The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf

Posted: 20 May 2011 12:02 AM PDT

Daytripper by the Brazilian twins Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon is on par with richly worded works of literature in its exploration of how a life is lived and the multitudinous paths it can take.

This is a book about death. Each of the chapters in Daytripper features lead protagonist Brás de Oliva Domingos dying in different ways, under different circumstances, and at different ages of his life.

But this isn't some Groundhog Day spoof where the lead character dies over and over again just for kicks. This is something else entirely.

Written and illustrated by multiple Eisner Award-winning Brazilian twin brothers Fábio Moon (Casanova) and Gabriel Bá (Casanova, The Umbrella Academy), Daytripper is an enigma, a graphic novel that celebrates the moments in life that are worth celebrating, and the pivotal moments in your life that will change it forever.

In this collection of the 10-issue limited series published by DC/Vertigo in 2010, one of the main draws of Daytripper is, of course, the gorgeous artwork by the brothers. Each page, each panel is a piece of art – from sweeping landscapes to detailed studies of human expression; and is a far cry from the simple lines and fantastical world of The Umbrella Academy.

But this is more than just a book with pretty pages.

Moon and Bá have put as much effort into the writing of the story as they have the drawing of it. The stories here are not just an exercise to see how many ways they can kill a man off. No, Daytripper is much, much more than that.

It is a book about family and friendship; love, lost and found; childhood innocence; parental absence; career ambition ... it's about all these things and more. And that is reflected in the richly detailed life (or lives) of their main character.

Brás is the miracle child of a world-famous Brazilian writer, who now spends his days writing obituaries and dreaming of becoming a famous writer himself.

As the synopsis on the back cover states, he writes the end of other people's stories while searching for the moment when his own life will begin.

That is the ultimate question that Moon and Bá poses to us: when does your life truly begin?

In Brás' case, does it begin at 21, when he meets the girl(s) of his dreams? At 11, when he has his first kiss? Is it when he has his first child, or when a death occurs in his own family? When do you truly start to live life to the fullest? And what if your life ended just as you thought it had begun?

The way this whole Daytripper story unfolds, one imagines it may not have made as much sense as individual single issues, especially with its multiple deaths and different settings. But compiled into a trade paperback and read collectively, each story flows and clicks together perfectly like a jigsaw puzzle.

Although each chapter in the book (there are 10 in total, each named after Brás' age at that moment in time) deals with different themes and is significantly different from the one before; there are still recurring elements which connects them in their own unique way, thus adding a further twist to the story.

For instance, recurring characters in the stories include Brás' parents, his best friend Jorge, and the love of his life Ana.

The magic of these characters is you never know what role each one is going to play in the events of each chapter, or how they will affect or react to his death.

The final pages of the book feature a collection of sketches as well as an author's note by Moon stating that above all, this is a story about the "quiet moments."

And this is exactly how the book demands you to read it – in a nice quiet place, unhindered by noise, free from interruptions, and with ample time to explore the gorgeous artwork and the simple, understated dialogues that the characters have. It is not a book you simply rush through just to see how it ends.

So take your time with this book. Read every word, pore over every panel, and analyse every brushstroke. And after you've reached the end, go back and read it again. For this, this book may be about death, but above all, Daytripper is a book about not wasting life.

> Daytripper is available at Kinokuniya KLCC.

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Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Jumaat, 20 Mei 2011

The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf

The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf

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