Book Review: Room & Boredom

Title: Room & Boredom
Author: Matthew Sturges, Bill Willingham, et. al.
Publisher/Year: DC Comics / 2008
Source/Format: Shelves / Print
Date Finished: 28 Feb 2012
Book # 11

Series Reviews: This is the first

Buy | Borrow | Accept | Avoid

The Short and Sweet of It (from DC Comics)
Welcome to the House of Mystery! Filled with peculiar, otherworldly characters from all walks of life, this series from Matthew Sturges (JACK OF FABLES) and Bill Willingham (FABLES) focuses on five people trapped in the reality-warping House of Mystery, a supernatural bar where tales are the legal tender and only the finest storytellers are patrons! But how – and why – they're stuck inside is all just a little piece of the puzzle in this first volume, which collects issues #1-5 of the all-new acclaimed series and special bonus material.

A Bit of a Ramble
Stories within stories within stories. That's what I get from this first volume in the series. We have the overarching narrative involving the main character, Fig, and her journey to the House of Mystery, the house from her dreams which she's been obsessing over for much of her life; Fig's story includes some clearly awesome characters, only clearly awesome because 1) we don't know anything about them, except they are the Conception which is a cool name; 2) they float across the ground, dragging their toes; and 3) it looks like they have to be touching each other to stay tethered to Fig's world.


But we also have the story of the five (including Fig) bar patrons who can't leave the House; this story includes a masked character in a carriage who is the only one who can get the trapped residents out of the house. And finally we have the stories the bar patrons tell, which cross between fact and fiction and involve multiple worlds. Awesome.

It's not just the story that drew me in. The artwork is fantastically dark and detailed:

The randomness of some of the inclusions in the frames really got me. For example in the first picture above, what is up with the flying shark? Who knows? It's just part of the world. The inclusion of beasts and people and images in general that aren't directly discussed in the story is something I really appreciate. They add to the vision of a world separate from the story; they suggest that the story taking place is just one within a larger world, and I like that.

I don't have the rest of this series on hand, but I am definitely interested in reading the rest.

Question: Has anyone else read this series?

NOTES
This meets Goal #1: Read Books I Own and  Goal #2: Manage My Series

Book Review: A Few Fables

Title: Fables 3: Storybook Love
Author: Bill Willingham
Publisher: Vertigo
Release Date: 1 May 2004
Date Finished: 1 September 2010

Buy | Borrow | Accept | Avoid

Challenges: 100+ Reading Challenge, Graphic Novels Challenge, Hogwarts Reading Challenge,

The Short and Sweet of It
As with Legends in Exile and Animal Farm, Storybook Love recounts the adventures of fairy tale myths and legends living out their days in New York. Forced to leave their homelands after a powerful Adversary went all Dark Side on them, they have carved out their own space in our world. And just like with the first two, I loved it!

A Bit of a Ramble
Storybook Love, book 3, houses four separate stories that each add to the overall world; however, it is the third story that continues the main plot line told in the first two installments. In this section of Storybook Love, Bigby and Snow are ....

You know what? Summarizing the stories within this volume would be difficult. Willingham's Fables series defies simple paraphrase because he has created a complex world. Each story, text and images, reveals more about the characters and the world than can be easily translated. This complexity is one of the reasons I adore the series so much. For every story, I get multiple perspectives, back story is used to illustrate current events, action takes place simultaneously in multiple locations with variant characters, and so many details are working together to create the whole.

I would like to share with you one of the hottest images from the novel.

This tiny little pig tailed blond in the pink undies, sporting a giant freaking axe just really impressed me. She looks so amazingly badassed. Badass women abound in this series: sexually confident, intelligent, ruthless, these women have their issues but are strong enough to go after what they want and to change when they should.

If you haven't started this series, you really really should! And now I'm off to volume 5!


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There must be more people who have reviewed this, so be sure to let me know and I'll add your review to the list!

Book Review: Fun Home

Title:  Fun Home
Author: Alison Bechdel

Challenges: 100+ Reading Challenge, Reading Resolutions, Women UnBound, GLBT Challenge, Graphic Novels Challenge, Hogwarts Reading Challenge, Non-Fiction Five,

Buy  |  Borrow  |  Accept  |  Avoid

The Short and Sweet of It
Alison Bechdel recounts a childhood complicated by a father in the closet and a personal struggle with gender expectations and sexuality.  This is a case-in-point of why I love memoirs as graphic novels.

A Bit of a Ramble
Wandering around Barnes and Noble in The Villages, an infamous retirement community in Florida, in desperate search for Patrick Ness's The Ask and the Answer, I happened upon this graphic novel.  I had never heard of it before - despite the fact that everyone and their mother had already read it - but it sounded interesting.  I didn't want to buy it at the time because of the silly book buying ban (which I was clearly ready to violate for Ness), but I was so intrigued I actually made a voice recording on my phone to remind myself to buy it later (this has sense become a common practice).  When my birthday came around and I decided to go crazy, I finally bought it.  And now I've finally read it.

Wonderful.  This graphic novel is a powerful recounting of Bechdel's sexual awakening coupled with her dysfunctional relationship with her parents.  A large part of the novel concerns the dichotomy of appearance and reality.  Bechdel's family appears rather perfect: her parents are literary and artistic, the home beautiful, the family rather nuclear.  Yet in reality, the father is a closet homosexual, the mother is struggling to hold it all together, and the children are often times neglected - everyone lives rather solitary lives, removed from each other by secrets, personal obsessions, and disappointment:

And to top it all off, she relates it all to literary works, sometimes in direct references and other times through the titles of books various characters are reading. At times, books seem to be the primary way Bechdel and her father communicate, and this literary shorthand transferred into her writing.  I was particularly struck by two references:

At the very beginning, she compares her father to Daedalus, a man "indifferent to the human cost of his projects."  Bechdel's father obsessed over home restoration and decoration, pouring his creative energy into projects which he forced upon his kids, and he put more effort into home decor and gardening than he did into raising his children.  I had just finished reading Rick Riordan's The Battle of the Labyrinth, which - as "labyrinth" indicates - revolves around Daedalus. Two references to Daedalus in two days; what are the odds?  Outside of the strange coincidence, I also found the comparison quite apt.

The other reference that caught my eye was the continuous and prolonged comparison of Ulysses to Bechdel and her father's journey.  Ulysses is one of those books I've always wanted to read but pass over continuously for easier fare.

The artwork in Fun Home - as you can see - is deceptively simple in its subdued tones. At first glance, this lack of color suggests monotony, and yet the level of detail in the artwork is striking and adds great depth and import to the images. Speaking of the images, you should be aware that this is a graphic novel for mature audiences: sexual activities are explicitly portrayed. Don't worry; they're not displayed in the below frames.

And yes, that's a Spanish version. ; )

The Filmic Connection
Allison Bechdel, in her comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For, gave us a new way to think about women in film which is now called The Bechdel Test.  The test has viewers ask three questions while watching a film:

1. Are there two or more female characters with names?
2. Do they talk to each other?
3. If they do talk to each other, do they talk about something other than a man?

While these questions may seem trite, if you give it a whirl, you will probably be amazed at the answers. Certainly the worth of a film is not in the answers to these questions; but it does raise some important questions about the easy acceptance we have towards the unequal representation of women in film.

Here's the original comic strip:

This Book Around the Web
If I've missed your review, let me know!

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Question:  Why is it that memoirs as graphic novels are so enjoyable?

Graphic Novels: Five Mini-ish Reviews

Title:  The Alcoholic
Author: Jonathan Ames
Art by: Dead Hasdiel

When I sat down to write this review, I was entirely unsure of what I wanted to say.  I wasn't even positive how I could summarize this unique graphic novel.  To help me organize my thoughts, I started reading other reviews online.  I found one review I think you guys should read at The Examiner.  The very first line succinctly tells you what I wanted to but for some reason couldn't find the words: "The Alcoholic, a graphic novel, is a tale of sexual confusion, romantic obsession and addiction counterpointed by a deep and loving familial bond."

