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Object Lesson
At the age of 8, Jean-Pierre is leading a blossoming life, subject to the rhythm of nature, in a village that provides enough stories and space to feed his child's imagination. There is the church in the middle of the village - the monument to the dead. A single primary school class, an authoritarian and mustachioed teacher, fights between boys, and slaps from conceited little girls. Jean-Pierre is in love with his mum, as all little boys are, and extremely admiring of his dad, his champion, who is not around enough. This is the year that Jean-Pierre discovers life and how cruel and merciless it his parents split up. For this new story, the author tackles a difficult period experienced by the child Jean-Pierre, in an almost autobiographical way. A modest and deeply moving tale.
- GenresComics
Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 13, 2020
A slice of life story about a young boy living in the French countryside. It strangely has a lot of violence towards animals in the midst of this 8 year old living his life. There's not really much to this story.
Received a review copy from Europe Comics and NetGalley. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.
Received a review copy from Europe Comics and NetGalley. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.
October 20, 2017
A charming story about growing up (except for the brutal cat-killing part. Eww).
Now I get what the man with the lion head was all about :)
The final page with the sequence of silent panels was purrfect!!!
Now I get what the man with the lion head was all about :)
The final page with the sequence of silent panels was purrfect!!!
January 26, 2020
An adorable graphic novel with great artwork. I was disappointed when it ended. The story is simply a glimpse of Jean-Pierre's life at 8 years. He lives in the country, is an altar boy and gets into trouble and out of it.
We get to see the different characters in the village and the joys and hardships of life in the country. The story is funny in places as we get to see how children understand the world around them. But life doesn't stand still and Jean-Pierre's idyllic countryside life changes when his parents separate and move back to the city.
It is a lovely story full of adventures and the mischief of young children. The best part is how we get to see the world through children's eyes. I think much of it we can identify with through our own childhoods. It has a way of igniting nostalgia.
I just wish it had been longer and explored Jean-Pierre's new life after his parents split up.
The artwork is lovely with bright artwork and expressive characters.
Copy provided by Europe Comics via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
We get to see the different characters in the village and the joys and hardships of life in the country. The story is funny in places as we get to see how children understand the world around them. But life doesn't stand still and Jean-Pierre's idyllic countryside life changes when his parents separate and move back to the city.
It is a lovely story full of adventures and the mischief of young children. The best part is how we get to see the world through children's eyes. I think much of it we can identify with through our own childhoods. It has a way of igniting nostalgia.
I just wish it had been longer and explored Jean-Pierre's new life after his parents split up.
The artwork is lovely with bright artwork and expressive characters.
Copy provided by Europe Comics via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
March 19, 2025
215×295+[|₀₁₀|] ¦ Double expresso ¦ D.L. 09/2006 ¦ DU09 = eo
Narrative: ***
He is excellent with showcasing the interesting arenas within the quotidian but I don't think he knew how to end this- so the story simply stops as the new chapter of life begins.
I rarely return to say anything but I'll note that his characters were memorable enough for me to "see what he was doing there" in unprovoked hindsight with the correlations between Mardon's characters and the wild-of-nature television programming- beyond the obvious lion parents. I became certain that the dark "many ways to kill a cat" joke came from an actual/adjacent childhood experience/witness. Then, the pregnancies...
Visual: ****
He's great. Not top-shelf framing material- but the sort of satisfying "session" artist, the type I'm never hesitant to quaff, that impresses me with how well his art tells his story!
Then, it's not fair to the duotoners, but being his own colors certainly rounds him up to ⁵* in my generous opinion.
Narrative: ***
He is excellent with showcasing the interesting arenas within the quotidian but I don't think he knew how to end this- so the story simply stops as the new chapter of life begins.
I rarely return to say anything but I'll note that his characters were memorable enough for me to "see what he was doing there" in unprovoked hindsight with the correlations between Mardon's characters and the wild-of-nature television programming- beyond the obvious lion parents. I became certain that the dark "many ways to kill a cat" joke came from an actual/adjacent childhood experience/witness. Then, the pregnancies...
Visual: ****
He's great. Not top-shelf framing material- but the sort of satisfying "session" artist, the type I'm never hesitant to quaff, that impresses me with how well his art tells his story!
Then, it's not fair to the duotoners, but being his own colors certainly rounds him up to ⁵* in my generous opinion.
June 8, 2020
'Object Lesson' with story and art by Gregory Mardon is a story about a young boy growing up in a small village in France.
Jean-Pierre is who we follow in this story of growing up in a small village. There are bullies and animals. Jean-Pierre's home life is not so great with a dad we never see clearly, and a mom who is very lonely. There are things to do for church and school, and a surprising amount of cruelty to animals.
Not a lot happens. I was looking for an arc to the story or character development, and neither of those things happen in any significant way. The art is good. I just wish the story had some weight to it.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Europe Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
Jean-Pierre is who we follow in this story of growing up in a small village. There are bullies and animals. Jean-Pierre's home life is not so great with a dad we never see clearly, and a mom who is very lonely. There are things to do for church and school, and a surprising amount of cruelty to animals.
Not a lot happens. I was looking for an arc to the story or character development, and neither of those things happen in any significant way. The art is good. I just wish the story had some weight to it.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Europe Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
March 26, 2020
Mediocre telling of a humdrum childhood in a small French farming village. Things are livened up by some of the several wordless montage scenes, such as a walk home when our boy thinks all the consumed animals from the farms are out to get him, but on the whole it's too stodgy. Also, I know it's set in the 1970s, but the kids wear what seems like adult clothing, with full collars, knitted waistcoats and so on. Nothing wrong with that you may think – but the scene expressing his childish love for his mother and their quality time together really looks likes he's letching on her. The maturity to his wardrobe and several other scenes in close conjunction make this really too Oedipal for my palette. Not hot.
February 21, 2020
It is funny story about young boy Jean Pierre and his village, his friends and all the mischief he does around in school and at home.
It is light on mind simple story which explores daily adventures of young kids.
In between there are silent pages. These are best which showcase very good art and experiments with illustrations. Wonderful landscapes and cute activities of village kids are displayed.
Frequently it becomes little graphic and little obscene; which is why it is comics for grown up people.
It displays neglected aspects of parent and kids relationship and how kids face effects of strained parental relationships.
Overall a good read to enjoy good art and light story.
Thanks netgalley and publisher for review copy.
It is light on mind simple story which explores daily adventures of young kids.
In between there are silent pages. These are best which showcase very good art and experiments with illustrations. Wonderful landscapes and cute activities of village kids are displayed.
Frequently it becomes little graphic and little obscene; which is why it is comics for grown up people.
It displays neglected aspects of parent and kids relationship and how kids face effects of strained parental relationships.
Overall a good read to enjoy good art and light story.
Thanks netgalley and publisher for review copy.
February 3, 2020
I love the artwork on this one. I really didn't know too much about it and the beginning seems like its geared towards children but as I read on I don't think its appropriate for young children as it contains some trigger warnings of animal abuse, adultery and some violence. But its a story about an 8 year old going through life in a new town, new friends and parents going through divorce. I did wish it was a little longer and maybe needs a part two or three.
Want to read
February 10, 2020Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews