Bill Bucclan reviewed The Hollow Grounds by Francois Schuiten
Review of 'The Hollow Grounds' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Attracted by the style of the artwork and some frankly European sensibilities, I picked this book up today for a quick Halloween read. And though quick it was, I'm tempted to read through it again. Its first third is set up as a series of short venues which often teeter into the nightmarish. The second take place as a protagonist explores different 'worlds' which all seem to be either nested within or in close proximity to the other.
There's a certain obsession with insects reflected in all of the stories and this helps guide the narrative into some disturbing places. I was definitely thrown off by reading about the type of violence women commit against men as opposed to the violence men commit against women. It was surrealistic and quite horrific.
Overall, with the exception of the last third of the graphic novel, I felt all of these stories operated …
Attracted by the style of the artwork and some frankly European sensibilities, I picked this book up today for a quick Halloween read. And though quick it was, I'm tempted to read through it again. Its first third is set up as a series of short venues which often teeter into the nightmarish. The second take place as a protagonist explores different 'worlds' which all seem to be either nested within or in close proximity to the other.
There's a certain obsession with insects reflected in all of the stories and this helps guide the narrative into some disturbing places. I was definitely thrown off by reading about the type of violence women commit against men as opposed to the violence men commit against women. It was surrealistic and quite horrific.
Overall, with the exception of the last third of the graphic novel, I felt all of these stories operated as snippets of the universe, small slices of the concepts the authors wanted to tackle. I don't think they really satisfactorily wrapped anything up but that was all right. It was delightful enough to just catch a glimpse into these fundamentally odd situations the authors had lines up.
The sole exception was Noragen (the last third) and this did complete a narrative, just a very different one. the protagonist that we've been following for about 1/2 the book stumbles into a world where the most important concept is symmetry. It starts with an investigation into a murder that results in a murder and winds up as the inverse of the beginning. There are just enough differences to leave you feeling like you're not certain where it's going to go next, but at the same point the basic concepts are left so clearly defined, you are certain you are going to understand the broad strokes of the plot, even while the characters forelornly complain that they are --not-- puppets in the grand theme of life.
Overall, it was definitely worth a read, on an Autumn night and I would recommend it. Not for everyone, of course, but with some great concepts to chew on.
