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Lucille

3.59 of 5 stars 3.59 · rating details · 252 ratings · 53 reviews

Winner of the Rene Goscinny Prize! With Lucille, Ludovic Debeurme takes on the difficult world of adolescence, following the life of a young anorexic woman and the difficult relationships she has with others, who have significant problems of their own. Influenced by psychoanalysis and the exploration of dreams, Debeurme explores life and fantasies with elegant clean graphi...more

Paperback, 544 pages

Published 2011 by Top Shelf Productions (first published June 13th 2006)

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May 11, 2012 Dani Peloquin rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I picked up this book recently because many of the reviews I read compared it to "Blankets". While I didn't adore "Blankets", it had a certain appeal to me that I still haven't been able to put my finger on. I thought that maybe this book would have that same appeal. Unfortunately, I felt that it had all of the negative aspects of "Blankets" and none of the positives. I know I shouldn't compare it to another work, but even on its own I found it lacking.

The graphic novel follows Lucille who is a...more I picked up this book recently because many of the reviews I read compared it to "Blankets". While I didn't adore "Blankets", it had a certain appeal to me that I still haven't been able to put my finger on. I thought that maybe this book would have that same appeal. Unfortunately, I felt that it had all of the negative aspects of "Blankets" and none of the positives. I know I shouldn't compare it to another work, but even on its own I found it lacking.

The graphic novel follows Lucille who is a troubled anorexic teen with few friends. She struggles with her relationship with her mother and often feels alone in the world. Her only confidante is an older woman in the geriatric unit of the hospital. At first, it seems that she is just your average conflicted adolescent. However, it becomes clear that she is suffering from numerous issues that are rooted in her unhappiness for herself. The second main character in the graphic novel is Arthur who is also a troubled youth. We first meet him when he is trying to convince one of his peers to sell his soul to Satan in exchange for a date with a girl and good grades. It is soon revealed to the reader that Arthur is dysfunctional because of his father's alcoholism and rage. Though Arthur loves his father, he is pained by his father's violent actions. Of course Arthur and Lucille meet and they are able to find in each other the love and acceptance that no one has shown them. That is until they journey out on their own and realize that the grown-up world may be even less forgiving than their adolescent world.

While I think the story was interesting, I feel like plots centered around misunderstood teenagers is a bit hackneyed. We have all seen it before in graphic novels, movies, TV, and literature. While I am always looking for people to put a new pin on it, "Lucille" does not do that. Additionally, I felt like the characters were beyond depressing. I love dark stories and crave unhappy characters in my novels. Yet, this went even a bit too far for me! I typically love simplistic graphics when reading a serious novel. Unfortunately, these illustrations seemed to make the story even more drab and depressing. Granted, the final page states that it is the end of part 1; therefore, one can assume that there will be multiple parts to this story. I hope that the future parts are a bit more developed than this installment and that the author turns away from the cliched plot of the poor outcast kids finding each other. Still, if there is a part two...I doubt I will pick it up.

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Feb 07, 2012 Kirsten rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, from-library, graphic-novels

Mixed feelings about this one. I really liked the artwork, and I found portions of the plot captivating. However, I'm not sure how I felt about it as a whole.

Lucille is a teenage girl with anorexia. She is not doing too much to survive (she gains weight in the hospital, then takes it off again as soon as she is unsupervised) until she meets a teenage boy named Arthur. Arthur has his own problems: his relationship with his alcoholic father is very troubled. Arthur resorts to obsessive-compulsive...more

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Aug 23, 2011 Andrew Shuping rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novel

ARC provided by netGalley

Lucille is a young, awkward teenage girl in high school who is not quite sure of herself. She just wants to be normal like everyone else and her one childhood doll. But alas, Lucille thinks she's ugly and is slowly dying from anorexia. She wants to become so thin she doesn't even exist anymore. And into the picture enters Arthur (also known as Vladimir), whose plagued by OCD, convinces others to worship Satan, and whose father is a drunk fisherman who ends up killing him...more ARC provided by netGalley

Lucille is a young, awkward teenage girl in high school who is not quite sure of herself. She just wants to be normal like everyone else and her one childhood doll. But alas, Lucille thinks she's ugly and is slowly dying from anorexia. She wants to become so thin she doesn't even exist anymore. And into the picture enters Arthur (also known as Vladimir), whose plagued by OCD, convinces others to worship Satan, and whose father is a drunk fisherman who ends up killing himself after losing his job. And the two fall for each other. They run away together in the hopes of finding love and happiness...until they reach Italy and discover that life doesn't always come up happy.

