de graça que ficamos sabendo algo que nunca saberíamos se não fosse a leitura deste quadrinho, que é o funcionamento de uma fábrica de rolos enormes de papel que, posteriormente, serão usados por diversas gráficas. E, numa dessas, podem até se tornar um livro ou uma revista em quadrinhos. Vejam a metalinguagem! Coisas que só os quasdrinhos fazem para você!
May 29, 2023
Nothing beats a summer job to orient a young man or woman to his or her current, and future, place in the world; to highlight the need for further education or training in a skilled profession; to teach the importance of work for the dignity of work itself; to encourage team effort, cooperation, and trust; and to concretely connect (beyond all doubt) these two basic ideas: (1) money does not grow on trees, and (2) if you can't support yourself through work, you won't have money to pay your bills.
This graphic novel is an unassuming, slice of life story about the transition to young adulthood, and how the summer job plays a central role in that transition.
This graphic novel is an unassuming, slice of life story about the transition to young adulthood, and how the summer job plays a central role in that transition.
January 2, 2022
Guy Delisle writes in a bland, matter-of-fact style that removes most tension or depth from his non-fiction narratives. Fortunately, he's usually writing about some distant, intriguing locale, so the fact that nothing much happens is usually covered up by the unusual customs of, say, Pyongyang. In Factory Summers, Delisle is writing about working in a paper factory in Quebec. It's not exactly exotic.
But it's still fairly compelling. The paper-making machines are the size of a locomotive, and Delisle's crisp illustrations manage to portray them as suitably intimidating. Even though he spends most of his time reading, resting in the break room, or brooming paper into a hole in the floor, I came away from the book feeling unexpectedly knowledgeable about paper-making and factory life. And being a boring teenager, I guess. Factory Summers is far from Delisle's best book (he completely avoids the more interesting story of his limited relationship with his father), but it's still a decently intriguing read.
But it's still fairly compelling. The paper-making machines are the size of a locomotive, and Delisle's crisp illustrations manage to portray them as suitably intimidating. Even though he spends most of his time reading, resting in the break room, or brooming paper into a hole in the floor, I came away from the book feeling unexpectedly knowledgeable about paper-making and factory life. And being a boring teenager, I guess. Factory Summers is far from Delisle's best book (he completely avoids the more interesting story of his limited relationship with his father), but it's still a decently intriguing read.
June 27, 2022
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this graphic novel. I love the art style and context. The style and dialogue have a very calming effect to the reader. Would undeniably recommend.
May 2, 2022
Interesting but not nearly as good as his other books. Really hope he takes up another journey soon and creates a new travelogue.
May 25, 2023
The first thing I do when visiting home is go to the library with my mom, and today was no different. I came home with a bunch of graphic memoirs and started with Factory Summers, which I finished in one setting.
Overall I like the art style and found the stories of what it was like working in a paper mill in the mid-80s interesting. The plot isn't propulsive, and I'm not sure the narrative has a point per ce, but the word-to-art ratio was perfect for my jet lagged brain.
Content notes:
Overall I like the art style and found the stories of what it was like working in a paper mill in the mid-80s interesting. The plot isn't propulsive, and I'm not sure the narrative has a point per ce, but the word-to-art ratio was perfect for my jet lagged brain.
Content notes:
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