Graphic Novel Reading Group discussion

Hi everybody. This is the topic for our Optional Book Club Discussion for July 2012, Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli.


The discussion will occur during this whole month of July.


If your post will contain spoilers, then please type SPOILERS in capital letters at the top of your post (or use the html code for spoilers) so that members who are still reading or have not yet read the book can avoid critical details that can spoil their reading.


Enjoy our optional book club discussion everyone.

Hi guys/gals.

I’ve discovered a nice discussion guide about Asterios Polyp and I thought we could use it. It was actually created by a member of this group Seth and it’s on his website (http://goodokbad.com).

So thanks for that Seth. :)

Here’s the link to the Discussion Guide

Well, I guess we should keep this more like a free-for-all discussion after all.


To me this was a very pleasant book to read. The art is really gorgeous and pleasant to look at. Mazzuchelli is obviously someone who really masters the art form, and shows a variety of ways you can deal with things like page layouts, lettering, and styles of art. It’s really interesting to look at but it also reads really well.

About the story, I think I enjoyed much more the different theories he talks about than the story itself. The main characters were interesting but I never felt really attached to them. Some of the secondary characters were a bit two-dimensional and unrealistic, I didn’t care for some of them like the lady with esoteric believes or the kid that only talks about Marxism. Also, the pretentious theatre director was really annoying.

What did you guys thought about the ending? I thought it was a really odd way to conclude the story.

So to me this a beautiful book and a pleasant read but it isn’t one of those books that you keep thinking about even ages after you read it.

Haven't finished yet, but I do like the set up, the almost monochromatic look to the sections, and to me the characters are well represented.

Hey there Ken.

Could you tell me what you liked about the ending?

To me it felt really abrupt, and it didn't relate in any way to the relationship between Asterios and Hana which is the center of the story to me.

I'm ok with the things you mentioned Ken. It was that other bit that I thought was an odd choice.

I'm sorry, I should have explained what I was exactly referring too. I meant that bit at the very end.


(view spoiler)[The part when an asteroid is coming right towards Hana's house and will obviously kill them both. (hide spoiler)]

Yeah, I noticed they had mentioned it before in the book, but having it happen in the end made everything that happened before look a bit less important.

You point out some interesting things.

I also liked the sequence when Asterios dreams he's descending into mythological Hades, and how it mirrors the sequence where he goes to a subway station after his house caughts fire.

Hello, I'm new in the group... I read some month ago this graphic novel and really got me.
I like the differences, as NYKen mention, in the drawings (one architectural and geometric and other artistically and emotional) and colors to remark the contrast between the couple, the pragmatism and the art,
I see this as a novel about the growing and maturity of a relationship with some mystical and supernatural approaches, like the ying-yang and the premonitions all over it, something like Kusturica's Time of Gypsies, that have a very dramatic structure with some magical events, one can say, magic realism. The dreams resembling the Orpheus and Euridice story is brilliant, the analogy is pretty clever.

NYKen wrote: "@Cyndi - That's a good point. I liked the tones and tints used. It helps showcase the mood of the book, as opposed to using complete visual colors, which would have taken away a lot of the mood pre..."

Very nice points Ken....I also view the story as cyclic. I feel that since Asterios snd Hana came full circle that their blissful state left them with nothing left unfinished so a perfect "ending" came with the asteroid...symbolism at its finest.

Finished this a while ago, but haven't got round to commenting or reviewing it before now. Anyway, I really enjoyed it. Like most of you, I was more taken by the art than the narrative, but even at that, I enjoyed the story. And I liked the ending; I thought it harked back to Asterios' constant use of 'it's-either-this-or-it's-that' type pseudo-dialectics when he was doing his pompous intellectual bit. (view spoiler)[It's either the end of everything for you or it's a pretty shooting star. (hide spoiler)] Can't be both, can it?

I just finished it a couple of days ago and I really like it. One of the things that I liked most was the disversity of subjects and the different points of view exposed about them. I think it's a good example to read for those people who think that comics are just about super heroes and don't have enough depth.

Although I didn't expect the end, it didn't disappoint me. As a whole (story and art), I think this book is great.