It reads like a self-reflective memoir with the protagonist, Jonathan A., a stand in for the author Jonathan Ames, half-fact, half-fiction. Ames freely admits that bits and pieces from his own life - including his image - grace the pages, but he contends that overall it is a work of fiction.  One thing I would like to say is that this graphic novel touches on some very serious issues; it does so lightly, with care, and yet it never dismisses or trivializes those issues.

Buy  |  Borrow  |  Accept  |  Avoid

Challenges: 100+ Reading Challenge, Reading Resolutions, GLBT Challenge, Graphic Novels Challenge, Hogwarts Reading Challenge,

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Title:  The Surrogates
Author: Robert Venditti
Art by: Brett Weldele

I adore the premise of this graphic novel.  The year is 2054 and the world population is primarily living life through androids they mentally link with and control.  These "surrogates" are used for more than just entertainment; people use them for all aspects of life including jobs - police forces are now 100% surrogates with the human users for the most part not even physically capable of performing the job. But someone out there isn't thrilled with this virtual way of living, and he is determined to find a way to bring down the surrogates.  Detective Greer has been charged with stopping this pseudo-killer, but does he really want to?

The temptation of living in an alternate body, looking however you'd like to look, doing whatever you'd like to do with no real repercussions, is almost unbelievably seductive. I have absolutely no difficulty picturing us latching onto the possibility in a giddy, self-hating, beauty-worshipping glee.  I don't think I could resist the temptation of a surrogate.  In other words, thematically, this graphic novel relates quite well to contemporary society and it intrigues me.  I enjoyed the quick pace of the plot as well; although my enjoyment did flounder a bit at the quick ending.

The artwork was fascinating with different color schemes used depending on the situation or the scene.  And the juxtaposition of the gritty artwork detailing the plot and the clean and smooth futuristic ads for a Virtual Self really impressed me. As is the case with other graphic novels I've enjoyed, this one included other elements such as pages depicting news papers, news reports, white papers, etc. - inclusions of artifacts in graphic novels is a real plus for me.

Buy  |  Borrow  |  Accept  |  Avoid

Challenges: 100+ Reading Challenge, Reading Resolutions, GLBT Challenge, Graphic Novels Challenge, Hogwarts Reading Challenge,

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Title:  The Eternal Smile
Author: Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim

The Eternal Smile is a collection of three graphic novels focusing on the nature of reality and fantasy, imagining the blurring of the boundaries between them, and remarking upon the significance of the separation.

The first story, "Duncan's Kingdom", features a classic story of a brave knight determined to win the hand of the queen by slaying the metaphorical dragon...frog, whatever.  The second story, "The Eternal Smile", tells the story of Gran'Pa Greenbax, a money-hungry businessman who attempts to cash in on a religious scheme centered on a mysterious smile in the sky. The third story, "Urgent Request", brings readers into a romance which begins when Janet receives an urgent email from Prince Henry of Nigeria.  He needs her help in securing his family fortune, and if she provides him with her banking information he will reward her with 350,000,000 dollars.

What I found most fascinating about each of these stories is the way the classic is mixed with the original.  The first two stories share basic similarities with traditional tales:  stories of men slaying beasts for the sake of a princess are not exactly unique; miserly businessmen undergoing internal transformations have been told and told again.  But Yang and Kim really stretch the boundaries of these common motifs, leaving the reader thinking not only about the story but about how it relates to all the stories that came before.  Even the third story, while not exactly based on a classic, takes something familiar - we've all received those emails - and defies our expectations even as it meets them.

I wish I could do more justice to these three stories by really delving in to the beautiful and intriguing theme present in each, but to do so would reveal too much of the story.  Each one artfully blends fantasy and reality in the search for a deeper understanding of the role imagination plays in our lives.  The topic is one near and dear to my heart, and probably to all readers, as we, more than most, find ourselves so entranced by the lives we live in our minds.  Yang and Kim deliver stories that entertain and educate, and I find it simple to both enjoy the stories for their entertainment value and to use the stories as a jumping block for further intellectual pursuit.

