The Book Bump

First published: 2017
Author: Pierre Wazem
Illustrator: Tom Tirabosco
Language: French
Genre: Urban Fiction
My rating: 1/5

Friends Matt, Serge, and Igor take off to a remote mountain cabin for the weekend. Serge and Igor return to the retreat after their friend Matt goes missing.

This was my first time reading a graphic novel, and I must admit the experience somewhat underwhelmed me. But perhaps that has more to do with the story than the medium.

The back blurb promised “a lyrical and touching tale of friendship put to the test amid mourning and nostalgia”. The story felt quieter than expected and didn’t evoke the emotions I had anticipated.

It’s just two moments in Igor and Serge’s lives seen side by side: when Matt was present and when he wasn’t.

A case could be made that the story is about suicide. Matt didn’t slip and fall but jumped. One of the characters believes this is possible, and some scenes in the flashbacks could point in that direction. The characters are on a quest to try and understand what happened. They are seeking closure. Not knowing what happened is eating away at Igor, who feels somewhat responsible for the death of his friend.

However, there are no significant revelations and no fantastic insights. There is no new take on dealing with loss other than learning to accept and live with it. The only wisdom, perhaps, is that Serge and Igor seem somewhat closer than before. It is as though they feel united in their grief despite disagreeing on how Matt came to lose his life.

Perhaps because I failed to identify with any of the characters, I couldn’t feel their pain when they returned to the cabin to mourn their friend’s loss and try to understand what happened. Perhaps my personal experiences didn’t allow me to fully connect with the characters’ grief.

The blurb also promised “humorous conversations”, but I didn’t find the story funny. The author tries to be witty, but the humour is clichéd and quite stereotypical. Some of the humour relies on outdated stereotypes about professions, which didn’t resonate with me.

The art is distinct and quite minimalist, which is in keeping with the story. It neither outshines the story nor underdelivers.