Ginseng Roots: A Memoir

It's always a pleasure to find hard cover copies of graphic novels by my favorite cartoonists. Two weeks ago I found Craig Thompson's newest graphic novel at an odd place: my local hospital's bookshop. Thompson is the author of the world renowned comic "Blankets" so I had high expectations for this read.

The publisher's summary:

Ginseng Roots follows Craig and his siblings, who spent the summers of their youth weeding and harvesting rows of coveted American ginseng on rural Wisconsin farms for one dollar an hour. In his trademark breathtaking pen-and-ink work, Craig interweaves this lost youth with the 300-year-old history of the global ginseng trade and the many lives it has tied together—from ginseng hunters in ancient China, to industrial farmers and migrant harvesters in the American Midwest, to his own family still grappling with the aftershocks of the bitter past.

Stretching from Marathon, Wisconsin, to Northeast China, Ginseng Roots charts the rise of industrial agriculture, the decline of American labor, and the search for a sense of home in a rapidly changing world.

To describe this memoir with one word I would say it is poignant. It is also funny and a visual masterpiece. Thompson gives the story of his life from age seven to the present. His parents were overly strict evangelical Christians and made him work every summer in local ginseng farms alongside his family for twelve to sixteen hours per day. He never had free time the way most American kids have. Thompson grew up in the rural town of Marathon, Wisconsin which is where most of the world's ginseng is grown. When his brother was old enough to join the toil, they worked next to each other telling tall tales and making games out of their labors. The activities included pulling weeds, gathering rocks out of the fields and at the end of summer, harvesting berries. It seemed abusive to me but farm families probably still operate this way. However, I felt sorry for him and his siblings not to be allowed to enjoy in the fun of summer days. Both Craig and his brother left Marathon as soon as they could seeking an easier life. They found it. Craig was lucky to work as a cartoonist, his dream job. 

The story gives the reader all the information you could ever want on how to grow and harvest ginseng. When Hmong laborers joined work on a nearby farm, Thompson tells their story from living in Laos, leaving, and starting over in America. After Thompson developed an immune system disorder, his hands were in alot of pain, affecting his ability to draw. We read about his progress with a Chinese medicine practitioner and the difficulty he dealt with in creating this wonderful book.

The artwork is striking. It has been drawn in vermilion ink with intricate details. The red color is what initially drew me to the book. The reason this color was chosen is explained at the end of the story: because he was told it should never be used.

I cannot say how much this book touched me. I am rating it 5 out of 5 stars.