Book Review: The Underwater Welder
โ๐๐ต’๐ด ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ป๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ธ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ท๐ฐ๐ช๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ. ๐๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ’๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ’๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง, ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ดโ
Any @jefflemire fans in the house?? I read this in one sitting and itโs fantastic! Because of quarantine (and a tight budget) I have been using my free Kindle Unlimited trial more and more to find free books to read. I’ve been wanting to read more Jeff Lemire for awhile, so I was stoked to find this title on there. It was my first time reading a comic on the tablet, but I didn’t hate it as much as I thought I would.
SUMMARY: Pressure. As an underwater welder on an oil rig off the coast of Nova Scotia, Jack Joseph is used to the immense pressures of deep-sea work. Nothing, however, could prepare him for the pressures of impending fatherhood. As Jack dives deeper and deeper, he seems to pull further and further away from his young wife and their unborn son. But then, something happens deep on the ocean floor. Jack has a strange and mind-bending encounter that will change the course of his life forever! Equal parts blue-collar character study and mind-bending science fiction epic, The Underwater Welder explores fathers and sons, birth and death, memory and truth, and the treasures we all bury deep down inside.
Briefly, the the graphic novel focuses on a man named Jack who is/was/will be an underwater welder (that will make sense if you read it). His wife is pregnant and his dad disappeared on Halloween when he was ten. Jack dives to escape his uncertain present, but one day he encounters a mysterious and supernatural event that will force him to uncover his hidden past and come to understand his future
Lemire is great at writing real pain, trauma, grief, and loss into his works. These haunting emotions come out of the page in very believable and humanistic ways. He also likes to play around with memory and time jumps (we see scenes from Jack’s present and past as the line between the two begins to blur). All of these facets are on in incredible display here. It reminds me of an episode of The Twilight Zone, but even more heartfelt.
Also, his black and white style with illustration is perfect for the stories he creates. Take a look at some of the screenshots below and you’ll see what I mean. Some consider โEssex Countyโ to be his magnum opus and, while thatโs very good, I think I like this little gem even more!
Rating: โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
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