Paco Roca's The Lighthouse

I read Paco Roca's graphic novel during my lunch break in school today. The slim volume, only sixty six pages, hooked me from page one. The epigraph was a quote from Moby Dick and the lovely blue lines depicting the sea were very calming. A page later that peace was shattered as I followed a young solider who, under the cover of night, escapes as machine gun fire erupts after him. The mood shifts quickly and I was with him the next day as he discovered a majestic lighthouse at the edge of a cliff. He passes out, has vivid dreams, and wakes up to find that he is inside the lighthouse and his wounds have been tended to. A brief hike down to the beach takes him to Telmo, the lighthouse keeper. Telmo is full of stories for the young republican guard who, we learn, is escaping the fascists. Savvy readers will recognize the classic tales he spins, but young Alejandro, who Telmo calls Moby Dick, drinks the fiction in as if they were facts.

As the book progresses the two bond as they scavenge materials from the sea to build a boat.

The book concludes with an author's note, "The Eternal Rewrite," in which Roca explains the changes he has made to subsequent editions of his works whenever a new edition comes out. This afterword also explains when The Lighthouse was conceived and that, originally, he had plans for a sequel. As a bibliophile and lover of graphic novels, I found these insights to the publishing process fascinating, but what I enjoyed most was when he wrote about his literary muse. It seems Mr. Roca found himself in the position that many of us have: trying to remember the title of a story he once read. Not just any story, the story he was inspired by to write this tale. Thankfully, he remembered before this edition was published. It is a story by Jorge Luis Borges titled "Historia de los dos que soñaron" ("The Story of the Two Dreamers"). Borges, in turn was inspired by a story in A Thousand and One Nights. Roca addsThe same story that inspired Paolo Coelho when writing The Alchemist. Don't you just love it when a book takes you down a literary rabbit hole? 

The Lighthouse is book for people with wanderlust, for lovers of seafaring adventures, and readers who love escaping to imaginary lands.

Emily Fridlund's A History of Wolves

There are books that draw you in reluctantly. There is something about the protagonist, or the setting, or the conflict that has a gravitational force you cannot resist. This was my experience reading this book. I asked NetGalley for an ARC because, ever since reading Jodi Picoult's Lone Wolf, I have been fascinated by the complex societal bonds these creatures create. What I found was a story in which no wolves appeared.

When I began reading the novel I thought Fridlund had created an unlikable narrator, but that is not exactly right. Linda is just an unusual one. She lives with her parents in the remains of an old commune in the Minnesota woods. She is very knowledgeable of the outdoors and has to hike miles to get to the nearest town and, therefore, to school. When she is fourteen, she becomes obsessed with two things: the alleged affair her teacher Mr. Grierson had with her enigmatic classmate Lily and Patra, her new neighbor across the lake and mother to four-year-old Paul.

Patra hires Linda as an occasional babysitter. The two form a strong bond. However, as Linda spends more time with Paul she begins to sense that there is something unusual about him. In fact, there is something unusual about Patra as well. This feeling heightens when Leo, Patra's husband comes into the picture.

The novel switches back and forth between the adult Linda's life and her youthful relationships with these individuals. As the plot progresses it is easy to guess that something sinister will happen. It is this that compels the reader to continue reading and become wrapped up in the story. The gripping tale can be finished in one sitting if one has enough time. Luckily for me, I did!