BOOKS SCREEN PICK
5,000 km Per Second by Manuele Fior
Summary: 5,000 km Per Second tells or almost tells the love story between Piero and Lucia, which begins with a casual glance exchanged by teenagers across the street through a window and ends with a last, desperate hook-up between two older, sadder one-time lovers.
5,000 km Per Second manages to refer to Piero and Lucia’s actual love story only obliquely, focusing instead on its first stirrings and then episodes in their life during which they have separated a narrative twist that makes it even more poignant and heart-wrenching.
Notes: An Italian graphic novel about a couple’s relationship over the course of a couple decades. It starts with them as teenagers, then skips forward to follow one or the other of them in their lives apart, then sees them reunite briefly, and finally ends with a flashback to the beginning again. It’s an interesting examination of their relationship, usually focusing on just one of them and seeing how as their lives change, their thoughts still drift toward the other, with them both wondering if the distance between them (which is what the title refers to) can ever be closed. Settings include a small Italian town, Oslo, Cairo, that through stunning scenery and providing expressive character art.
One is left thinking about the characters, their motivations, their choices (often poor) and the impact those had on their lives. About the feelings of home, of wandering, and of family.
The Book to Screen Club 