Book Review: Stitches: A Memoir

Stitches is a powerful story about David Small, the author and artist, confronting his painful childhood memories. They aren't pleasant and at the end, it speaks volumes about David Small's courage.

The story revolves around David Small when he's six and his parents. He had an unloving mother and a father who likes to use x-rays on him for his sinus problems. Later on, he had an operation where he lost his voice and left stitches on his neck. There just seems to be an increasing sense of isolation as the pages go by. This is a family without love and you can feel it through the way the characters look at each other.

The pen and ink drawings, with the gray and black washes, are perfect for the story. It's done in sketchy but appropriate style. The panels and storytelling are wonderful. The imagery are at times hallucinatory. Some scenes include him diving into a piece of paper, running along a corridor with dead fetuses looking at him, and him having a nightmare but he's a bat in it.

The ending showing him coming to terms with his childhood is particularly touching, especially after reading what he has gone through.

This is a wonderful graphic novel with a powerful story.

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