| Descripción y Comentario
Book DescriptionHailed by The Comics Journal as one of Europe’s most important and innovative comics artists, David B. has created a masterpiece in Epileptic, his stunning and emotionally resonant autobiography about growing up with an epileptic brother. Epileptic gathers together and makes available in English for the first time all six volumes of the internationally acclaimed graphic work.
David B. was born Pierre-Franois Beauchard in a small town near Orléans, France. He spent an idyllic early childhood playing with the neighborhood kids and, along with his older brother, Jean-Christophe, ganging up on his little sister, Florence. But their lives changed abruptly when Jean-Christophe was struck with epilepsy at age eleven. In search of a cure, their parents dragged the family to acupuncturists and magnetic therapists, to mediums and macrobiotic communes. But every new cure ended in disappointment as Jean-Christophe, after brief periods of remission, would only get worse.
Angry at his brother for abandoning him and at all the quacks who offered them false hope, Pierre-Franois learned to cope by drawing fantastically elaborate battle scenes, creating images that provide a fascinating window into his interior life. An honest and horrifying portrait of the disease and of the pain and fear it sowed in the family, Epileptic is also a moving depiction of one family’s intricate history. Through flashbacks, we are introduced to the stories of Pierre-Franois’s grandparents and we relive his grandfathers’ experiences in both World Wars. We follow Pierre-Franois through his childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, all the while charting his complicated relationship with his brother and Jean-Christophe”s losing battle with epilepsy. Illustrated with beautiful and striking black-and-white images, Epileptic is as astonishing, intimate, and heartbreaking as the best literary memoir.
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Comentarios del público
 Poignant Reflections On A Damaged Childhood
Deep inside, every creator wants to complete a single, definitive piece of work which encompasses all of his or her greatest skills - something by which he or she will be remembered. If they're lucky, they will manage this task and have the completed effort lauded and shown much support and respect. For L'Association's David B., Epileptic is doubtless the artist's coup de grace. The concept of the book stuck in Monsieur B.'s head for twenty years prior to its publication, and this incubatory period is quite evident in the reading.
Epileptic is unapologetically autobiographical. Young David B. (née Pierre-Francois) grew up in France with a younger sister and an elder brother, the latter of whom was diagnosed with epilepsy from about the age of seven. During this time, very little was known about the disease outside of medical circles, so David's brother Jean-Christophe was doubly-cursed; He would fall down in the streets of Orleans (or Bourges, or Paris), and would face harassment from passers-by to police officers, who thought the child was simply "fou" (crazy) or on drugs. Eventually, he was abandoned by his friends and certain non-immediate family members.
His immediate family, of course, held on to whatever hope was offered. Going beyond the traditional medical field of the time, Jean-Christophe's parents involved the children in a multitude of holistic healing approaches: Macrobiotics, acupuncture, massage... practically anything being offered in 1960s France held a glimmer of hope for the suffering child and his family. "It was the only thing we had left," says Mrs. B. "We soon realized that we had far fewer means than many to care for Jean-Christophe... I was blindly groping for an answer."
However, Epileptic isn't merely 350+ pages of self-indulgent pity. It is the story of one child's management of the illness of a close friend - his brother. The book details the life of an entire family, inextricably infected by the illness of the eldest child. On display are the bouts of depression induced by helplessness, humiliation, and disappointment. Also shown are the small glories of life, the insights provided through introversion, and the rebirth of one boy's self-image time and time again. Though the book covers the artist's life from the year 1964 through 1994 (with the primary focus on his earliest years), the narrative flows in such a seamless manner that the passage of time does not become obvious until Jean-Christophe moves away from the family, his frequent seizures and psychotic impulses becoming too much for the family to handle, toward the book's conclusion.
That said, it should be noted that - from time to time - the natural flow of the book is impeded by verbose descriptions of the various holistic treatments and theories surrounding the attempted cures of Jean-Christophe. Sometimes, such a descriptive passage will extend for several pages, only to have the actual "treatment" itself abandoned shortly thereafter. Was this a deliberate attempt by the author to frustrate the reader in order to trigger some inate ability to empathize with his own despondency? Perhaps, though the author is too subtle to admit it.
As a whole, though, Monsieur B. allows symbolism to speak those things for which there are no words. The lingering sense of loss after the passing of his grandfather, for instance, is symbolized by the spectral appearance of a "goony bird" in the mind's eye of the author's childhood. The struggle of his family facing the ostracization of "polite" society is represented in the child's multitude of battle drawings, from the Algerian War back through the days of the Samurai. Jean-Christophe's epilepsy is seen on some pages as a mountain to be scaled, and as a wicked demon on others. The symbols can be as fluid as the impressionable mind from which they stemmed.
Though not without its flaws, Epileptic is a shining point within the autobiographical graphic novel genre. This is one to be read over a period of several sittings because, just as the concept lay within the author's head for quite some time before it was made manifest, the material requires time to ferment within the readers' minds as well.
Fecha: 2007-04-01
Great, but too long
This is a great book, interesting, personal and I loved the artwork. My only problem is the book dragged on a little long without adding a lot and that's why it gets 4 stars instead of 5.
Fecha: 2007-02-26
 Thought-provoking and artistic, but not typical for most families dealing with epilepsy
I have a daughter that has a seizure disorder, so I was interested in reading this memoir. Upon receiving it and reading it, however, I am somewhat disappointed.
The book's strong points include the artwork and the raw honesty of the narrative. The art is designed to provoke your emotions, and it succeeds. I was saddened by some of the pictures, offended by others. The chaotic nature of the pictures help to portray the chaos that ensues with any chronic illness, epilepsy included.
My disappointment was in the narrative itself. I was not so much interested in knowing all the details of the author's family tree. These I feel detract from the main point: how this family deals with epilepsy.
I don't think this is a good glimpse of how a family generally deals with epilepsy, but one unique to this family. Thought-provoking, yes. This book is tragic, and left me feeling very sorry for this family and all they've been through. It makes me angry at all those who prey on people in desperate situations. Having dealt with this disease first-hand, I know how much one longs for that drug, treatment, diet, etc. that will be the miracle that takes away his loved one's suffering.
I am not keeping this book, primarily because many of the pictures and language are offensive and inappropriate for children and teens.
Fecha: 2007-01-25
If you want to understand epilepsy in a personal way
This is a great introduction to how a family copes with epilepsy. It is not easy to get through, sometimes rambling and confused, but ultimately touching and genuine. The artwork is dense, penetrating, and evocative.
Fecha: 2006-11-04
 customer review
this review is not based on plot or writing skill of author. the graphic presentation of the book was so unappealing and overstimulating, that i couldn't even read it and returned it. furthermore, the fact that this was a 400 page comic book should have been mentioned in amazon's (or antone's)listing.
Fecha: 2006-07-10
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