The Night Bookmobile by Audrey NiffeneggerMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
The Night Bookmobile is an interesting and imaginative graphic novel written and illustrated by Audrey Niffenegger (of The Time Traveler's Wife fame). It follows Alexandra, a girl who comes across the night bookmobile while wandering aimlessly one night and discovers that the collection is made up of every book she has ever read. When she discovers that the bookmobile is gone the following night, she begins a kind of journey to find it again.
The Night Bookmobile is a melancholic tale, but it is this melancholy that makes it so painfully beautiful. Like Niffenegger's Her Fearful Symmetry, there is a compelling sadness to this story and both books seem to have parallel themes of solitude and loneliness, that I feel I understand completely.
I enjoyed The Night Bookmobile much more than Her Fearful Symmetry - possibly because the plot moved at the right pace, and because I deeply understand Alexandra's love of books. Just like Alexandra, it is this love of books that lead me to become a Librarian - and just like her, I now know that the dream and the reality are often quite different. In this way, The Night Bookmobile reminds us to be careful about what we wish for - it's important to have dreams, of course, but they don't always turn out quite how you might imagine.
I would heartily recommend The Night Bookmobile to anyone - even if you don't like graphic novels - because it is a quick and easy read and is a comfortable step out of the ordinary.
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2 comments:
What a great review, I don't read graphic novels however i would love to read this one.
I recently read this too. I had no idea what to expect but foundmyself really enjoying it, i really liked the whole concept in the story. It's a very quick read too :)
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