Category: Literary Fiction Publisher: Kindle Digital Services
ISBN-10: B00789SMYC
Type: Fiction
Copyright: Feb 12, 2012
Originally published in 1994 by Lonstreet Press. Presently available at Smashwords and Kobo for free.
Wendal lives in a vey big civilization, and Wendal's job, in this civilization, is to do nothing. One day Wendal's cat disappears and he sets forth in search of her, and finds a great darkness that has come to possess mankind. An illustrated novel.
Excerpt
"...and Wendal's job, in this civilization, was to do nothing."
Professional Reviews
Publishers Weekly, April 1994
Campudoni's graphic novel is an allegory of urban alienation and redemption rendered in childish prose and primitive black-and-white drawings. The eponymous protagonist is a white-collar automaton, a neatly dressed homunculus with an egg-shaped head that brings to mind Edvard Munch's The Scream , except that Wendal's face is expressionless. The book attempts to subvert the numbing platitudes of modern life by juxtaposing an allegorical story about ``the never-ending march of civilization' with grotesque artwork depicting scenes of cruelty and mayhem. A clerk at ``a very small office surrounded by a very big civilization called mankind,' Wendal passes his leisure time watching TV and visiting the park, where he finds pastoral solace and muses that life is ``the most powerful and sacred thing in the universe.' Wendal also talks to his cat, Gai-Pan, who, unlike Wendal, grows aware of the hegemonic brutality of the world and runs away. As Wendal searches for Gai-Pan, he discovers that his boss, the police, the church and the media are less concerned with ``the progress of man' than with money, bloodshed and social tumult. When Wendal musters the courage to talk back to them, he is crucified. A weirdly pretentious but mildly touching parable of quotidian angst.
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