Well, now they are available in German: The first graphic novel to be nominated for the Booker Prize. Although "Sabrina" by Nick Drnaso did not manage to make the leap from the longlist to the last five, it was still a big stir. Also in Germany there's now a special appearance, the Aufbau-Verlag has secured the title for his Blumenbar program.
In fact, many things sound auspicious. The story is mysterious, the title heroine suddenly disappears, her last friend Terry moves in with a buddy to get away from the blow of fate. Suddenly her monthly card is found, a murder video appears. The culprit is a boy who seems so harmless that a lot of Internet madmen doubt the story. Sabrina is not dead at all, her boyfriend and the buddy he lives with are evil actors and, and, and.
Sounds exciting and up-to-the-minute, because we live in a world where trolls and other people without life and reason adjust their reality. Climate change is invented like the mass murder of Sandy Hook elementary school and Hillary Clinton abuses children in a pizzeria. Drnaso has a good story there. What can go wrong?
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Graphic Novel "Sabrina": Is this supposed to be symbolic?It actually does not go wrong. But slowly. Very slowly. That's the first thing that stands out: we see Sabrina visiting her sister, a dialogue. Ten pages. Sabrina cuddles with the cat. They talk about men, Christmas presents, crossword puzzles, vacation plans. A normal conversation among sisters, none of which will gain importance later.
This is given in strict form, on twelve panels per side, three times four, all the same size. In the end, Sabrina goes to bed, the next day out of the house. Hm. A good mood firework is not, and that it's not designed as such does not make it any more entertaining.
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16.09.2019, 15:13 clock
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DISPLAY
Nick Drnaso
Sabrina (german edition)
Publishing company:
blumenbar
Pages:
208
Price:
EUR 26,00
Translated by:
Daniel Beskos, Karen Köhler
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Cut: Sabrina's friend turns up at his buddy Calvin. He picks him up from the airport. Some of the panels are now bigger, but the base is always the three-by-four grid. The two men hardly know each other, so they speak virtually nothing or only superficial. Lots of panels are now wordless. You realize, there is a principle behind it, but why? Is this supposed to be symbolic, for a society that has nothing to say to itself? There are better symbols than two silent types who do not know each other.
In fact, speechlessness is always the topic. But again and again in situations in which even Hella of senses would not talk much. It is as if one would say that all people are black, and as proof they show a chimney sweep. Booker prize candidate Drnaso can not be that daft, right? But what's the point then?
Unfortunately, the drawings do not help. It could even be said that they are made more aggravating: everything is styled up, looks like art at the back and the front, but it does not get entertaining: Drnaso draws in clear lines, extremely reduced, mostly only outlines and color surfaces without any shading. The characters usually look like big running sweet potatoes, their faces are made up of the hairstyle and a few dots underneath.
Which is why one can scarcely distinguish the characters from Calvin's US Army work: here, all sweet potatoes carry tarnish. They talk in similar braked dialogues about a vacancy, Calvin's family, from which he lives apart, private problems, whether one should eat. That is, admittedly, all very real. But also dying. So bland that one is grateful that eventually finally, finally, the video with the murder of Sabrina appears.
Action thin as crepes dough
The following are: many breathing breaks. History is somehow made, it does not go ahead. The plot is spread thinly like crepes dough. The Internet trolls are spreading their mix of bullying and hate, but well, you can handle it. Calvin has weapons at home, but does not unpack them. Terry hears on the radio more and more conspiracy theories, finds the weapons cache. At least at this point, the options go out: If Terry Amok ran, that would be very predictable. If not, it would be bland again. Without spoilers: Even Drnaso finds no solution here, neither exciting nor surprising.
My first impulse: I would know a dozen other graphic novels that fit in the grid and need more honors (Charles Burns' "Black Hole", just as an example). But sure, everyone knows something he finds better.
More instructive is the question: If you want to honor a graphic novel as a literary prize candidate, then you have to wait for "Sabrina"? Because the genre of complex, sophisticated stylized melancholy is not new; There you will find at least one comic every year, which is just as gloomy. But maybe I just realized zero again. Then only helps: Find out for yourself.
