Of mice and men in our graphic novel review – The Tower

After giving you something for movie fans last week and reminiscing about John Carpenter’s “Rattlesnake,” this week we’d like to take you into the literary realms. This is a complete conversion of the classic “Of Mice and Men” as a graphic novel in a 400-page hardcover book. If you believe the information at the back of the book and watch a short video from the TV channel ARTE for research purposes, illustrator Rébecca Dautremer spent two full years creating this work – very impressive.

In addition, she made paintings on 211 double-page watercolor paper in her studio, which contain the entire plot of the novel. She did not want to stick to one style, but continued to play with the various possibilities of the illustration art form, making the book unique in its own way. As a reader, you never know what to expect in the next double page spread. Here’s a close-up of one of the main characters, there’s a playful hint with a billboard reminiscent of the 1930s.

As readers, we may not be aware or clear of the various techniques Rébecca Dautremer used in creating the book, but they can and should be appreciated. Some of this may have been lost by the current adaptation of the book, but the colorful, richly illustrated extravaganza that awaits us readers here on every double page reflects the artistic side in printed form as closely as possible.

John Steinbeck’s novel was first published in the United States in 1937 and first published in Germany in 1940. It concerns two immigrant workers named George and Lenny who dream of a better life and move across the country in search of work. Work is hard. They move from one farm to another and from one crop to another. Tall and strong, but somewhat silly, Lenny befriends the witty and intelligent George, who knows more about the local customs.

George feels responsible for Lenny, but this friendship is not easy for him. When Lennie grabs a girl’s clothes and mistakenly believes her to be sexual harassment, they both lose their jobs. George tells Lenny to keep a low profile on his way to the next odd job. But even when Lenny offers to move on on her own, George can’t get out of his skin and still feels responsible. After all, they both have a common (American) dream: one day they want to invest their hard-earned money in a plot of land with a house, cows, pigs, chickens, and rabbits.

In the next farm dormitories, George and Lenny meet farm hand Candy, who tells them how things are at the farm. The two have to be especially wary of the ranch owner’s son named Curley. He is reckless and loves to mess with the workers. He only recently got married, but his young wife loves to turn men’s heads. Of course, this causes George to sit up and take notice, and when Curley’s wife meets the men shortly thereafter, the reader suspects that this story will likely not end well.

Not only has Mice and Men been filmed many times over the years, but there have also been many translations and translations into German. This graphic novel is based on a translation by Miriam Pressler. In addition to the wonderful illustrations already mentioned, the complete novel is also printed in the book. Sometimes text elements are incorporated into the artwork, and sometimes they are next to or under illustrations. The best thing to do is go to the publisher’s website over here Even an impression of the artwork is hard to describe.