rachbake's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Dementia, War, and Death
Moderate: Fatphobia
annaptobias's review against another edition
I adore Lucy Knisley's comic style, her typography, her watercolors. I keep reading her graphic novel memoirs because her art is so pretty and pleasant to look at.
This one may be the least fave of all the memoirs she's published, not because of the art, but because I feel she's trying too hard to have us think about "mortality" and aging. I realize that in this story she's an independent, self-admitted selfish twentysomething who probably got in way over her head volunteering to accompany her grandparents on a cruise. Taking care of the elderly is rough. Even if her grandparents were mentally and physically capable of doing things (which they weren't), Americans in general don't like or respect old people. I mean, if Lucy (or her family) were brutally honest with themselves, they should have realized that the cruise probably wasn't a good idea. It felt more like a tale of "oh well, that could've gone better." I personally felt like the author was beating the mortality angle far too much; one doesn't need to be ninety to feel mortality. She lived in NYC, mortality is an daily fact of life as soon as you step out of the door.
If anything, what this comic did was reinforce my conviction that I want to be like that nurse she met on the cruise; I want to take care of this same group that everybody ignores and doesn't want to see. We're all going to get old and we'd be lucky if somebody will want to take care of us, wiping our butts and cleaning our chins when we're older.
This one may be the least fave of all the memoirs she's published, not because of the art, but because I feel she's trying too hard to have us think about "mortality" and aging. I realize that in this story she's an independent, self-admitted selfish twentysomething who probably got in way over her head volunteering to accompany her grandparents on a cruise. Taking care of the elderly is rough. Even if her grandparents were mentally and physically capable of doing things (which they weren't), Americans in general don't like or respect old people. I mean, if Lucy (or her family) were brutally honest with themselves, they should have realized that the cruise probably wasn't a good idea. It felt more like a tale of "oh well, that could've gone better." I personally felt like the author was beating the mortality angle far too much; one doesn't need to be ninety to feel mortality. She lived in NYC, mortality is an daily fact of life as soon as you step out of the door.
If anything, what this comic did was reinforce my conviction that I want to be like that nurse she met on the cruise; I want to take care of this same group that everybody ignores and doesn't want to see. We're all going to get old and we'd be lucky if somebody will want to take care of us, wiping our butts and cleaning our chins when we're older.
poorashleu's review against another edition
4.0
Originally posted here
I am quite a fan of Lucy Knisley who I picked up last summer during my graphic novel period (see review: here.) When I saw that there were ARCS of her new book Displacement I got quite excited. Displacement did not disappoint and made my heart hurt in ways I did not know was possible. Displacement is the story of Knisley who decides to watch her grandparents as they take a cruise. What Knisley doesn’t expect, and what I didn’t expect, was the feelings that Knisley was going to face throughout the novel.
The emotions Knisley faces rage from frustration, to fear, compassion, stress, and the fact that her grandparents are the verge of death. Knisley didn’t really think about that fact that her grandparents are not the grandparents she remembers. I’m lucky, my grandmother, who is still alive, is still the grandmother I remember from my childhood. Lucy is not that lucky. These grandparents are different, they’re more exhausting and her ten day cruise seems like Gilligan’s Island, the tour that never ends.
What she doesn’t expect though is to become closer to her grandparents, even if they won’t remember it, she will. She also learns that her grandparents shaped her family dynamics more than she ever knew. She’s the favorite grandchild because she got her undergrad degree and education was very important in the family. Her father tells her he loves her all the time, because his parents rarely said it.
Displacement is constantly full of heartbreak because I spent almost the entire book wanting to hug Lucy, not only because of her story, but also the memoir her grandfather wrote about World War II that she intertwined throughout her own story.
What sold the story for me, was not only Lucy’s storytelling, which I enjoyed as I always do, but also her illustrations and use of color which you can see here. I felt like I was there with her, facing her fears and facing issues she just didn’t want to deal with at the time. That part of growing up that we’re all in denial about, but we all have to face sooner or later. Displacement did not disappoint and it was a pleasure to read, even if it did make me and my cold bitter black heart want to hug my grandmother ASAP.
