A stunning graphic novel by a master of the craft.

The writing is sublime and human, with some of those choice moments that ring as true because you've seen them before in your own life.

The art is not just beautiful, but evocative of the story itself. He uses so many different qualities of art style to help enhance the narrative.

Asterios as a character is fascinating. By turns unlikable but also incredibly sympathetic in the two different streams of the story, and as they converge, it's a powerful experience. ( )

Forse un po' pretenzioso e intellettualistico a tratti (alcuni dialoghi sono noiosi) ma si riscatta pienamente con tavole bellissime (con un mix di stili perfettamente pensato). È in definitiva nient'altro che una storia d'amore, con le 5 pagine disegnate sul rapporto di coppia più belle che io abbia mai letto. http://openlettersmonthly.com/issue/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/asterios-7.jpg ( )

Asterios Polyp is a 'paper architect.' None of his designs have ever been built, but he's still widely respected. He's also super smart (too smart for his own good?) and really fun to read about. And he has a crisis. And it's beautiful.

Asterios Polyp is the first graphic novel I've really fallen in love with since I graduated from high school. It's the first one I've read that feels like it was really and truly written and drawn with an adult audience in mind. ( )

Liked the ending but all the intellectual/philosophical got old by the end. Kept looking forward to the ends of his flashbacks. ( )

The story is pretty simple: a guy's life has more or less gone to crap, and he starts over, taking the opposite approach to life this time. Pretty straightforward, but as with any story, it's the telling that matters - and this one is told rather well.

The pacing is spot-on and the art is, well, illuminating might be the most appropriate word. But more importantly, it's the little things the author gets right that make the story ring true. Particular character sketches seem drawn from life, the understanding of how memory works is surprisingly modern, and the concept of a double used here as a psychological crutch, allowing the protagonist to limp into his new existence.

Even the opening of the tale works in its unbelievable, melodramatic way. Lightning strikes and a guy must flee his burning apartment. When does that ever happen? Well, it happens, so why not here. The guy hops on a bus, jumps off when he sees a help-wanted sign, and gets hired on the basis of his hello. When does that ever happen? Well, it happens, so why not here. It's a setup that wouldn't work with a young protagonist, because who is going to hire a twenty-year-old fresh off the bus? Now a fifty-year-old guy, you know what you're getting, and if he can still learn at that age he's a keeper.

So yeah, pretty solid even if it's not breaking any new ground. Enjoyed it a lot the second time through. ( )