Review: The Young Woman and the Sea

The Young Woman and the Sea by Catherine Meurisse
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Rating 3 out of 5 | Grade C+ Lot's of Pwetty pictures.

I've always admired the nation of Japan. For its beautiful culture, rich & storied history, mythology, cuisine, for anime & nerd culture, and it's unique natural landscapes. The sight of Mount Fuji rising from the horizon as if rising to the sky, or Hokusai's violent and thought inducing depiction of Kanagawa off the wave, or was it the mist filled fantasy-esque opening to Tom Cruise's 'The Last Samurai', it's a land which has captured my imagination.



And someday I hope to get acquainted with her intimately.

So, it was with intrigue that I delved into The Young Woman & the Sea by Catherine Meurisse. It was a mixed bag. On one hand I don't feel that the author, while rambling on about a lot of things, wasn't really able to connect to that vein of the culture. Nor was she able to make any observations that could be considered poignant.



It is as the description says, a graphical memoir of the brief time she spend in the rural parts of the nation. There is no larger narrative, going with a 'day in the life of foreigner' sort of approach. That's Ok, the story is not I came here for.

The visuals, which are the crux of the comic, they deliver. Several breathtaking, vast, expansive and soothing inkings of the beautiful landscape of rural Japan, with some elements of fantasy & folklore mixed in to keep things interesting.



A lot of these pictures could be framed and hung on your wall to be gazed upon and admired. While perusing through the vast assortment of them, a sense of calm emanated in me. And I wanted to just take my notebook, and take a waltz through some quiet rural landscape soaking up the world around. It was quite a meditative experience.





So if you want to enjoy some visual nature porn, clean palettes and calming nature, I suggest you give this book a try. It's pretty to look at, and meditative. That's it.



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