I am quite a fan of Lucy Knisley who I picked up last summer during my graphic novel period (see review: here.) When I saw that there were ARCS of her new book Displacement I got quite excited. Displacement did not disappoint and made my heart hurt in ways I did not know was possible. Displacement is the story of Knisley who decides to watch her grandparents as they take a cruise. What Knisley doesn’t expect, and what I didn’t expect, was the feelings that Knisley was going to face throughout the novel.
The emotions Knisley faces rage from frustration, to fear, compassion, stress, and the fact that her grandparents are the verge of death. Knisley didn’t really think about that fact that her grandparents are not the grandparents she remembers. I’m lucky, my grandmother, who is still alive, is still the grandmother I remember from my childhood. Lucy is not that lucky. These grandparents are different, they’re more exhausting and her ten day cruise seems like Gilligan’s Island, the tour that never ends.
What she doesn’t expect though is to become closer to her grandparents, even if they won’t remember it, she will. She also learns that her grandparents shaped her family dynamics more than she ever knew. She’s the favorite grandchild because she got her undergrad degree and education was very important in the family. Her father tells her he loves her all the time, because his parents rarely said it.
Displacement is constantly full of heartbreak because I spent almost the entire book wanting to hug Lucy, not only because of her story, but also the memoir her grandfather wrote about World War II that she intertwined throughout her own story.
What sold the story for me, was not only Lucy’s storytelling, which I enjoyed as I always do, but also her illustrations and use of color which you can see here. I felt like I was there with her, facing her fears and facing issues she just didn’t want to deal with at the time. That part of growing up that we’re all in denial about, but we all have to face sooner or later. Displacement did not disappoint and it was a pleasure to read, even if it did make me and my cold bitter black heart want to hug my grandmother ASAP.
nglofile's review against another edition
5.0
Heartbreaking, evocative, and lovely.
ETA: I hadn't planned to write more, but I don't want to forget why this work had such impact. Watching those you love not only age but also change, even to the point of needing help with basic needs, can be paralyzing, exhausting, and make you want to run away. That the author stepped up to accompany her grandparents on a cruise is remarkable. Seeing what she had to do to protect and care for them, all while showing them sincere respect and trying to preserve their dignity, is nothing short of extraordinary.
The form, Knisley's trademark style of line drawings, light colors, and self-deprecating humor, serves as wonderful juxtaposition to keep the reader invested without being overwhelmed. It doesn't make light of the struggles (neither her grandparents' nor her own), but neither does it wallow in them. If you were to flip through the book, you might mistake it for cutesy, and there are comic moments. There is also helplessness, loss, and acceptance. However, and you'll have to take my word for this, this is no downer. The undercurrent may be somber, but it is ultimately a celebration of life, legacy, and devotion.
ETA: I hadn't planned to write more, but I don't want to forget why this work had such impact. Watching those you love not only age but also change, even to the point of needing help with basic needs, can be paralyzing, exhausting, and make you want to run away. That the author stepped up to accompany her grandparents on a cruise is remarkable. Seeing what she had to do to protect and care for them, all while showing them sincere respect and trying to preserve their dignity, is nothing short of extraordinary.
The form, Knisley's trademark style of line drawings, light colors, and self-deprecating humor, serves as wonderful juxtaposition to keep the reader invested without being overwhelmed. It doesn't make light of the struggles (neither her grandparents' nor her own), but neither does it wallow in them. If you were to flip through the book, you might mistake it for cutesy, and there are comic moments. There is also helplessness, loss, and acceptance. However, and you'll have to take my word for this, this is no downer. The undercurrent may be somber, but it is ultimately a celebration of life, legacy, and devotion.
wanderaven's review against another edition
4.0
Displacement: A Travelogue appears to be the second in a trilogy of graphic memoirs centered around travel by Knisley and while by now she's become an auto-buy author for me, it's the third in the series that I just can't wait for!
But since she's probably still inking the third one (you can follow her progress on Instagram), I was happy to receive Displacement. The first on the series was about traveling in Europe after a breakup with her long-term boyfriend John, while hanging out with a new Swedish boyfriend, her newlywed friends, and her mother and her mother's friends. Boyfriend angst, yummy foods, creative adventures, and exciting travel.
Displacement, though, not such exciting travel. At twenty seven years old, when none of her parents or aunts and uncles would take on the responsibility, Knisley accompanied her 91 & 93 year old very compromised grandparents on a ten day cruise. They're decaying: their brains, their bodies, their emotions. To be a caregiver for them would tax the most trained medical personnel; Knisley had her youth and love to shore her up through what must have been the most grueling ten days of her life thus far.