Buy  |  Borrow  |  Accept  |  Avoid

Challenges: 100+ Reading Challenge, Reading Resolutions, Graphic Novels Challenge, Once Upon a Time, Hogwarts Reading Challenge,

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Title:  Deogratias, A Tale of Rwanda
Author: J.P. Stassen


Deogratias, the protagonist of this graphic novel, is a young boy, living in a country torn by ethnic strife as the Hutu prepare and eventually attempt to eliminate the Tutsi.  The story swings back and forth between the time before and after the genocide, and readers watch as a young boy concerned only about girls transforms into a young man tortured by his memories.

Hearing the word Rwanda evokes one of the most horrible feelings in me.  The feeling of horror that permeates my soul when I hear Rwanda is entirely due to the film Hotel Rwanda, starring Don Cheadle, which brought the tragedy to life for me.  Saying it like that, it seems trite, but it's honest.  The film introduced me to the events that occurred and sparked in me my natural desire to research.  I read the news articles, tracked down YouTube videos of broadcasts, and was heartwrenched to find the appalling lack of coverage by American news people.  The blindness of the world during this atrocity fills me with shame for humanity and the willful resistance to helping makes me illogically angry.

All of this is just to say that going in to the graphic novel, I already had images, preconceived notions and biases, swimming in my head.  This may be what caused the graphic novel to be rather underwhelming for me.  I was struck, emotionally, by the plight of Deogratias as he suffers mentally in the brutal aftermath of the genocide.  His madness sinks my soul in anguish.

And yet, overall, I was a bit disappointed.  The juxtaposition of past and present seemed less than ideal, and the lack of depth to the plot and the characters left me feeling as if I had just scratched the surface of the story.  Honestly, I enjoyed the text-based introduction to the graphic novel more as it informatively and evocatively covered the historical situation.

I realize that I am very much in the minority here.  Most seem to adore this graphic novel; inasmuch as one can adore something exceedingly dark, full of despair, and painful to the heart.  I don't know why I didn't feel this level of emotion while reading; perhaps it was the quickness of the read, the lateness of the hour, or the heart-wrenching images already present in my brain from other tellings of the genocide.  I do not know.

Buy  |  Borrow  |  Accept  |  Avoid

Challenges: 100+ Reading Challenge, Reading Resolutions, Graphic Novels Challenge, Hogwarts Reading Challenge,

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Title:  American Born Chinese
Author: Gene Luen Yang


Three stories flit through this graphic novel: Jin Wang, the only Chinese-American at school, just wants to fit in...and to maybe date a classmate.  The Monkey King, adored by his subjects, wants nothing more than to be a god.  Danny, a popular kid at school, just wants his cousin Chin-Kee to stop embarrassing him with his uber-stereotyped Chinese ways.  "These three apparently unrelated tales come together with an unexpected twist, in a modern fable that is hilarious, poignant, and action packed."

Be still my geeking heart.  I adored it.  Each of the three stories told in this memorable graphic novel are complex and entertaining, and when all three come together, the result is mind expanding.

The stories are told chronologically, but the book alternates the three stories, artfully weaving them together while allowing each to retain its independence from the others.  This book could have been preachy, it could have been contrived, but it remained original and creative. For example, the character of Chin-kee is an overblown stereotype of the Chinese.  He comes on the scene with a great big bellowing Harro Amellica, starts talking about the "pletty Amellican girl with bountiful Amellican bosom...[who] must bind feet and bear Chin-kee's children".  He knows the answer to every question in school, eats cat, and even has fighting style blending Kung-Fu and Kung-Pow (like the chicken, yes).

A tactic like this could come off as being remarkably racist, extraordinarily cliched, or overtly campy.  Instead, Yang manages to utilize this character to challenge reader prejudice and deliver a powerful message.  Honestly, I couldn't really explain how he pulls it off.  Chin-kee should be funny or pitiable, but he isn't.  A credit to Yang's talent.

Buy  |  Borrow  |  Accept  |  Avoid

Challenges: 100+ Reading Challenge, Reading Resolutions, Graphic Novels Challenge, Once Upon a Time, Hogwarts Reading Challenge,
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FTC Disclosure:  All of these were freebies from a publishing house for the possibility of course adoption.