"Lucille" is a powerful story of love, life, hope, and everything in between. Debeurme creates two characters that are well developed and that you might have trouble relating to if you knew them in real life. And yet...as you read deeper into the book you find that you can relate to them. The insecurity, the loss of hope, and being lost in a world that is often confusing. It's an amazingly written story of self discovery and finding some hope in the amidst of chaos. And at the same time...it's also very familiar tale of two star crossed lovers on a journey that only ends in tears. And it's when the story gets here that it starts to suffer a bit. It's an all too familiar tale that while told decently offers nothing unique and is far to reminiscent of "Romeo and Juliet" in some ways. I know it sounds trite, but I wish that he had taken it down a slightly different path, continuing to explore the characters issues with anorexia and OCD, their journey of discovering themselves. They didn't have to be happy, but the last ¼ of the book just felt a bit too familiar.

The artwork is simple line drawings, no depth to the characters, and often no background (sometimes the characters seem to float on air.) It's very similar in style to Chester Brown. And while at first these simple drawings maybe off putting (especially to those used to more robust images in graphic novels even in Chester Brown's work) it grows on you slowly. It fits the tone of the story quite well and by the end helps the tale along.

Overall its a good book bordering on great. The characters are well written and unique and even though the ending is somewhat familiar, we're left with something at the end that is a bit unique and makes the story well worth the read. (less)

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May 02, 2011 Federiken Masters rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: adolescentes

Recommended to Federiken by: Que estaba a mano

Durante quinientas y pico de páginas el autor nos narra la conmovedora historia de Lucille, una chica con anorexia, y cómo va pasando del autorrechazo a la aceptación en parte gracias al autodescubrimiento de si misma que logra a través del amoramor. El dibujo no es muy rico en detalles que digamos pero cumple su función narrativa más que bien. Particularmente agradable es la metamorfosis de Lucille, que pasa de ser un bicho feo a una chica bonita, que supongo será un recurso del autor para most...more

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Jul 14, 2011 Athira (Reading on a Rainy Day) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, source-review, format-ebooks, fiction, cat-graphic-books, cat-series

Teenager Lucille is having identity issues. The book starts off with her addressing her sexual needs and looking at her thin stalk-like body in vain. The boy she is interested in has jumped out of her research team to work with a girl he likes. She is worried that no one will like her, and her mother isn't too helpful when Lucille asks her about it, saying that Lucille's looks doesn't matter since she has brains. Lucille's identity issues soon escalate sending her into a spiraling abyss of anore...more Teenager Lucille is having identity issues. The book starts off with her addressing her sexual needs and looking at her thin stalk-like body in vain. The boy she is interested in has jumped out of her research team to work with a girl he likes. She is worried that no one will like her, and her mother isn't too helpful when Lucille asks her about it, saying that Lucille's looks doesn't matter since she has brains. Lucille's identity issues soon escalate sending her into a spiraling abyss of anorexia. However, even after she is discharged from hospital care, she is still obsessed with losing weight, and is too weak to even move much.

Lucille, the book, introduces another character - Arthur, who I feel is the more important character of the book. Arthur has extreme OCD; he keeps counting - counting steps, counting slabs, counting just about anything. His father has severe alcoholism and rage problems, which often result in bar fights. After one such bar fight in Arthur's presence makes Arthur disfigure the face of an influential man, his father finds difficulties finding a new job, having just been laid off his previous one. Arthur also inherits his father's temper. Both kids - Arthur and Lucille - have issues, stemming from certain lonesome experiences as kids. As teenagers, they both struggle to fit into society and develop anorexia/OCD as a means to combat with their loneliness and low self-esteem issues.

Lucille and Arthur eventually meet up, and the story afterwards is as rich as the one before. Two people with issues don't always complement each other. Their destructive traits can bring the other person down. I was impressed with how the author played their dynamic relationship. This is a love story and yet not one either. It's about two misfits who find each other and relate with each other's weaknesses. They find comfort in the fact that they can be themselves with each other and not pretend to be someone else. And yet with that acceptance of each other, they also dawdle in their own obsessions and find it hard to overcome them. I found this a very moving story and it is a testimony to Ludovic's brilliant graphics that I found my emotions spanning a whole gamut as I followed the characters' lives. If I had one issue with this book, it was how their first meeting was handled. I thought it appeared a bit cheesy and unbelievable.

Ludovic uses very clean drawing that removes away any clutter in the picture. There's only the necessary amount of detail in it - nothing more, nothing less. And that allows the reader to feel the loneliness of the characters and their anguish in certain circumstances. Most of the focus is on the characters of the book. Their expressions, even when stripped of all emotions, tell a lot. Lucille is not told in a linear fashion, and we learn some things early and some later. This works well for the story because the author doesn't waste time and pages in dragging out a moment but the aftermath of the moments can still be felt. In addition to letting his pictures capture the raw emotions of the characters, he also uses dreams and internal dialogues to exhibit their restless minds. Both Lucille and Arthur dream of flying away from their problems.

