Americana, a graphic novel for older readers on hiking and life

Americana (And The Art of Getting Over It) is a graphic novel by cartoonist Luke Healy. He’s Irish and had numerous periods living in the United States, all of which ended with him reluctantly having to leave the country. Americana is his story about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, a path that stretches from the southernmost tip of California all the way through Canada’s much colder climate in the mountains. It’s a 2,600 mile trek that took Healy 147 days.

His journey’s result is a graphic novel with about 10% of the book being presented in prose form. The variety in presentation helps establish the book’s pacing very well. Healy’s illustrations are numerous and drive the majority of the narrative in a very dry and patient manner. There’s a subtle quality in his drawings that make his humor even drier than what it normally would be. At times the art evokes the isolation that hikers experience on the trek, while highlighting their misery, joy and friendship at other times.

Another result of the sparseness of the environment, as well as his art, is that the emotional times that Healy goes through on the hike resonate quite strongly. The loneliness that the hiker’s experience, their personal issues back home and the awkward social missteps that we all make are played out very well in those instances.

Prior to Americana I hadn’t heard of the PCT. I’ve hiked short treks on the Appalachian Trail, but haven’t tackled something as long and intimidating as that. There are things that anyone who has hiked before will recognize and appreciate in the book. The trail angels were particularly interesting. Those are the kind hearted locals who live near the trail that supply stations with snacks, water or other goodies. Americana also does a great job in presenting the unique characters that inhabit the hiking world.

Everybody hikes for a reason and there’s no one personality that does it. There’s a unique comradery that happens when like-minded travelers hook up and travel together. It’s a fascinating bonding experience that I think everyone would benefit from to an extent. The physical strife that one goes through on a hike of this magnitude is another issue and will weed out most of the people who attempt it.

Even Nealy raised his hand a couple of times to tap out. It’s a hike that most people don’t think that they could complete, yet Healy, by his own admission was not a hiker. He was a little out of shape and was doing the hike to either get his fill of, or cure him of his American wanderlust. It’s a story that many people I know can relate to.

Americana is a graphic novel, but it’s not really for children. There are a couple cuss words, it’s very thick and its presentation won’t appeal to anyone younger than high school age. Even those upper teen agers won’t fully enjoy the book. Ideally, those in college or older will relate to the soul searching and disparate situations that Healy encounters.

I can easily envision this graphic novel being on the bookshelf of any of my friends who I traveled with. For those people Americana will bring back memories of their travels, the friends that they made and the adventures that they experienced.

There are affiliate links in this post, because….travelling.