My second graphic novel by Pedrosa, whose Equinoxes I read in the last year and loved. But that novel is sort of abstract, an impressive four season multi-layered story. I gave five stars to it, but I had to look at my review to even begin to recall what it is about. It's a work of art more about the form and how the ideas get expressed through the form than the specific characters.This kind of forgetting will not happen with Portugal, which I picked up because I have been slow-reading (it's lik...

I cherish this beautiful, warm, captivating book. An artist going through a creative/personal trough chafes against his girlfriend, his family, his clients, then finds new meaning in his life and work in his ancestral village in Portugal.It's a story that could only have been told as a graphic novel; prose or even film wouldn't do it properly. There are very few words, and the majority of those are banal smalltalk. The artwork, taken as individual pieces, is for the most part not something to li...

"I had never felt so alone.But I felt good."💖

Only way for me to describe this comic is: very human. It has a very natural flow and character.

This is an absolutely gorgeous book! Simon Muchat is a comics artist who's lost his direction in life. He suffers from writer's block, and is stuck in a job that he hates. He feels like he’s going nowhere until he gets invited to appear at a comics convention in Portugal. His family emigrated to France from Portugal, and he hasn't been there since he was a kid. Once there, he feels the beginnings of a connection, and grows interested in his family history …This is a very warm, rich graphic novel...

After reading Portugal, I immediately added more Pedrosa to my TBR list. Great style, in both story and art. This tale winds through geography and family history, changing perspectives and focus in the story to different family members. The main story revolves around Simon, an uninspired artist living in France. He visits Portugal for a cousin's wedding and reconnects with family members he hasn't seen in decades, thus discovering himself and finding deeper inspiration. A familiar trope, but a s...

I fell in love with this graphic novel! Those moments of life, the good and the bad, touched my heart because I found my family in them. (expatriate family too) I really liked the themes covered through Simon's journey, the search for our roots, for inspiration, for identity. Ho and it looks fantastic by the way! ^^In short, another gem by Cyril Pedrosa <3

I'd be hard pressed to determine which I appreciate more, this work by Pedrosa or his most recent one, Equinoxes. While the latter might be more ambitious, this one is more successful at what Pedrosa set out to do (from what I can determine). The three-part narrative structure works well at making this a seemingly ensemble story, while in reality focusing primarily on just one figure, Simon. This is a hefty tome, one definitely deserving the tag "novelistic."

I'm not really sure how to review this because I usually review Portuguese books in Portuguese, French books in French and English books in English, but this is a French book translated into English and a lot of the characters speak Portuguese, which is not translated (the protagonist's attempts to understand, and to learn to speak to his neighbours form part of the storyline). Acho que usarei as duas línguas em quais eu li.This is a beautiful book: It's big, it's a hardback, it feels like the o...

This is a stunning and methodically slow work. Nothing is rushed and Pedrosa takes us through a relatable journey into family, home and roots. Don't come looking for action and adventure, come for real life and contemplation. There is even time for some lost in translation frustration and a car breaking down. I have no idea how much of this book is auto-biographical but it doesn't matter. I think that most people will find something familiar here.

quick thoughts: the story didn't always flow for me. there were some gaps that went unaddressed and some transitions that felt abrupt. However, what this graphic novel does EXCEEDINGLY well is both capture specific emotions that can be hard to describe with mesmerizing artwork. I did not want this book to end. I spread out my reading to increase how much time I spent in the characters in France and Portugal, and the author's search for his roots and belonging.

I had never felt so alone.But I felt good.//Lost and found.

Portugal has a special place in one of my tiny lists; "have visited and gonna visit again countries"And I felt the streets, atmosphere, warm people of this beautiful country through this graphic novel once again.Perfect colors, perfect drawings.The story is also absorbing even if it is a kind of cliche; A free spirit man who doesnt know what to do with his life investigates family history to know what to his life..etc..What i wanna say is I would not like this graphic novel that much if it didnt...

Such beautiful art. The colours! This story isn't bad either. But the art is great.

A Portuguese-French artist’s life crisis, search for family history and heart warming family reunion shown in a very unique and beautiful sketches.

This graphic novel is absolutely gorgeous. I love Pedrosa's drawing style and use of colour and given the large format of this book, they really shined here. Every single page is a treasure and full of so much beauty. The story itself is told in three installments and is very humane. It's a story about family, who your relatives are and what you really know about them. And how you might not know much because your family hasn't wanted to keep in touch. At times I struggled to keep up with who is

A young man discovering family history, over time, geography, events, and language. Well crafted story with many different relationships: Simon not staying with his girlfriend, the cousin’s wedding, mix of close and not so close family. As well as the opportunity to grow closer, air grievances, reflect, and think about identity.And I appreciated the art style as well as layout and stylistic choices. Great art.

Magnificent trip. Pedrosa has created a truly contagious storytelling approach, while reading this book I could feel its atmosphere tones transforming my mood in the moment. A lot is said, but most of it serves more the contextualisation than the progression of the narrative. We feel Pedrosa is always creating the space and time of that fictional universe, where he wants to transport us. For that he uses not only the dialogue but also and so well the drawing and even better the colour. In genera...

My first encounter with Pedrosa. An epic and poetic search for origins and how they shape families and what we are today.With Shaun Tan and The arrival, this is another of these books that kept me smilîng and daydreaming when I finally put my eyes on the last page.

I loved the artwork for this graphic novel! The story itself was enjoyable, but there were also parts where I was a little bored since there wasn't a clear plot.