Book Review: Coraline (the graphic novel)

Title: Coraline
Author: Neil Gaiman

Buy  |  Borrow  |  Accept  |  Avoid

Plot Synopsis
After Coraline's family movies in to a new house, she sets out to explore.  She walks through a door in her house, down a passageway, and finds herself...back in her house.  It takes only seconds for her to realize that the place she is in is not her real house, for in the kitchen is her mother, her other mother, with spidery hands and black buttons for eyes.  This other mother wants Coraline to stay with her, to love her, forever.

My Thoughts
I have read the book, I have seen the movie, and now I've read the graphic novel.  It is so strange to see the same story in three different formats.  Heck, I'm wondering if I should get the audio version and just cover all of my bases.

For a real review of the story, I would read my original review of the book.  For this post, I'm more concerned with adapting a book to a graphic novel and with the qualities of this particular graphic novel.  First, the matter of adaptation.  I am first and foremost a book girl, and I think I always will be.  The ability to use words to flesh out characters, delve into psyches, and add details to the plot, and the ability to allow reader imagination, is what sets a book apart from everything else in my opinion.  A movie is missing words; a graphic novel is missing words; and while the audio version may use the same words, even the use of a narrator changes reader interpretation.  The book is the thing.

Specific to this book-to-graphic novel adaptation, I was not displeased really; I just felt like things were missing.  The story itself remained, and the creepy factor was still high, but things moved a bit quickly.  And things looked...different.  Different than in my head when I originally read the story, and different from the vision put on the big screen (which I adored).  Seeing Coraline with long blonde hair and blue shorts and a pink shirt was a bit off-putting after seeing the darkly gothic Coraline on screen.

I'm unsure of what to say about the qualities of the graphic novel itself.  I didn't find the images overly necessary, and I like a chunk of the story to be in the images when I read a graphic novel.  Plus, there was quite a bit of narration instead of dialogue and action.  It was like someone telling you "she read some books" and then showing her reading books.  Tell, then show.  Tell, then show.  I prefer to get straight to the showing.

I do find myself wondering how I would react had I not read the book or watched the movie prior to reading the graphic novel. It's sad that there is no way to experiment with my memory to see how my opinion would change.

Memorable Scene: May I just saw...ewwwwwww

Other Reviews
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FTC Disclosure:  Library Book #3 peeps. I'm on a roll.
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Challenges: 100+ Reading Challenge, YA Reading Challenge, Graphic Novels Challenge, Once Upon a Time, Hogwarts Reading Challenge,

Book Review: Fables (is flipping fantastic)

Title:  Fables: Legends in Exile
Author:  Bill Willingham

Buy  |  Borrow  |  Accept  |  Avoid

Plot Synopsis
New York City has its fair share of unusual people, but none more so than the group of refugees comprising a wide variety of fairy tale characters.  Forced from their home by a powerful adversary, they have set up an underground community complete with government, which they call Fabletown.  But now one of their own is missing, possibly dead, and the Big Bad Wolf is on the case.  He is aided by Fabletown's second in command, and the victim's sister, Snow White.

My Thoughts
Now comes the point where I gush like a thirteen year old girl.  Except screw Edward/Robert Pattinson, the object of my newfound obsession is Bill Willingham, the creator of the Fables graphic novel series.  I don't know what he looks like, how old he is, actually, I can't even positively identify that he is a he.  But I don't care.  I love him.  I love this world he has created.  And my checking account is in serious trouble as I plan on running out to buy the other twelve books in the series as soon as possible.  And from what I understand, more will be following these first 13 books.  Be still my geeking out heart!

Okay, to the meat of the matter.  First, how much fun is it to have characters from fairy tales and folklore smushed together in a new story?  I adore the use of known characters to create new worlds; the combination of familiarity and mystery excites me.  Snow White, the Big Bad Wolf, Aslan, the three freaking pigs, Prince Charming, Rose Red, Beauty and the Beast, I could keep going here.  It's too cool.

