It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth
- Downloads：7046
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-11-11 00:51:44
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Zoe Thorogood
- ISBN：1534323864
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Reviews
mel ♡
，
absolutely， yes。
Ryan Thomas
，
Zoe Thorogood’s latest graphic novel from Image Comics details her own never-ending battle with clinical depression through some very inventive visual storytelling。 The plot chronicles her time during the pandemic as she attends some cons and awaits a flight to America to meet an online friend she may or may not have feelings for。 While it is， in fact， a linear story， it’s told in a scattershot way that allows the reader to feel the same somnambulistic despair Thorogood herself often displays。 O Zoe Thorogood’s latest graphic novel from Image Comics details her own never-ending battle with clinical depression through some very inventive visual storytelling。 The plot chronicles her time during the pandemic as she attends some cons and awaits a flight to America to meet an online friend she may or may not have feelings for。 While it is， in fact， a linear story， it’s told in a scattershot way that allows the reader to feel the same somnambulistic despair Thorogood herself often displays。 One day bleeds to the next in the blink of an eye。 One moment is suddenly a new moment and how did we even get here？ Accompanying her on these micro journeys are the avatars of her inner monologue， most notably Depression， who appears as a sort of anime oni lurking in the shadows of her bedroom and peeking in the windows of her apartment begging to be let in just when she may finally be having an ok day。 Thorogood herself is sometimes a beautifully rendered version of her real self， but more often a featureless stick figure head on a body， devoid of expression。 Her friends and family are drawn as animals， some good some bad， from flighty pigeons to bad-boy alley cats—as if “normal” human emotions are foreign （it also just makes it much more interesting to look at）。 Add to this some imaginative visual fever dream pages thrown in to let us know when she’s perhaps going off the rails （or tripping out）， and the result is a comic you have a hard time looking away from。 But back to the story， the exploration of this too-often unspoken-of disease。 Depression is something we all feel from time to time。 Clinical Depress is that feeling on a never-ending basis。 For those who don’t suffer from it， it’s all too easy to tell someone to just smile and feel happy。 But it doesn’t work like that。 It’s about brain chemistry。 And it’s about learning how to wade through that chemistry from morning till night without falling under the waves and drowning。 Thorogood does an excellent job of balancing her moments of deep despair with chuckling moments of self-deprecation as she shuffles through the waves each day。 She doesn’t want to be sad， but it’s familiar， it’s reliable， more so than her roommate or family or the online love interest who inevitably turns out to be just one more crashing wave in the dark ocean。So how does a scattershot book of depressive life moments end？ Even Thorogood admits she has no idea。 But that sort of is the whole point。 She’s a slide under a microscope。 We stare， we discuss， we remove the slide。 Readers may not feel they’ve been treated to a moving story so much as they’ve learned bleakness can be stared in the face and told to move out of the way for a bit。 And it works。 Many teen and adult readers will get a lot from this book， it will give them hope， some others may simply find it relatable （sorry， Zoe）。 But if nothing else， Thorogood has bravely and unconditionally allowed us into her world， her struggles， her humor， in a way most comic creators never do， and readers will undoubtedly seek out more of her work。 （I received an advanced copy of this book， which releases Nov 15。） 。。。more
Chaunceton Bird
，
Unlike anything I've read before。 Ms。 Thorogood's "auto-bio-graphic-novel" feels personal and authentic， and makes no attempt to be self-effacing。 The author provides well-narrated insights into the experience of depression—insights that were enlightening， and that can help the reader be more empathetic。 The frank writing style is a breath of fresh air。 The author does not pull her punches， and the dialogue can be delightfully jarring。 Imagine if Chuck Palahniuk slipped into a bout of life-long Unlike anything I've read before。 Ms。 Thorogood's "auto-bio-graphic-novel" feels personal and authentic， and makes no attempt to be self-effacing。 The author provides well-narrated insights into the experience of depression—insights that were enlightening， and that can help the reader be more empathetic。 The frank writing style is a breath of fresh air。 The author does not pull her punches， and the dialogue can be delightfully jarring。 Imagine if Chuck Palahniuk slipped into a bout of life-long depression and shared the experience through the drawn and written word。 Sorta like that。 Plot wise， don't expect much progression。 It's not that kind of book。 The same can be said about intrigue， mystery， and tension。 Those aren't the point this time around。 Instead， this is a high-resolution snapshot of our protagonist's mental state。 She grows and gains perspective throughout the book， but her experience through the doldrums is always center stage。 So grab a copy and dig in。 Gain some perspective on how it feels to live at the isolated center of one's own earth。 And at the end of the day， just be nice。 You never know what somebody is going through。Also， I received this copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review。 。。。more
