Seconds is a graphic novel that follows the life of Katie Clay, a 29-year-old chef who runs a restaurant named Seconds. Despite running the most successful and popular restaurant in town, Katie is plagued by her own thoughts. A perpetual dreamer, she is constantly caught up in her visions of the future, as well as the past. This constant ebb and flow of reflection and projection leaves her incapable of fully embracing the present. Specifically, on page 21, Katie arrives to Seconds after spending time visiting and fantasizing about the location of her new restaurant. This new restaurant, it should be noted, exists as Katie’s plan to leave Seconds and start anew as a restaurant-owner. For a single moment, as seen on the full-page panel on page 23, we witness Katie fully present and in action, serving guests and feeling very much the “star” of her restaurant. However, this illusion is shattered as she runs into her ex-boyfriend, Max, at the restaurant. This encounter causes Katie to flee, completely eliminating the sense of control and power she felt only seconds before. It is through this rapid change in temperament that the audience may begin recognize this trait in Katie’s nature.
In this book, Bryan Lee O’Malley skillfully employs the mimetic register not only through the interactions of his characters, but through the graphic novel’s visuals. These images offer the reader more fixed, concrete depictions of both characters and settings, which impact the way the book is read. In reading a standard novel, the reader or addressee will construct a world of projections, through which the book’s characters and plot will be developed.
Alternatively, the characters and locations in a graphic novel have already been fully formed and presented to the audience. Because of this, there is little to no room for physical interpretation or construction by a reader when consuming a graphic novel. This allows the plot to unfold much like it would in a film or television show, as opposed to a book. This form of storytelling lends itself well to the mimetic register, in that it combines physical images and spoken dialogue, creating more opportunities to imitate life. Seconds embodies this idea, allowing the visual components to breathe life into its characters and locations, which both come across to the reader as undeniably real.
I believe that the title of the book, Seconds, is more than just the name of a restaurant. Through my examination of Katie’s tendency to focus on the past and the future, I have come to believe that the title also refers to the passage of time. Additionally, the term “seconds” can also refer to returning for another helping of something. It is this meaning of the word that struck me when Katie is given the opportunity to alter her past. In essence, Katie is returning to her past for a “second” helping, in the hopes that she can correct whatever mistakes she thinks she has made. Because of this dynamic, I believe that the controlling idea in this graphic novel will be the concept that remaining present leads to inner-peace. Much of Katie’s suffering in this book stems from her inability to remain grounded in the present, and I would expect that her continued “re-do’s” will only serve to exacerbate her situation and make her life more complicated. If this is the controlling idea, then the controlling value for this book would have to be the idea that suffering stems from comparison – whether that be comparing yourself to others, or comparing yourself to how you either used to be or want to be.
Book Reader's Web 
I thought it was a perfect description of always living in the present. When we want to forget the past and ignore the future, the present seems like the best place in the world. You explained it perfectly how we all would love do-overs and re-do’s because we could fix everything and have no consequent problems. I loved this blog and it is a perfect read for someone who might be interested in the book to get them hooked.
LikeLike
Fantastic job with this blog. I have nothing to argue– only things that you mentioned that I had in fact noticed too. First, was Katie’s inability to be present. However, you seemed to have noticed it much earlier than I did. You noticed this trait of hers when she saw Max again away. However, I did not acknowledge this trait until Katie’s had a fully-fledged addiction to going into the past and changing the future. Essentially erasing and avoiding the present altogether. I noticed that Katie while having developed a friendship with Hazel knew nothing about her. This comes to the surface a few times. And then it gets to the point where not only is Katie just ignoring details about Hazel’s life, or just using Hazel for information or as a constant in any reality of hers, but Hazel’s own life starts being erased. Not only could Katie not be present in reality as it was, but she couldn’t even be bothered to recognized Hazel’s presence most of the time. Because of Katie’s fear of the present, Hazel couldn’t have her own life either. Something else that you mentioned that I had also noticed while reading “Seconds,” was that I found myself looking for a connection to the name of the restaurant the entire time. I was trying to understand the purpose for “Seconds” as both the restaurant and as the title of the book. I wondered if perhaps the tree had something to do with it, because when Lis and Katie took their journey to the tree the word “seconds” was repeated but I felt that wasn’t significant enough. At the end of the book, that question still felt very open-ended to me. However, after reading your blog, I feel much better about that. I really like your idea of the ‘second helping.” It really works well with this narrative– both with the restaurant theme and the title, “Seconds.” Really great job on this blog!
LikeLike
Overall, great job with your blog post. You make several interesting points that really help to make sense of the reading. I really enjoyed your explanation of how the graphic novel format is used in this book and how the plot is not only carried out through through the interactions of characters but also through visuals which are just as important. That was an idea that I had not considered in the past. I also found it interesting how you compared the format of the book to one of a movie or a television show, which brings up another point. I feel as if there is still room for projection in this book even though,as you mention in your post, ” [there are] more fixed concrete depictions of both character and settings, which impact the way the book is read.” Everyone goes into a book with different experiences and prior projections which might cause them to perceive the text differently. Even though the reader is able to see the various characters and settings exactly the way the author had intended, the reader is still able to intemperate the overall story in different ways. An example of this, and also one that you bring up in your blog is the title of the book and the name of the restaurant, “Seconds.” Sure, “Seconds” is the name of the restaurant, but there is still much more for the reader to interpret.
LikeLike