Tamara Drewe by Lisa Edge

1.       How is the work illustrated?  Be specific: would you characterize it as sketchy, realistic, cartoony, artistic, ornate, spare, expressionistic, tight, loose, etc.?  What is the overall feel of the artwork, and what kind of tone does it create for the reader?  Do you feel it is the uniquely suited to the story being told?  Consider the differences between Crumb and Cavey’s illustrations for Pekar’s American Splendor.  It is done cartoony but with realistic characters.  Some is done with full color, others more pastels, and some with more a black and white feel with shades of blue or almost shadowy.  The play with color I think adds to the feel of the story. 

2.        Why was this story written as a graphic novel?  What might this story lose if translated to a novel, short story, or even a film?  What elements of the story almost require the juxtaposition of words and images? In other words, what does the comic format allow us to see and experience that a traditional novel wouldn’t?  Again, be as specific as possible. This story has the possibility to be re-done multiple ways it has enough story content to be turned into a book I understand that there is a book and that this is based off of the book.  As stated before I also feel that this same story would fit well into a soap opera—that’s the feel I get from the story line.  In the beginning you think or get the feel that the story is going to center around the retreat but as the story unfold it centers more around the sorted affairs of Tamara Drewe. 

3.       Who narrates the story?  One person? More than one?  How do they do this?  Traditionally, narration is told from either a third-person or first-person perspective; how does a graphic novel challenge this approach?  Consider how the form of comics ‘tells’ a story and allows us to see multiple points of view within a single narrative frame.   The narration is done by who’s point of view is being told at the time.  There are moments when Beth the retreat keeper is guiding us through the story as she sees it and through her troubling marriage.  Through column clipping we see Tamara Drewe’s narration.  At one point it is glen in the bathroom who is overhearing a conversation/argument between Beth and her husband.  This Graphic novel allows us to see multiple points of view at a time allowing us to get to know each character.  It draws us in deeper into the story and allows us to empathize with all the characters even if we do not agree with what is going on or how they are handling the situation.

4.       Describe one scene in the novel; either a single frame or a single of frames that you feel is particularly significant.  Why is this moment so important?  Do you admire this passage more for its narrative (the words) or its art (the images)—or both?  Make sure we can not only see what’s going on here, but we see how it relates to the story at large. There are no page numbers but there is a scene where Glen is in the bathroom and overhears an conversation/argument between Beth and her husband where Glen struggle with the decision to make it known that he is there and cut and run or to just be quiet till it’s over.  For whatever reason he stays compelled to know what’s going on I assume After Beth and her husband’s conversation passes and Glen overhears a conversation between Nick (Beth’s husband) and his lover and learns quickly the truth of their split.  That Nick’s lover called it off and not Nick as Nick had told his wife.  This scene’s illustrations are brilliantly done depicting the goings on of the character’s.  I really felt for Glen all hid out in the bathroom wanting to bolt but compelled to stay.  I also felt for Beth because her husband is such a louse.