Notes on a Thesis

French cartoonist Tiphaine Riviere's graphic novel covers the life of Jeanne Dargan during her 6 years as a PhD student.  While the book is satire, her story is sad and discouraging as well. Jeanne's life during those years was so disjointed that I would not choose to work one a PhD myself.

The publisher's summary:

"When Jeanne is accepted on to a PhD course, she is over the moon, brimming with excitement and grand plans - but is the world ready for her masterful analysis of labyrinth motifs in Kafka's The Trial?  At first Jeanne throws herself into research with great enthusiasm, but as time goes by, it becomes clear that things aren't quite going according to plan.  Notes on a Thesis is a reminder of the strangeness of academia, of every awful essay, every disastrous exam, and every insanity-inducing dissertation."

The artwork in Notes is interesting.  As Jeanne becomes more and more discouraged by her lack of progress, she is drawn with an increasingly wilted body.  Some of the other characters are drawn the same way, especially the lazy administrator Brigitte who I think resembles a government employee more than an administrator. I think I know her! She looks like my department's secretary.

The story was funny but also discouraging. I have thought about getting an advanced degree but Jeanne's experience makes me think twice about it. Jeanne got bogged down in teaching grad students and spent years just working on her thesis idea and creating the writing plan. This is not something that I want to do. 

Riviere is known for writing satire. She certainly excelled with Notes. She has Jeanne reading 3,200 books during the research phase of her degree and Jeanne wrote a 69 page outline of her thesis. Unbelievable!

5 out of 5 stars.