Theediscerning
，
Let's just say I've engaged with this kind of book a lot more in the past; the wildly diverse styles of presentation here may well have something to do with this not pulling me in。 Let's just say I've engaged with this kind of book a lot more in the past; the wildly diverse styles of presentation here may well have something to do with this not pulling me in。 。。。more
Alex Sarll
，
A miserable autobiographical indie comic where one of the things the creator is disgusted with about herself is being the sort of person who makes miserable autobiographical indie comics， "Perpetuating our own bullshit， and validating our audience's bullshit at the same time。" I very deliberately don't read enough of the things to know whether that level of reflexiveness is common – certainly crippling levels of self-awareness are a mainstay of the genre – but I found this one much more engaging A miserable autobiographical indie comic where one of the things the creator is disgusted with about herself is being the sort of person who makes miserable autobiographical indie comics， "Perpetuating our own bullshit， and validating our audience's bullshit at the same time。" I very deliberately don't read enough of the things to know whether that level of reflexiveness is common – certainly crippling levels of self-awareness are a mainstay of the genre – but I found this one much more engaging than most because I've seldom seen it done with quite such a combination of artistry and exasperation。 Thorogood is disparaging about her own early artistic forays， but by this point she's impressively adept， flipping between styles and media as moods shift， or sometimes combining them as a form of digression。 So characters' faces will be replaced with blank masks when they emotionally shut down， or at other times they might become animals， Maus-style （and turns out it's really disconcerting to see this happen with someone you actually know）。 This combines with the hubbub of internal voices through which she constantly second-guesses herself， a technique which reminded me more than anything of the bickering personality elements in – a comparison I doubt Thorogood will welcome， though I still think it's a masterpiece of comics craft if not politics - Dave Sim's Guys。 Often these scenes are painful; a lot of us have these moments， though seldom to the same degree， and of course even this sometimes touches a raw nerve for Thorogood， being told her work is "relatable" while feeling "like an alien in human skin"。 But the rejoinder to that is "Listen – you're sad and mildly insufferable。 Do you have any idea how big of a base that covers？" And it's this reluctance ever to let things sink into pure misery which saves the book from ending up as gruelling a read as many of its genre bedfellows。 See also: "It's a comic， for Christ's sake – can't you monologue while fighting giant space worms or something？" Or， at a simpler but no less effective level of humour， the delight in getting hotel room number 8008， because it looks like BOOB。 It's that back and forth， the expertise in modulating the tone， which combine with the self-awareness and the irritation at the audience to make me want to give Thorogood the almost certainly unhelpful label of 'the Stewart Lee of miserable autobiographical indie comics'。 Which I'm sure she'd regard just as gladly as she did "the future of comics" – cf the four panels in which the comic's most primitive stick figure rants "Would the 'future of comics' do this？ Nothing I do matters！ Look！ I'm masturbating！ This is a commentary on my own self-destructive behaviour！ No one will see this page until it's published。 Isn't that funny？ They'll print anything nowadays。" And it must be admitted that， while the script， art and lettering are all very good， there are places an editor could have helped; Thorogood admits to not being great at spelling， but is more often let down by grammar， and it's really not idea to have an error in the very first caption: "If this were a movie， this scene would be the introduction to it's protagonist。" Still， once I was past that， even I'm not （quite） a heartless enough pedant not to feel something from the progression through "I don't want to kill myself because he left me。 I want to kill myself because I understand why he did"， to trudging through existence as "A vessel of meat and piss that really needs to do the washing up"， to a sort of low-key epiphany and the prospect that life can maybe be better even if your brain chemistry won't play along。（Edelweiss ARC） 。。。more
Katie Merikallio
，
A really beautiful book。 The art style was cool and and visual metaphor was always on point。 It was very personal and visceral and real。
Andréa
，