I’ve fallen in love. It happens occasionally where you stumble upon a book you never expected to find and you read it because you have a slight interest in the topic, but you never expect to love it. And then you do. This was my experience for the graphic novel “Daytripper” by Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon. I’d never heard of this book. It came up in my Amazon search as a recommended book. Of course, like everyone, I was drawn to a cover. Yes I do judge by the cover. An excellent cover generally indicates an excellent book, don’t you think (and keep in mind that I said GENERALLY)?
This book has captivated me. The story is of Bras de Olivia Dominguez and what fascinated me was that he, the protagonist, perishes at the end of every chapter. “How,” you might ask, “can a plot effectively continue with the death of the protagonist?” In “Daytripper,” we jump to various ages in Bras’ life and in each chapter he experiences death. For me this process of death and rebirth in the subsequent chapter has a very existential quality as we (and I’d argue Bras himself) question the significance of his existence. His death occurs every time a significant, life-altering moment occurs in his life: a birth, a death, a marriage, a promotion, etc. His deaths, to me, were metaphorical rather than literal. Each death is a death of his “old self” and he walks away from each scenario a different person. Each “rebirth” in the new chapter is a new beginning.
This book altered my perception of events in my own life. Am I always the same person after a monumental event in my life? Does every life-altering experience mean that I lose my old self in a figurative death?
I loved this book. It’s form and content were beautiful. It has officially been added to my forever growing list of books to buy.
And one of these days, I’ll read a book whose title begins with a letter other than “D.”
Worn Pages and Ink 