Category: Graphic Novel
Publisher: Epigraph Publishing
ISBN-13: 9780978942755
Pub. Date: September 2000
Date Read: May 2008
When you think of Paris you think of artists, sidewalk cafes and world-class museums and for Lucy Knisley it’s about all of that and also about French milk. A creamy and delicious drink she can’t seem to get enough of during her month-long stay in Paris, France.
This graphic novel traces Lucy and her mother’s visit to France. While staying at an apartment in the fifth arrondissement, and armed with their guidebooks, the two plan to discover the City of Light and a bit more about themselves.
With her skilled drawings and the random inclusion of a B&W photograph she makes you feel as if you were there to sample one of their delicious meals or joined them in one of their stops at the Shakespeare and Co. bookstore. But, it’s not just about showing the life in Paris, the book also illustrates what happens when you remove yourself from your daily life.
For example the two realize they haven’t seen paid attention to any world news and when they finally get an internet connection they find out that the news is all about the brutality in the world. Did they really want to know? It seems as if they were better off not having found that internet connection.
So what does being away mean to Lucy? She ponders her life in art school and what happens next. She thinks about her boyfriend and friends and how she misses them and she captures the feeling of anxiousness one gets when returning home after a long time.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book because it felt like I was taking a trip through Paris. I wanted to go to the shops where she found the rose-scented red ink and the markets where she got a cool book bag. If you want to do a bit of armchair travel you can’t go wrong with this book.