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| Cartier Tour image © Michael Chevy Castranova 2016 |
Have we talked
about Rutu Modan’s “The Property”?
I picked up a copy
at the Wexner Center in Columbus, between CXC events last October, and I admit
I bought it entirely for its look.
The inside cover,
in fact, is what sold me — a two-page spread of pinks, soft blues, grays and
greens, an imaginary Sweden in summer.
And as I paged
through the novel, I was taken with Modan’s spare but not sparing drawings of
expressive people who don’t tell us, or each other, what they’re really
thinking as they make their way around Warsaw. You have to track their faces
and body language.
But the art is
matched by a deeply embracing story: The protagonist, Mica, believes she is in
Poland to help her grandmother reclaim property taken from their family during
World War II. But her grandmother, prickly even in the best of circumstances,
has other goals, which she never explains to Mica.
In the end, the novel is about living
with decisions, with a glimmer of hope salted in. Take a look.
***
Meanwhile, in chapter 370 of “Slipped,” Tyler Wilson — aka the Scarlet Sparrow — is in the
literal clutches of the returned Chancellor, who last time we saw him had grown
to gigantic size and was nearly mad, due to an injection of growth serum. But
now he’s in control of his faculties and even larger. And he’s threatening to
eat Tyler, with extreme malice.
Cartier Tour, on
the other hand, is having her own confrontation with Delacroix, the
quasi-demon, whom she claims owes her … something.
And then there’s
Pip, who has shown up and appears about ready to take a hand — or, paw — in the
action.
You can see what’s
what by following this link.
***
And by the way,
this month marks eight full years since I launched “Slipped” — two states and
two or so jobs ago for me. So thank you for reading, even if you’ve joined the
adventures of the Scarlet Sparrow and her friends in progress.
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