Book Review: Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness

Posted On August 3, 2024

Hi Readers! It had been a while since I had read a graphic novel, so I decided to read ‘Seek You’ based on reviews and recommendations. I loved how the Goodreads blurb talked about the book, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to find that nuance or meaning when I read the book.

~~GOODREADS DESCRIPTION~~

From the acclaimed author of Imagine Wanting Only This–a timely and moving meditation on isolation and longing, both as individuals and as a society.

There is a silent epidemic in America: loneliness. Shameful to talk about and often misunderstood, loneliness is everywhere, from the most major of metropolises to the smallest of towns.

In Seek You, Kristen Radtke’s wide-ranging exploration of our inner lives and public selves, Radtke digs into the ways in which we attempt to feel closer to one another, and the distance that remains. Through the lenses of gender and violence, technology and art, Radtke ushers us through a history of loneliness and longing, and shares what feels impossible to share.

Ranging from the invention of the laugh-track to the rise of Instagram, the bootstrap-pulling cowboy to the brutal experiments of Harry Harlow, Radtke investigates why we engage with each other, and what we risk when we turn away. With her distinctive, emotionally charged drawings and deeply empathetic prose, Kristen Radtke masterfully shines a light on some of our most vulnerable and sublime moments, and asks how we might keep the spaces between us from splitting entirely.

~~THE JOURNEY~~

The book is divided into five parts. The first one titled ‘Listen’ is all about listening.. to the radio, the fake laugh tracks, the subway car full of lonely people, news about lonely people and listening to the silence. All these narratives are described through technology, art and media and the artwork has a green-colored theme.

The second part titled ‘Watch’ is all about watching.. celebrities in the media, coverage of shootings, gun violence and politics. These narratives are described through individuality, gender identity and patriarchy with an orange-colored artwork.

Part three ‘Click’ as the name suggests has its narrative in technology. It’s how loneliness has a connection with phenomenons like chatrooms, filtered selfies, live tweeting a tragedy and cancel culture. All of it aptly in blue-colored artwork.

Part four ‘Touch’ talks mainly about gender discrimination and its results in the form of loneliness. The portrayal of lonely women in movies/books written in a stereotypical way is something I found to be accurate. The artwork is brown-colored, perhaps a mirror to the filth that society has become.

And, lastly, part five is again titled ‘Listen’, but unlike the earlier parts, this is about introspection and listening to yourself.

~~THOUGHTS~~

Even while writing down the journey of the book above, I had to rethink why I didn’t like the book, because if any reader reads through this gist, they might feel like picking it right away. I think the major problem I had was ironically how disjointed the chapters and sub-chapters were from each other. At times, there didn’t seem to be any immediate relevance of being remotely related to loneliness. At other times, it felt that the exhaustive research wanted to see the light of the day, because that seemed like the only reason to include it.

I also felt that the structure of each mini story was not well formed. It felt quite singular in its voice in spite of it being a journey from the times of the radio till the times of now. The depth was missing throughout, so some points that might have had big repercussions had no impact whatsoever, instead leaving the reader in a state of confusion.

As for the art, it was beautiful. I loved the use of different colors for different chapters. The text was all caps which was surprisingly easy to read. At several times, the placing of the art with the text was just brilliant, which is why I thought of sharing a few snaps from the book. All in all, for a topic of this import, I had higher expectations. But, I did enjoy some texts. I have rated Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness by Kristen Radtke at 2/5 stars!

Until next time,