Commentary: Death Wins a Goldfish by Rea

I needed to renew my library card at the West Fargo library in order to hold a book I wanted that became available. Naturally, I waited a day too long and that book went to someone else. Nonetheless, I got there. I verified myself. I got compliments on my watermelon nail art (thank you!), and decided to peruse.

The library is pretty small in size. It shares a building with the West Fargo Community Center, and is separated by a hallway. Downstairs you'll find the children's section, community computers, large print, and DVDs. Upstairs is everything else. I went upstairs and immediately saw adult graphic novels. I have found a love for this genre, so I picked up the first one I saw: Death Wins a Goldfish by Brian Rea. The art style was graphite (mostly) and fun, so I flipped over the book to read the details.

Death Wins a Goldfish cover

Basically, it's about how Death (personified as the Grim Reaper) is told my HR that he (?) needs to take his vacation time, as he hasn't taken a day off since starting his job. From here, he learns how to live, because he's so focused on death (er, or killing, really). Isn't that a thought, though? Death needing to focus on living. So I opened it up.

After reading the publication date (2019) (why do I always do this?), there was an introduction by the author/artist and how his work/life balance was non-existent, as is most of the balance in the United States. A quote he reference, and is also referenced in the story, is to "learn when to row my boat and when to rest my oars." This book is a commentary on this thought, and "how to rest my oars from time to time."

Expiration dates.

It takes a lot for my to stop and re-read some lines that I find absolutely wonderful. Usually, I'm a straight-through-reader, as I like to call us, that read what's there. However, this had me stopping to re-read some fantastic lines. I've included pictures of my favorites below.

Tiny skull slippers <3

The littlest details also had me laughing out loud (another thing I don't often do when reading), like the tiny skull slippers of Death and the pictures Death took with his goldfish, my favorite.

Photos Death took with his new beloved friend.

Overall, this a beautiful reflection of how we should all focus on living each day, and not taking any moment for granted, even though it seems small. Do something new. Do something scary. Party with people you just met. Enroll in school. Then drop out if it's not for you. Be scared to go back to work after a break. And then realize you're good at what you do. Do it all.

Love this so much. I already ordered my own copy because I love the details. I also love the cursive handwriting (nerd!); but all in all, this book made me happy. I'm excited to have it on my bookshelf when it arrives.

Beautiful.