Thoreau A sublime life

The excellent French artist Dan presents great American nature-writer Henry David Thoreau in a rather gothic manner. Figures and faces are elongated; angles of regard are acutely canted more often than perpendicular, such that this could be Batman or Hellboy. The colors, however, are earth- and cloud-toned and evenly lit, befitting the many forest and inland water settings and the northern-states climates in which Thoreau lived. As for the text, Le Roy emphasizes Thoreau's political stances his reasons for the Walden experiment, his practice of civil disobedience, and his abolitionism and repudiates viewing him as either a pacifist or an anarchist. He quotes enough from Thoreau's writings and conversation to make his lifelong contrariness obvious, if hardly as obnoxious as many found and still find it, then and since. The six-page afterword by French American literature scholar Michel Granger, drawn from a conversation with Le Roy, is poorly translated and doesn't offer much in the way of illumination. Nevertheless, together, the art and text, including Le Roy's brief foreword, constitute an attractive biographical introduction to Thoreau.--Olson, Ray Copyright 2016 Booklist

Rescuing Henry David Thoreau from the musty stacks of quietly principled American thinkers is no easy task, but Dan and Le Roy's powerful and impassioned graphic biography (originally published in France in 2012) accomplishes it. They argue that Thoreau was no intellectual scribbling in the woods, but a radical "dreamer who had it in him to try to bring down the state." Thoreau's fabled Walden Pond is here, as is the time he spent running his father's pencil factory, all shown in lovely, fluid art. But the authors are more interested in Thoreau the fiery abolitionist, who helped slaves escape to freedom; Thoreau the outlaw, arrested for not paying his taxes in opposition to slavery and the Mexican War; Thoreau the appreciator of other cultures; and Thoreau the revolutionary, who met and agreed with John Brown. Dan and Le Roy restore a luminous fire to one of America's most stirring writers of conscience. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

This work gives readers a chance to meet a more complicated Henry David Thoreau (1817-62) than the usual portrayal of a pacifist sage in the woods. In his foreword, Le Roy raises these typical views of the man and then challenges his audience to examine his subject's contributions over a lifetime to get a better image. Much of the text of this picture book-sized title is drawn directly from Thoreau's writings (Walden), revealing a passionate abolitionist who may have regretted John Brown's methods but, nevertheless, spoke on his behalf. A solitary person for much of his life, Thoreau spent time in his beloved forests with Native Americans as well as in their communities. This biography demonstrates that no brief phrase was sufficient to describe the naturalist and author. Le Roy's earthy colors and Dan's rough-hewn artwork in just a few panels per page match Thoreau's natural world perfectly. The six-page afterword by Thoreau scholar Michael Granger, entitled "Thoreau, a Philosopher for Today," continues the theme of Thoreau as a complex individual. Verdict This lovely book breathes new life into Thoreau and returns to him his true depth, which has been overlooked in recent impressions. A worthy addition to any library that includes Thoreau's works.-Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Lib., Wisconsin Rapids © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.