Graphic Novel Review: The Sculptor by Scott McCloud

Genre: Adult Graphic Novel Urban Fantasy
Publication: February 2015 by First Second
Acquisition: received a free ARC for review

Synopsis:

David Smith is giving his life for his art—literally. Thanks to a deal with Death, the young sculptor gets his childhood wish: to sculpt anything he can imagine with his bare hands. But now that he only has 200 days to live, deciding what to create is harder than he thought, and discovering the love of his life at the 11th hour isn't making it any easier!

This is a story of desire taken to the edge of reason and beyond; of the frantic, clumsy dance steps of young love; and a gorgeous, street-level portrait of the world's greatest city. It's about the small, warm, human moments of everyday life…and the great surging forces that lie just under the surface. Scott McCloud wrote the book on how comics work; now he vaults into great fiction with a breathtaking, funny, and unforgettable new work.

(from Goodreads)

3.5 / 5 Stars

The Sculptor is one of those books that makes you feel things. Good things, bad things, in between things. And, I'm not so sure how I feel about all that.

I've been told before that I'm shallow (thanks Mom!). Not like 'you're a horrible person with no feelings'. But more like 'you don't let things bother you and are good at working through your feelings quickly and without a lot of drama'.

So!

I really think that The Sculptor is a little to 'deep' for me. Like I said, it makes you feel things. But, I think, because of the nature of the medium, I very quickly processed what I was reading (or rather seeing) and moved onto the next thing without fully...appreciating what had happened?

This made for a pretty meh read for me.

Because I'm shallow.

And The Sculptor is very deep.

BUT!

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

It wasn't really for me...but I'm glad to have read it and I do think that others would get a lot more out of it then I did.

And, you should probably go with Neil Gaiman's recommendation rather then mine :)