This book deals with anorexia, alcoholism, dysfunctional relationships and OCD in a very delicate manner. Although that's a lot of issues, it doesn't feel like too much, because the graphic medium easily laps it up. Those who loved Blankets by Craig Thompson and Stitches by David Small will enjoy this one. Lucille shares the very expressive anguish of Blankets and the uncluttered, simple and articulate drawings of Stitches. The French original of Lucille has already won a lot of awards. At 545 pages, this is a huge book, but I finished it in an hour and a half. And it's just part one, so it ends with a lot of questions. The part two, Renée, has already been published in French, and will be published in English next year. The publisher, Top Shelf Productions, is soon becoming a favorite of mine. They had published Blankets, which I absolutely loved, and also The Complete Essex County, which I can't wait to read. And I just finished another new one by them which I enjoyed.(less)

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Mar 05, 2012 angie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was a bit skeptical about a graphic novel tackling the issues of anorexia nervosa and depression, but now I feel kind of bad about my initial doubts, especially since I'm pretty new to the world of graphic novels and didn't really have much room to judge ahead of time. If anything this type of medium lends the story Ludovic Debuerme has to tell a touching vulnerability and aching awareness of just how hard it is to be young and suffering from such debilitating diseases as anorexia and depressi...more

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Jun 19, 2011 Katie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lucille by Ludovic Debeurme is a supremely personal-feeling graphic novel that really tugs at your heart-strings. It follows two extremely screwed up teenagers and their lives up until they meet and then what happens after they meet.

It felt so personal, I'm wondering just how much of it is fiction. It felt like looking at someone's illustrated journal. It is so raw that the very simple drawings make you pay attention to the achingly painful story. Anorexia, suicide, attempted rape, this story r...more

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Mar 08, 2012 Rebecca Ann rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: a-graphic-novels

Not sure I've ever read 500 pages so fast, lol. Something about the format and style of the illustrations appealed to me. I loved that it wasn't in traditional frames, and was completely linear, like sketches in someone's notebook. The drawings were peculiar and charming, despite the heavy subjects that come up in the story. An anorexic girl named Lucille meets a boy with OCD and depression whose father has killed himself. They run away together and get into some trouble. The characters were eas...more

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Oct 06, 2011 Hollowspine rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novel

A story of two lost souls. A girl, with a slight Electra complex develops severe body issues leading her down the path of anorexia. Meanwhile a boy deals with a dysfunctional family centered around his alcoholic father. The stress of his unpredictable environment leads him to develop coping measures such as counting his footsteps and heartbeats as well as developing other rituals to keep bad things from happening.

The two meet once in the hospital, then form a bond while the boy works for a pharm...more

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Oct 20, 2012 David Schaafsma rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-literature

Terrific book, very sparely done, and the characters and their stories come together in such interesting ways. We come to care for the characters a great deal in all their damage and vulnerability and strength and humor. Not much humor, admittedly, as these are fragile, troubled teens. Complex and not easy to like, but ultimately very likeable, and their spare stories are served by the spare style. First in three books, Renee next, and I will be reading, for sure. I am mystified by low reviews a...more

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Jul 16, 2011 Rick rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: comics

The English language debut of the lauded French cartoonist Debeurme, Lucille chronicles the parallel lives of troubled teens Lucille and Arthur. Both living with dysfunctional families, the former suffers from anorexia. The latter, a burgeoning schizophrenic, struggles with the legacy of an alcoholic, prideful father. Debeurme's simplistic and elegant art slowly unveils these complex characters, deftly maneuvering them into a meeting. A powerful connection emerges as the duo travel across Europe...more

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Nov 19, 2011 Laurie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This story of love and tradegy is beautifully drawn. It also captures the emotions of 2 screwed up teens pretty well through images alone, and I enjoyed reading it. It's very quick read, and I would say that if you are interested in graphic novels it is worth checking out. I personally wasn't as invested in these characters as I have been in characters from other books (including graphic novels). They have serious issues, which should reflect that they have a lot of depth to their personalities,...more

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Jul 10, 2011 Matt rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: comics

This award-winning French graphic novel finally gets released in a beautiful English edition from Top Shelf. I enjoyed it for the most part, but was left emotionally underwhelmed by the characters. Debeurme employs a simple style similar to Chester Brown or John Porcellino that somehow fails to express the intense emotional travails of our young protagonists. Still, this a very promising new talent in the French comics scene, and let's hope we can get quicker translations of his material in the...more

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Sep 20, 2011 Raina rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult, feminist, graphicnovel, not-amerika, psychological, realistic, romance

Lucille is an anorexic French girl living an isolated life.
Arthur is the son of a drunken Polish fisherman who likes to psych out his classmates with stories about Satan.

