This Canadian Life-- thoughts on Michel Ragabliati's The Song Of Roland
In Michel Rabagliati’s comics, life is never easy. Whether it’s a kid moving out of his parents house to finally be living on his own or a couple facing the possibility that they just cannot have children, Rabagliati’s comics captures life through words and drawings. Rabagliati finds the stories out of life’s experiences and expresses them in words and pictures. THE SONG OF ROLAND is the first book that doesn’t center in on his cartoon stand-in Paul but instead finds its focus on Paul’s wife Lucie and her family during the slow death of her father Roland. As he tells the story about Roland’s life and death, Rabagliati demonstrates how families have to face a certain amount of “life goes on” even as they’re preparing to say their inevitable goodbyes.
The beginning of THE SONG OF ROLAND is about anything but death as Lucie’s family and her sisters and their family get together for a family vacation at her parents house Saint-Nicholas, a sleepy-yet-developing small town. In his depiction of Saint-Nicholas, Rabagliati sets us up for change, as he contrasts the town that Lucie used to visit as a child against the town they are now visiting. What once used to be open fields are now small subdivisions. Rabagliati builds this lovely scene as Lucie gets to return to a place of her childhood and happy times with the family she loves. When she, Paul and their daughter Rose return to “real” life in Montreal, it’s all about finding a new home, learning of a friend’s divorce and finding out her father’s prostate cancer has returned.
Rabagliati finds honesty in his stories. There are plenty of truly bad ways to take a story about a death from cancer and make it some melodramatic piece about the meaningless or arbitrariness of life but Rabagliati never falls into that hole. Instead, THE SONG OF ROLAND is as much about life, Paul and Lucie’s life and Roland’s life, as it is about death. In fact, it’s probably more about life and how we accept the dying of those who mean a lot to us. Even Rabagliati’s diversion into his escapades into buying a computer that can get online (this story takes place circa 2002 or so) ends up showing us how much there is to our daily life that we may not really consider.
As he sets up the reader with funny, amusing and clever stories about everyday life, there’s a sadness throughout THE SONG OF ROLAND. Just as fun and laughter are parts of life, so are tears and sadness. Ragabliati shows his brilliantly in Roland, the patriarch with his family of rabbits (his daughters) and l’il rabbits (grand children.) By introducing us to the family, Ragabliati shows us everything that Roland has and you can’t help but admire it; maybe even envy it a little bit. Rabagliati’s books show what it means to be a part of a family as a child and as a parent. As Roland starts getting sicker, he tells Paul the story of his childhood and the way that he and his brothers and sisters were abandoned by his parents. Ragabliati really shows us Roland and his life, summing it up in his love for his family. So by seeing Roland’s love for his wife and his daughters, it makes the last half that much more meaningful as Roland is dying. You see Lucie and her sisters rally around their father and you can feel the love that they have for him. That’s the true emotions that Rabagliati is so wonderfully able to capture on the page.
While telling stories of the events of these characters lives, he reveals the personalities of his cast. With a simple, almost traditional art style, Rabagliati places his characters in the real world. You may never have been to Montreal or Saint-Nicholas but Rabagliati’s stories in this book begin with the settings that he conveys on the page. From there, Lucie and her family come alive by just being recognizable people. Rabagliati’s semi-autobiography style gives him a rich cast to work from and he portrays Lucie and her family perfectly by showing us what they say and what they do without ever forcing them into an awkward or inauthentic moment.
The beginning of THE SONG OF ROLAND is about anything but death as Lucie’s family and her sisters and their family get together for a family vacation at her parents house Saint-Nicholas, a sleepy-yet-developing small town. In his depiction of Saint-Nicholas, Rabagliati sets us up for change, as he contrasts the town that Lucie used to visit as a child against the town they are now visiting. What once used to be open fields are now small subdivisions. Rabagliati builds this lovely scene as Lucie gets to return to a place of her childhood and happy times with the family she loves. When she, Paul and their daughter Rose return to “real” life in Montreal, it’s all about finding a new home, learning of a friend’s divorce and finding out her father’s prostate cancer has returned.
Rabagliati finds honesty in his stories. There are plenty of truly bad ways to take a story about a death from cancer and make it some melodramatic piece about the meaningless or arbitrariness of life but Rabagliati never falls into that hole. Instead, THE SONG OF ROLAND is as much about life, Paul and Lucie’s life and Roland’s life, as it is about death. In fact, it’s probably more about life and how we accept the dying of those who mean a lot to us. Even Rabagliati’s diversion into his escapades into buying a computer that can get online (this story takes place circa 2002 or so) ends up showing us how much there is to our daily life that we may not really consider.
As he sets up the reader with funny, amusing and clever stories about everyday life, there’s a sadness throughout THE SONG OF ROLAND. Just as fun and laughter are parts of life, so are tears and sadness. Ragabliati shows his brilliantly in Roland, the patriarch with his family of rabbits (his daughters) and l’il rabbits (grand children.) By introducing us to the family, Ragabliati shows us everything that Roland has and you can’t help but admire it; maybe even envy it a little bit. Rabagliati’s books show what it means to be a part of a family as a child and as a parent. As Roland starts getting sicker, he tells Paul the story of his childhood and the way that he and his brothers and sisters were abandoned by his parents. Ragabliati really shows us Roland and his life, summing it up in his love for his family. So by seeing Roland’s love for his wife and his daughters, it makes the last half that much more meaningful as Roland is dying. You see Lucie and her sisters rally around their father and you can feel the love that they have for him. That’s the true emotions that Rabagliati is so wonderfully able to capture on the page.
While telling stories of the events of these characters lives, he reveals the personalities of his cast. With a simple, almost traditional art style, Rabagliati places his characters in the real world. You may never have been to Montreal or Saint-Nicholas but Rabagliati’s stories in this book begin with the settings that he conveys on the page. From there, Lucie and her family come alive by just being recognizable people. Rabagliati’s semi-autobiography style gives him a rich cast to work from and he portrays Lucie and her family perfectly by showing us what they say and what they do without ever forcing them into an awkward or inauthentic moment.

