Ginseng Roots: A Memoir
Shaggy, imperfect, often beautiful ... Engaging ... I was not a person who cared about the international ginseng business last month, but I am now ... Thompson has a particular genius for unsentimental depictions of blue-collar American life ... Thompson’s most visually arresting work ... Every two-color page shows off some new and unexpected layout or brush technique ... Yet the book is never too busy; each image drives home its point deftly and quickly ... His most interesting characters contain subtle subversions, have surprising motivations or remain mysterious even to themselves ... Thompson is less successful when trying to extract more general, unambiguous conclusions from his delicate vignettes.
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Both art and text are emotive. The art in Thompson’s work is detailed and meticulous and while each of the 12 comics takes on its own theme, they all link together. The entire story is told in shades of black, white and red, the art more impactful for the limited colours ... Visually stunning.
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Fans of Thompson’s acclaimed coming-of-age memoir, 2003’s Blankets, which explored his struggle with fundamentalist Christian beliefs, will find similarly honest reflections here ... Thompson also makes liberal use of red and orange tones, a technique that both enlivens and unifies its pages. What’s more, ginseng roots naturally have a humanoid shape, and Thompson cleverly personifies them throughout the book, including in its gorgeous endpapers ... Thompson’s prose is as evocative as his art ... A monumental graphic art achievement.
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