Interspersed with their journey, Knisley also includes entries from her grandfather's memoir of his time as a pilot during World War II. It's a brilliant split screen of sorts; reminding the reader that however distant and vacant he may appear in his senility, her grandfather was once a young and articulate soldier who witnessed some horrifying things and recorded them with insight and empathy.
I'm looking forward to Knisley's third in this series (it's all about her reunion and subsequent marriage to the former long-term boyfriend, John and is slated to be titled Something New) with great anticipation and, honestly, I wasn't sure I was initially excited about this departure. It's true that it's difficult and frightening; it's also insightful, empathic, honest, loving.
But since she's probably still inking the third one (you can follow her progress on Instagram), I was happy to receive Displacement. The first on the series was about traveling in Europe after a breakup with her long-term boyfriend John, while hanging out with a new Swedish boyfriend, her newlywed friends, and her mother and her mother's friends. Boyfriend angst, yummy foods, creative adventures, and exciting travel.
Displacement, though, not such exciting travel. At twenty seven years old, when none of her parents or aunts and uncles would take on the responsibility, Knisley accompanied her 91 & 93 year old very compromised grandparents on a ten day cruise. They're decaying: their brains, their bodies, their emotions. To be a caregiver for them would tax the most trained medical personnel; Knisley had her youth and love to shore her up through what must have been the most grueling ten days of her life thus far.
Interspersed with their journey, Knisley also includes entries from her grandfather's memoir of his time as a pilot during World War II. It's a brilliant split screen of sorts; reminding the reader that however distant and vacant he may appear in his senility, her grandfather was once a young and articulate soldier who witnessed some horrifying things and recorded them with insight and empathy.
I'm looking forward to Knisley's third in this series (it's all about her reunion and subsequent marriage to the former long-term boyfriend, John and is slated to be titled Something New) with great anticipation and, honestly, I wasn't sure I was initially excited about this departure. It's true that it's difficult and frightening; it's also insightful, empathic, honest, loving.
markwillnevercry's review against another edition
3.0
It does suck when you are kinda forced to take c are of people, when you can barely take care of yourself. It was a pretty interesting read while it was happening, but I will never reread it and I do not think that I will think about it much.
bookishwendy's review against another edition
4.0
I find myself contemplating age and morality more than other people my age (early 30s)...or maybe we just don't talk about it. According to eastern tradition (that I read somewhere, I don't remember exactly) instead of sanitizing death and thoughts of it from our lives and minds, we need to contemplate deeply, stare it in the face until it doesn't terrify us. Not in a way that's overly morbid, but in a way that gently accepts life as beautiful because it is finite.
Author/artist Lucy Knisley does a fantastic job with this gentle type of deep contemplation in Displacement, a travelogue that follows her stressful, sometimes hilarious, and frequently tear-jerking trip as voluntary caretaker for her 90+ year old grandparents on a luxury cruise. David Foster Wallace's "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" is appropriately referenced, though 27 year old Lucy's own experience is made more harrowing by geriatric challenges and the threat of norovirius. While her attempts to bond with her taciturn, senile grandparents seem doomed, each night she reads from (and illustrates) her grandfather's war memoir, which provide a much needed line of connection to the past.
It sounds tragic, and it is and yet...it's not. Recommended.
*Bonus points to the author for working in some Prufrock quotes. You made my day! I laughed so hard at that section.
Author/artist Lucy Knisley does a fantastic job with this gentle type of deep contemplation in Displacement, a travelogue that follows her stressful, sometimes hilarious, and frequently tear-jerking trip as voluntary caretaker for her 90+ year old grandparents on a luxury cruise. David Foster Wallace's "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" is appropriately referenced, though 27 year old Lucy's own experience is made more harrowing by geriatric challenges and the threat of norovirius. While her attempts to bond with her taciturn, senile grandparents seem doomed, each night she reads from (and illustrates) her grandfather's war memoir, which provide a much needed line of connection to the past.
It sounds tragic, and it is and yet...it's not. Recommended.
*Bonus points to the author for working in some Prufrock quotes. You made my day! I laughed so hard at that section.