Drink That:
You’re drowning. You’re swirling round and wondering if
there’s anywhere to come up for air just before you realize how warm it is.
Trickling down your spine, what was first panic and confusion now slowly melts
away and leaves you feeling comforted and wondering. You start to find the
beauty in the inevitable tragedies and begin to piece together the larger
puzzle. Both Daytripper and Delirium Tremens need to be experienced multiple
times to fully grasp how ungraspable they can be.
Daytripper by the infinitely
talented brothers, Gabriel Bá and Fabio Moon, is a special book
that lovingly punches you in the gut and hugs you at the same time. To be
honest, I’m a sucker for father & son tales and that’s at the heart of
what’s happening here. On the surface, Daytripper follows the life and many
deaths of author Bràs de Oliva Domingos. Witnessing the repeated deaths of Bràs
as he travels to understand who his father was and who he is, the reader is
swept into the flow of this tale’s journey of magical realism connecting snippets
of the most important moments of his life.
I found myself choking up numerous times throughout the story; sometimes
at the moments of heartbreaking loss and sometimes at the moments of beautiful
simplicity. ‘This IS life’, I thought multiple times. Oftentimes the larger
picture is obscured as if in a dream state, but each individual moment is an
entire lifetime for Bràs. All those lifetimes, the friendships and romances,
the failures and the determination to continue, culminate in the larger
painting of what shapes Bràs. All the while you are absolutely awash in soft
saturated color on every page thanks to the masterful work of Dave Stewart, who
compliments that tandem of Bá & Moon’s pencils to perfection. The brothers
are at the height of their illustrative craft with setting suns, underwater vistas
and quiet rural moments. The art reminds you that we’re only just gingerly
rooted in the real world, ready to be swept away with the flip of a page.
Take a sip of your Delirium
Tremens and start trying to remember if you’ve been here before while fruits
dance with cloves on your tongue before giving way to the alcohol warmth. A
traditional Belgian Strong Pale Ale that balances spiciness with a rich full
bodied malt flavor. It is hardly an attack on the senses, instead the
complexities introduce themselves subtlety one after another each sip noticing something
new atop familiar elements. Much like Bràs’ journey we are given an experience
warm in color and aftertaste, a mix of comfort and wonder and a true
life-affirming experience even after the bottle has emptied.
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