Our story starts kind of slowly (although with 544 pages to work with, you might as well take your time), but once the connections get made, things just GO. It broke my heart to watch these two damaged kids try to come of age during so much trauma. In some ways I wish it was YA-safe, as I know many teens would connect. But I'd n...more

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Sep 25, 2011 Penelope rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fall-11, graphic-novels

This is one of those stories with a plot that seems completely natural, even serendipitous. Fateful encounters, poetic irony, it's all here, and it all works. Nothing seems forced, which is not an easy task in a story that involves such heavy topics as suicide, anorexia, and teenage runaways. Such a story could easily seem contrived, but "Lucille" succeeds in being a touching, beautiful love story. Both Lucille and Vladimir are fragile, flawed, and, unbeknownst to themselves, incredibly tough. T...more

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Feb 02, 2012 Sean Kottke rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, ya, graphic-novel

Behold the power of minimalism! The drawings are slight, almost primitive, but the story of two French teens leading marginal lives and finding solace together is beautiful, heartbreaking and transcendent. These could just as easily be American kids. Many stories here have been told before, but woven together with the subtlest of line drawings, they meld into a cohesive, utterly original saga. Can't wait for the next installment!

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Aug 11, 2011 Tracie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: anorexia, graphic_novels, adult_fiction, ocd

Two wounded individuals--an anorexic teen girl who is struggling to accept her sexuality and a teen boy with OCD who is struggling to come to terms with his father's death--find love and acceptance in one another.

While I appreciate the author's attempt to tell this story, Lucille and Arthur felt like stock characters to me. I also felt like the plotline glorifies the anorexic body a little.

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Dec 17, 2011 Deen Sakurai rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is one of those thick, whoppers (500 pages) that can be read really quick due to a lot of pages comprised of 1-2 panels with very little text. A slightly melodramatic young love tale that's been told many times before but still makes for a nice, breezy read if you're in the mood for such fare.

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Jun 06, 2012 Emilia P rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: comic-books

Oh Frenchies. This is about young love, existential inexplicable despair, sex, the sea. Etc. I thought it was very pretty, and in the end, very effective, in telling a story of the dark side of family ties, but needs for love that are unavoidable. Awww. Yeah. Very French.

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Nov 28, 2011 Valerie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I wasn't particularly impressed by the art or by the writing or subject matter. The ground it covered didn't seem new and it didn't have much to say, at least not much that I found interesting or worthwhile. I wish I could have read it in the original French.

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Aug 14, 2011 Matthew rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult, indie-comics, graphic-novels

This one's going to take me a few days to digest. For the moment I'll say it's a very powerful, very moving story with some content that's likely to disturb a good number of readers for its frank portrayal of anorexia, suicide, teen angst, and sex.

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Jul 10, 2012 Cari Cole rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

"Lucille." Lucille... lucille. So beautifully executed are the words and images presented in this graphic novel. I must have read it five times in one sitting, just to make sure I absorbed everything. I was left tearful and hungry for more of Debeurme's imagination. Every character reminded me of someone I have met at one time or another, every setting felt familiar, and every word spoken rang so true.
Before "Lucille," I was limiting myself to the world of superheroes and fantasy; I was hardly a...more

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Sep 21, 2011 Roman Muradov rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A very heavy funnibook, I cried towards the end. Beautiful minimalistic art and great pacing. If only with it was hand-lettered in English, the rare sound effects stand out terribly with computer lettering.

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Jun 20, 2012 Jenny rated it 4 of 5 stars

I did not like the artwork in this book, it was almost too simple and while the comic itself is deeply depressing it is enthralling and I read it cover to cover in one go

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Mar 27, 2013 Skye rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is so sweet and quick and fun to read. Love the art and the story kept me going. Now just hoping Part 2 (Renee) will get translated soon!

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Nov 16, 2011 Brendan Howard rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Brendan by: Fans of the "meaningful" metaphor of birds flying and free

Shelves: comic-books

The graphic novel equivalent of a dour, overly fey film of misfit, broken teenage love.

I kept reading, but was uninterested in the characters.

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Aug 12, 2011 Meghan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: comics, eating-disorder, france

French teenagers in a small seaside village, eating disorders and parent issues, told with impressionistic, operatic grandeur and tragedy.

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May 09, 2011 Kathryn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Just got a little chill after reading this graphic novel. It's a very beautiful and honest portrayal of young love that emerges from pain and sorrow.

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Jul 25, 2011 Sweet Melissa marked it as to-read · review of another edition

I want to read this book because of this review: http://www.largeheartedboy.com/blog/a....

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Sep 28, 2011 Shannon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wonderful, wonderful book. Beautifully crafted emotion and tension. Near flawless execution. Merci M. Debeurme!

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