| The Man Who Grew Young | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Daniel Quinn |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Graphic novel |
| Publication date | 2001 |
| Followed by | After Dachau |
The Man Who Grew Young is a graphic novel written by Ishmael author Daniel Quinn and illustrated by Tim Eldred. It was released in 2001.
The Man Who Grew Young opens at a funeral, but we quickly realize all is not as it seems. Rather than burying a body, the funeral involves digging it up. The corpse is taken to the hospital, comes back to life, and recovers from illness. We quickly realize that we are seeing a world in which time flows backwards - people are exhumed from their graves unconscious, come out of comas and are sick, recover, have careers, turn into children, and are reunited with their mothers. This is a world in which time has reversed itself and is flowing backwards.
This is the case for everyone except the story's main character, Adam, who goes on living for centuries without being reunited with his mother. This is the mystery of the story. As the book goes on, the main character gets closer and closer to understanding why he has not yet grown young and "died".
This book is quite different from Quinn's other works. It is less loaded with intellectual content, and is fairly simple in its presentation and themes. Quinn does not seek to present controversial or novel ideas in this book; rather, it is a fantasy story that has a theme of human beings' connectedness with nature. Another theme of the story that IS frequently present in Quinn's other works is that human "progress" is often illusory. The story suggests that more "primitive" styles of life such as hunter-gatherer societies were happier and easier than modern existence.
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