L'homme sans talent
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Average rating4.3
Yoshiharu Tsuge is one of the most celebrated and influential comics artists, but his work has been almost entirely unavailable to English-speaking audiences. The Man Without Talent, his first book to be translated into English, is an unforgiving self-portrait of frustration. Swearing off cartooning as a profession, Tsuge takes on a series of unconventional jobs—used-camera salesman, ferryman, stone collector—hoping to find success among the hucksters, speculators, and deadbeats he does business with.
Instead, he fails again and again, unable to provide for his family, earning only their contempt and his own. The result is a dryly funny look at the pitfalls of the creative life, and an off-kilter portrait of modern Japan. Accompanied by an essay from the translator Ryan Holmberg which discusses Tsuge’s importance in comics and Japanese literature, The Man Without Talent is one of the great works of comics literature.
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Setting: Written in 1980's and contemporaneous with that period but could by now I guess.
Language: This is translated from the Japanese. I have no way to evaluate the quality of the translation but the language as presented is conversational and supports the quiet nature of the stories.
Art: Generally most of his figures are simply and clearly drawn, even a little crudely at times. Then there are some truly amazing panels where he sets his characters in landscapes and small towns, these are often based upon photos and they really shine. He choses key moments in the stories to place images with great effect.
Characters: A middle aged man disconnected, lazy, and drifting. His wife who is doesn't understand why he won't do what he is best at and make some money (honestly, she is a very relatable character as you might find yourself asking the same question given that these are autobiographical). A child being child. Then a host supporting characters. These are why you are here. Watching them struggle to sort things.
Story: A collection of short stories that are interconnected and collectively tell the main character's story. He is adrift, trying to find way first some money and also meaning. He has had success in the past but is no longer interested in doing what he was so good at. Bored, ennuie? Who knows but these mature stories not teeny bopper tales or action man staff, no just quiet stories about a man adrift. Worth your time.
