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A review by ljrinaldi
Cross-Eyed Mutt by Étienne Davodeau
4.0
When I was in England for the World Science Fiction Convention in Brighton, low over 30 years ago, I was traveling with a friend that said that as long as we were in the UK, we should also check out France. As Americans, that really does make some sort of sense. We also visited the part of Wales where the Prisoner was filmed, as well as making our way up to Scotland in a 100 year old train. It was an interesting time.
We took the boat across, since the Chunnel hadn't been built yet, and got a cheap place in the center of Paris. We were only there three days, but we managed to hit all the hot spots. We went to the Tour Eiffel, Sacre Cours, and of course the Louvre. Back then, though there were crowds around the Mona Lisa, you could still get close enough to see it, and the Nike of Samathrese was at the top of the stairs. I remember thinking, as the protagonist does in this story, that there were a lot of art that because they were close to the famous ones, that they got neglected.
Fabian is not an artist. He is not someone high up in the Louvre. He is a guard, and he has met his girlfriend's family who think that their great-great grandfather has drawn a masterpiece, that they have kept in the family for generations, and well, since he works at the Louvre, could he just slip it in.
I wouldn't say this is a hilarious story. It is slow, and thoughtful, and boy, either the illustrator did a lot of work studying the Louvre, or had been there, because the pictures of the inside are goureous. It is lovely to see these rooms, years after I have been there.
Not a bad story. Not ground breaking, but beautifully drawn, and the afterward talks about how art is purchased for the Louvre.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
We took the boat across, since the Chunnel hadn't been built yet, and got a cheap place in the center of Paris. We were only there three days, but we managed to hit all the hot spots. We went to the Tour Eiffel, Sacre Cours, and of course the Louvre. Back then, though there were crowds around the Mona Lisa, you could still get close enough to see it, and the Nike of Samathrese was at the top of the stairs. I remember thinking, as the protagonist does in this story, that there were a lot of art that because they were close to the famous ones, that they got neglected.
Fabian is not an artist. He is not someone high up in the Louvre. He is a guard, and he has met his girlfriend's family who think that their great-great grandfather has drawn a masterpiece, that they have kept in the family for generations, and well, since he works at the Louvre, could he just slip it in.
I wouldn't say this is a hilarious story. It is slow, and thoughtful, and boy, either the illustrator did a lot of work studying the Louvre, or had been there, because the pictures of the inside are goureous. It is lovely to see these rooms, years after I have been there.
Not a bad story. Not ground breaking, but beautifully drawn, and the afterward talks about how art is purchased for the Louvre.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.