Just the right mix of minimalism, sadness, and realism. ( )

Through a Life is a silent graphic novel that follows a young boy from Alaska who grows up to be an astronaut until a fatal space shuttle crash when he begins to find beauty on earth.

I never knew what a silent graphic novel was before reading this book - basically a picture book for grownups!

The author would show himself in a setting on the left side and then what he was looking at on the right.

It was a beautiful, quick read.

Fantastic. ( )

I got a copy of this book to review through the Amazon Vine program. I enjoyed how this graphic novel was put together. This book is entirely pictures, no text. It goes from the beginning of Rodney’s life to the end. The left hand pages shows what Rodney is doing at the time and the right hand page shows what he sees through his own eyes. The left hand page also shows the date and location of the scene.

This was a very moving story and there is some irony in how things come full circle after Rodney has realized his lifelong dreams. I enjoyed this and liked how much emotion and story were put into this completely word-free rendition of Rodney’s life.

My only complaint is that there were a couple things I found a bit confusing. I had to go back and really analyze the pictures to try to figure out what was going on. Even doing that I am still a bit confused about exactly what happened in parts of Rodney’s life.

Overall this was a well done graphic novel about a man’s life; from the dreams of a young boy to the hopes of a old man. I would recommend to those who enjoy graphic novels about life and commentary about what is really important in life. ( )