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Epileptic Discussion Guide: Home
David B.
Articles, Interviews, and Reviews
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This Sweet SicknessNew York Magazine, January 17, 2005.
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My Face Would Be YoursThe Guardian, February 11, 2005.
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Epileptic: Disorder in the HouseThe New York Times Sunday Book Review, January 25, 2005.
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Metaphorically SpeakingTime, January 07, 2005.
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Animated Adaptation Of David B.’s Epileptic Gets Stunning TrailersComics Alliance, March 19, 2014.
Other Works by David B.
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Incidents in the Night by ISBN: 9780984681440
Videos
Discussion Questions
(From the Association of College and Research Libraries - Residency Interest Group)
- Why does Jean-Christophe begin to act out the way he does, treating his family so cruelly? Why does his family allow him to continue acting out like this?
- Why don’t Jean-Christophe and David get along? Is there anything other than Jean-Christophe’s illness that keeps them from being close?
- What do you think of B’s panels? How did they affect the story? How did they affect you? Are they at all similar to others you’ve seen? What do they do for the story that “only comics can do”?
- Why does David depict Jean-Christophe’s illness the way he does? Particularly the image of the snake, why choose a snake to represent his illness? Why does this depiction permeate more panels than just the ones we see Jean-Christophe in? How does this representation change as Jean-Christophe gets older?
- What might David’s fascination with war and battle and later the esoteric say about him?
- What might Jean-Christophe’s fascination with dictators and 70s rock/metal say about him?
- In what ways does this memoir compare to others we’ve read or you’ve read on your own?
- How did the many therapies David’s parents put the family and Jean-Christophe through affect David? How do they affect Jean-Christophe? Why do they pursue so many treatments?
- Why do you think Jean-Christophe seemed cured when being treated by Master N? Later on, why do you think he succumbs to the illness? Is this inevitable or is there more to it than that?
- Why must David keep writing stories and drawing? David does explain this, or try to. Does it help him deal? Is it his form of epilepsy?
Reserve a copy
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Epileptic by ISBN: 9780375423185
Suggestions for further reading
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Stitches by ISBN: 9780393068573One day David Small awoke from a supposedly harmless operation to discover that he had been transformed into a virtual mute. A vocal cord removed, his throat slashed and stitched together like a bloody boot, the fourteen-year-old boy had not been told that he had throat cancer and was expected to die. Small, a prize-winning children's author, re-creates a life story that might have been imagined by Kafka. -
Blue Pills by ISBN: 9780618820993One summer night at a house party, Fred met Cati. Though they barely spoke, he vividly remembered her gracefulness and abandon. They meet again years later, and this time their connection is instantaneous. But when things become serious, a nervous Cati tells him that she and her three-year-old son are both HIV positive. With great beauty and economy, Peeters traces the development of their intimacy and their revelatory relationship with a doctor whose affection and frankness allow them to fully realize their passionate connection. -
The Music Room by ISBN: 9780393072587William Fiennes spent his childhood in a moated castle, the perfect environment for a child with a brimming imagination. It is a house alive with history, beauty, and mystery, but the young boy growing up in it is equally in awe of his brother Richard. Eleven years older and a magnetic presence, Richard suffers from severe epilepsy. His illness influences the rhythms of the family and the house's internal life, and his story inspires a journey, interwoven with a loving recollection, toward an understanding of the mind.
