This novel is graphic in more ways than one. The drawing is the key to the atmosphere and the feeling; it provides compassion, humour and pathos unlike any words. Dashed hopes, daily tragedies, petty cruelties and forlorn hopes are the stuff of the humour. All things every reader will recognise. Work your way through in episodes and give yourself pauses for thought. And if you want the essence of this book, have a peek at page 17.