Reviews

I can't remember what it was that made me choose Essex County, but if I'd known it was a Canadian story about hockey, I'm not sure I would have read it. Which would have been a tragedy. This is about so much more than Canada or hockey, and the characters are sad, lonely, loveable and lost in memory.

ovenbird_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

I enjoyed this, but I can't say I loved it. I don't normally read graphic novels, though I'm not opposed to reading them. I gave this one a try because of the huge acclaim it's garnered and while I wasn't disappointed I wasn't blown away either.

Things I liked:

The brilliant usage of the "hero," the mainstay of comic books, in the context of everyday life. The heroes here evoke the notion of the masked warriors of traditional comics while locating the heroic in the hearts of people living through everyday challenges.

The focus on the complexities of family trees, with all of their confused and even lost branches. Much of this book works towards untangling genealogy and attempting to define family.

The setting in Essex County. I grew up in Windsor so felt close to the setting of this book.

Things I wasn't too interested in:

Hockey. A lot of this graphic novel focuses on hockey as a place where heroes are both created and destroyed. It places hockey at the center of authentic Canadian life. While I have learned to enjoy hockey more over time I have no particular interest in it, and can't identify with the sport as a grounding feature of people's lives. The focus on hockey detracted from my enjoyment of this comic a bit. I think this has to do with the specific treatment of hockey in this book, because I've read other hockey books (like Paul Quarrington's King Leary) and really loved them.

Overall this was worth a read. I got through the whole thing in a single evening. And it's a welcome change from regular novels. I think I would probably deepen my appreciation of this book with repeat readings. I suspect that I missed a lot of nuance in my quick go-through.

breakfastgrey's review

Go to review page

5.0

I really enjoyed this one, as I suspected I probably would. Jeff Lemire is an absolute master of small town sadness. He writes beautiful, heartbreaking loneliness in a way where every scene feels like you've just experienced something poetically profound that no one will ever give voice to. It's all in the faces of the characters. My only real complaint is that it is obvious this book is early in his career when looking at the art. You can even see it developing along the way. That's not to say that there's anything wrong with it, just that it's not at the level it later achieves.

euzie's review

Go to review page

5.0

Quite simple the finest Graphic Novel (or comic collection, or however you want to describe it) that i have ever read.

Heartbreaking, poignant, involved and engaging. This really shows what the medium can deliver.

The ending could, if I have to be really picky, be slightly better, and there might not be enough superheroes (i.e. none) for everyone's sake.