Lucille [Paperback]

Ludovic Debeurme (Author, Artist)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 12, 2011

Winner of the Rene Goscinny Prize! With Lucille, Ludovic Debeurme takes on the difficult world of adolescence, following the life of a young anorexic woman and the difficult relationships she has with others, who have significant problems of their own. Influenced by psychoanalysis and the exploration of dreams, Debeurme explores life and fantasies with elegant clean graphics and a profound love of the games of childhood.

Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Top Shelf Productions (July 12, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1603090738
• ISBN-13: 978-1603090735
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #932,877 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good bordering on great, July 7, 2011

By 

Andy Shuping (Macon, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lucille (Paperback)

ARC provided by netGalley

Lucille is a young, awkward teenage girl in high school who is not quite sure of herself. She just wants to be normal like everyone else and her one childhood doll. But alas, Lucille thinks she's ugly and is slowly dying from anorexia. She wants to become so thin she doesn't even exist anymore. And into the picture enters Arthur (also known as Vladimir), whose plagued by OCD, convinces others to worship Satan, and whose father is a drunk fisherman who ends up killing himself after losing his job. And the two fall for each other. They run away together in the hopes of finding love and happiness...until they reach Italy and discover that life doesn't always come up happy.

"Lucille" is a powerful story of love, life, hope, and everything in between. Debeurme creates two characters that are well developed and that you might have trouble relating to if you knew them in real life. And yet...as you read deeper into the book you find that you can relate to them. The insecurity, the loss of hope, and being lost in a world that is often confusing. It's an amazingly written story of self discovery and finding some hope in the amidst of chaos. And at the same time...it's also very familiar tale of two star crossed lovers on a journey that only ends in tears. And it's when the story gets here that it starts to suffer a bit. It's an all too familiar tale that while told decently offers nothing unique and is far to reminiscent of "Romeo and Juliet" in some ways. I know it sounds trite, but I wish that he had taken it down a slightly different path, continuing to explore the characters issues with anorexia and OCD, their journey of discovering themselves. They didn't have to be happy, but the last ¼ of the book just felt a bit too familiar.

The artwork is simple line drawings, no depth to the characters, and often no background (sometimes the characters seem to float on air.) It's very similar in style to Chester Brown. And while at first these simple drawings maybe off putting (especially to those used to more robust images in graphic novels even in Chester Brown's work) it grows on you slowly. It fits the tone of the story quite well and by the end helps the tale along.

Overall its a good book bordering on great. The characters are well written and unique and even though the ending is somewhat familiar, we're left with something at the end that is a bit unique and makes the story well worth the read.

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best graphic novels of 2011..., December 27, 2011

By 

Paul Pierre - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lucille (Paperback)

Lucille by Ludovic Debeurme is one of the most touching book of the year. I higly recommend this graphic novel.

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, but nothing you haven't seen before., December 17, 2011

By 

Sibelius (Palo Alto, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lucille (Paperback)

This is one of those thick, whoppers (500 pages) that can be read really quick due to a lot of pages comprised of 1-2 panels with very little text. A slightly melodramatic young love tale that's been told many times before but still makes for a nice, breezy read if you're in the mood for such fare.