Ginseng Roots

By Craig Thompson
Publisher: Faber & Faber
ISBN: 9780571386611

There’s a small town in Wisconsin that is responsible for almost all of America’s ginseng production. As a child, Craig Thompson, his siblings and his mother would be paid to weed the ginseng beds, haul up rocks and stones, and eventually harvest the root. 

Now, as an adult, Thompson finds himself looking back on a very unusual childhood while searching for a new creative project. This is all at a time when health problems begin to effect his ability to draw. Whatever path he explores he finds a connection to ginseng, whether that’s through Vietnamese refugees that settled in his town, a large Chinese fanbase for his previous books, or through seeking help with his hands through alternative medicine. 

There’s a brutal honesty within the pages when it comes to family ties and a lost childhood, where Thompson and his siblings aren’t the only ones affected. And yet, this isn’t necessarily viewed with resentment.

It is, without doubt, a lovingly crafted, beautifully illustrated book, carefully written to evoke an emotional response as it draws you in. Thompson’s gift for visual storytelling and design allow him to foreshadow themes and call back to events in a very satisfying way. So many of the pages are stand-alone works of art, ignoring the typical comic artists’ grid of boxes to instead enhance the story with fluidity and finesse.

And who would of thought there was so much to know about ginseng? You can’t fail to be something of an expert at the end of the mammoth 448 pages (a very thick book), and yet at no time does it feel laboured, boring, or retreading the same ground. It’s a book of such significance that it deserves to be read and spoken about for years to come.

If you liked that: You’ll enjoy Craig Thompson’s earlier book, Blankets