Ordinary Victories Volume 2: Little Precious

by Manu Larcenet

Overview

Marco comes to terms with having a child, the loss of his father and his relationship with him, his mother comes to terms with living alone, a man dies in the countryside, a journalist cracks under pressure. The final part of this extraordinarily moving story which has received top acclaim. It’s about small things, rare moments, banal sadness and an ordinary guy who’s just trying to live the best way he can.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781561635337
Publisher:	N B M Publishing Company
Publication date:	07/28/2008
Series:	Ordinary Victories Series
Pages:	122
Sales rank:	396,011
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	17 - 18 Years

Editorial Reviews

Completing the story that began with the award-winning Ordinary Victories(2005), this album from French-Belgian Larcenet shows depressive, panic-prone photographer Marco continuing to search for reasons to stay alive. The overall style resembles that of Herge's Tin-Tin: realistic setting (though sketched rather roughly) through which cartoony characters move. Larcenet's characters, however, resemble the Peanuts cast-if readers can imagine a shaggier, big-nosed Charley Brown trying to cope with his father's suicide, his girlfriend's need to have a baby and his sense of political irrelevance. Marco tries to do right by his family responsibilities while discovering how his photos honorably testify to the value of his subjects so that his profession has significance. The story doesn't tie things up neatly by giving one pat solution to the question of why we should go on living. Instead, it accomplishes something that comics can do especially well by juxtaposing bits of life, panels that celebrate happiness next to ones drenched in anger, necessary solitude balanced by companionship. By uniting those conflicting images together within himself, Marco discovers the strength to go on. This is a subtle, powerful work, using the tools of comic art beautifully. (July)

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Publishers Weekly

This graphic novel won top honors at France's Cannes-for-comics, Angoulame, and it's easy to see why. French cartoonist Larcenet has created a leisurely story about Marc, a 20-something photographer, who is embroiled in crisis in both his life and art. His artwork is not satisfying him; his elderly parents and working-class childhood are weighing on him; and his crippling panic attacks have become more frequent. On the other hand, he falls in love and hatches a new photography project aimed at exploring and redeeming his shipyard roots and ailing father. But this is not just another coming-of-age tale. Through his characters, Larcenet presents a vision of French politics, history and society, weaving all of these strands together to create a multilayered book. The dialogue is insightful and sometimes painfully realistic; the artwork firmly roots readers in the French landscape and milieu while maintaining a cartoonish distance with the character designs and expressions. Marc is rarely pleasant and not terribly likable, but his conflicting feelings about love and family, politics and class, and art and money are universally recognizable; the reader respects him even without liking him. The complex characterization and breadth of scope make this a compelling, insightful story that rewards careful attention. (June) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publishers Weekly