genre: graphic novel
I had such high hopes for this graphic novel. The premise was fascinating to me: the time is earth in the distant future and humans have survived another ice age. A group of explorers come upon the Louvre, buried in snow. These archeologists use the Louvre itself and the artifacts (paintings, statues etc) they find there to try to make sense of us as a civilization. And, to be honest, the parts of the book where the archeologists were making assumptions about what we're like as a people based on our art WAS very interesting to me. Based on the number of unclothed bodies alone in the Louvre, you could get some crazy ideas about us. The concept of future generations needing to somehow "figure us out" is a interesting one - especially since so much of what we do and believe is now in these little electrical machines.
Beyond that very thought-provoking premise, the book fell a bit flat for me. The dialogue felt trite and the interactions between characters felt forced and fake. The reproductions of real artwork throughout the book gave some depth to the plot (plus, I just like looking at art). In the end, though, I read it for the premise, which despite the parts that disappointed me, still gave me a lot to think about. If you are an art lover, especially, you may want to check this one out.