If you want a trip to a misogynistic child mind this is the book for you

a tiny creature on a journey to find companionship and wholeness. the structure of this was incredibly annoying and the story went around in circles, super disappointing.

3.5 rounded to 4 stars.The Big Empty Life of Alphonse Tabouret: An Introduction to French AbstractThe opening sentence is one of my favourites in a long time: Once upon a time, early one morning...In the middle of a quiet, not-so-special clearing in the woods, a wee-tiny whatsit woke up without any memory at all. He couldn't remember what he was doing there or what he wanted, or that he had ever been sleeping in the first place.I enjoy how we are told which character says which part of dialogue....

This has that French existential view on life, but for me it was just about an imbecile bumbling around the forest. The book was way too long and the art looked like doodles in the back of a teenager's notebook.

This graphic novel is a creepy Seussian adventure and a delightfully bizarre read. It is a weird and whimsical allegory about what it means to be human and the search for meaning and connection. The Big Empty Life of Alphonse Tabouret is described as an existential fairy tale, and the main character, Alphonse, spends most of the story in a state of naïveté; however, he’s annoyed by injustices experienced and is frustrated by his lack of understanding in the world around him. While there’s a chil...

The Big Empty Life of Alphonse Tabouret enchanted me at the start. The seemingly simple drawings often have much more going on than they appear to at first glance. I enjoyed meeting Alphonse and seeing him get started on the journey of life. Alphonse met his first friend... ...then lost his first friend. Some parts near the beginning of this book were so silly that I chuckled out loud. Like the drawings, the story seems very simple, but it's actually got more layers going on depen...

It just felt like a bunch of stuff happening, surreal and weird and rather random, without any kind of a point to it. It tries to be deep and meaningful and doesn't pull it off.

This is a journey book, which makes it hard to review, first of all, because I loath journey books. Second problem I had with it is that it is a bit on the boring side. Alphonse is confused most of the time, about life, about love, about people in general, and what friendship is, and those around him aren't much help.And some reviewers have said it is symbolic for how life is, and that may be so, but I never really cared about Alphonse, and saw no reason to continue reading about his journey.Ver...

I guess it was endearing in a very existential sort of way? I felt like the plot was not at all linear, even though it demonstrably was, and that sections went from having little decipherable meaning straight to having the moral punch me in the face. It wasn't bad, it was just not for me. The art was pretty exciting all the way through.Received a free digital copy for review from Europe Comics.

This is a graphic novel about the meaning of life. It shows the main character from birth with a “god-like” character, follows him though self-discovery, interacting with all sorts of personality types (including but certainly not limited to narcissist, depressive, GAD, needy, ect.), to meeting someone very similar to him and being happy and then learning to be happy on his own and securely attached. This story is not the average liner story. While the artwork is very simple the overall theme p...

This is a wonderful little story which tackles the tremendous task of finding the meaning of life. It explores happiness and contentment and how people try to fill the holes in their life with meaningless or selfish things. All sorts of ideas are explored in a simple format. On the surface it's a cute little story which could be read to/by a child but it takes a mind that has experienced the feeling of a hole in the middle of themselves to understand the complicated nuances that the story explor...

Alphonse Tabouret begins his life safely contained and cared for by a large, omnipresent figure. Eventually, though, the figure leaves him, and ALphonse must wander the vast forest alone to find out just who he is and what he wants from his new, independent existence. He makes a number of friends and acquaintances along the way. Each interaction is packed with meaning and metaphor, but the story is just as enjoyable at the surface level. It reminded me a bit of Shel Silverstein, but less silly (...

*I received this book as an eARC from Lion Forge via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review*I never knew where the story was going in this graphic novel. It is such different storytelling. The artwork is simple and matches the tone of the story very well. This book tackles some interestingly complex, basic problems like loneliness, fulfillment, and finding your purpose in life. This book is so different than anything I have read, but I enjoyed it a lot. You may start out confused, but just g...

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.A "tiny wee whatsit" wakes up one day, knowing neither how he came to be, nor why. The Big Man has name him Alphonse Tabouret. So, there he is, in the middle of a vast forest, trying to understand what life is and how he can make it more meaningful for himself. The Big Empty Life of Alphonse Tabouret is an allegorical tale about life, love, friendship and loss. Our little friend will meet many dif...

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.3.5ishThis is a really moving and heartfelt little graphic novel about a tiny little whatsit coming to its senses and discovering the world around it. In reality, it is an allegory about how someone discovers themselves and how they discover emotions, love, friendship, loss, moving on, faith and religion, feeling lost and all that jazz. It was especially focusing on relationships: how some people match better then other two peop...

'The Big Empty Life of Alphonse Tabouret' by Sibylline Desmazieres with art by Jerome d'Aviau is a graphic novel about the search for meaning.Alphonse finds himself somewhere new with a large creature asking him to have a conversation. He runs away, and this starts an odd journey. He runs in to all kinds of creatures looking to fill meaning in ordinary and extraordinary ways. Alphonse tries many different things.With some editing, I could have enjoyed this more, but it's a long meandering story

At least it's self-descriptive... In conveying an admittedly empty life, it's clear the book is a little empty too. It might have a welter of fantasy involving some quite stupid creatures and oddities for the sake of it, and it might have something akin to the pattern of a human life (get left alone to find your own way, get caught up on a non-existent friend, find an over-needy woman with too many shoes, etc), but I still wanted a lot more. I didn't mind the tweeness of the narration, and the a...

**And again, thanks Netgalley!**This one fell kind of flat. I enjoyed it well enough. But I didn't love it. I don't care to ever read it again.But it was cute, and sometimes silly. My son had me read it to him, but he never picked it up. It just didn't move fast enough, and it really didn't make enough sense.Knowing this was a translation, I wonder if it's a bad story or a bad translation.

There are a lot of adorable characters created here but other than that the story does not have much to it. The little man experiments with hobbies and love and is disappointed; at the end he sets out on a journey without us and I can't help thinking maybe that one, the one we are missing, is a more interesting tale.

Woooow I can't believe I renewed my second library card just to check out this one book. IT WAS SO DISAPPOINTING. Also lol why was this in the children's section?? I was looking through the shelves for this and there was a tiny little boy next to me looking for something as well ahaha.