Outside of this, however, Fables has a lot to offer even if you have no freaking clue about the origins of the individuals.  The plot-line entertains, the relationships interconnect, the personalities are complex, the artwork is intricate, and the world is believable.  If I were to focus on everything I loved about this graphic novel, I would need an entire blog dedicated to it, so I'll try to limit my gushing to what you should know before reading.

Foremost, pay attention to the artwork.  I know that I sometimes have a problem doing that with graphic novels; I'm so used to reading text that I skim the images and focus on the words.  But in Fables, the minutiae of the story are clearly presented in the pictures, some of which are so unbelievably detailed, I could spend a large chunk of time exploring the frame.  I adore details like this in a graphic novel as I feel it helps to develop a world the reader can fall into.  A gently curling smoke trail, a clear and bright tear drop, a tensing of the neck muscles, these small intricacies add so much.  Then there are frames that just have so many intertwining figures and actions that they present an entire story unto themselves.  Wonderful.

Final recommendation:  I read this in one sitting and already I'm wondering how I can go about hiding 12 new graphic novels in the house.  So I'd say it's a definite need-to-read book.

Other Reviews
If I've missed yours, let me know!

Bart's Bookshelf; Fyrefly's Book Blog; A Striped Armchair; Bibliofreakblog;

FTC Disclosure:  I bought it.  And I'll probably buy the rest of them.  Unless someone can convince Bill Willingham to take pity on me and send me the rest.  Now, you guys are responsible for keeping authors from bribing us, but you don't have anything to do with it if I bribe an author, right?
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Challenges: 100+ Reading Challenge, Reading Resolutions, Graphic Novels Challenge, Once Upon a Time, Hogwarts Reading Challenge,

Book Review: Romantic Mysteries

Okay, this post is not at all about romantic mysteries despite the title; it's actually two mini-reviews for a graphic novel and a romance novel.  Completely unrelated books, except that I don't have much to say about either one, and hence the mini-review.

Elizabeth Lowell is one of my fall-back romance authors.  Whenever I get in a reading rut, where nothing appeals to me, I read a romance novel by Lowell, Nora Roberts, Sandra Brown, or Jayne Ann Krentz.  I was having quite a bit of difficulty picking up a book, so when I stumbled across this unread Lowell book, I decided to give it a try.

Sweet Wind, Wild Wind is the story of Lara Chandler and Carson Blackridge.  Lara loved Carson in her innocence and he betrayed her.  Now she has come back to chronicle the history of the Rocking B Ranch, the land both she and Carson called home in their youth.  Carson is determined to win Lara back, but as Lara begins to trust him, she finds herself wondering if she's about to make the same mistake again.  All in all the plot is pretty basic and the sex is pretty good, so it's an above average romance novel in my opinion.  If you are looking for a quick, brainless, steamy read, go for it.

Buy  |  Borrow  |  Accept  |  Avoid

Sweet Wind, Wild Wind counts for the 100+ Reading Challenge

Fern Britten is a private researcher (investigator has too many negative connotations) who has been dubbed the Heartbreaker.  In his line of work, jealous lovers prevail, and it is his unfortunate duty to reveal the truth...which often is less than pleasant.  Britten is determined to stop dealing with paranoid lovers (even if they are rightly paranoid), but when he gets involved in a case of suicide, blackmail, and of course jealous lovers, he may be in way over his head.

I adored the artwork in this graphic novel.  It was dark, noirish, and creative, with beautiful perspective shots.  I was a bit less taken with the story itself which seemed a bit...contrived.  The case Britten receives is, lo and behold, tied to a case he worked on in the past, and the path of clues and connections seem a bit too easy for me.  And I have absolutely no idea what's going on with Britten's partner, Brulightly, who is....hmmm...I'm not sure I should say what he is.  But I have no clue why he is what he is, and I'm not sure if I'm supposed to think Britten is crazy or what.

Buy  |  Borrow  |  Accept  |  Avoid

britten and brulightly counts for the Graphic Novels Challenge, 100+ Reading Challenge, Reading Resolutions

Book Review: The Complete Maus

Title: The Complete Maus
Author:  Art Spiegelman
Published:  1997  Pages: 296
Genre: Graphic Novel, Nonfiction

Buy  |  Borrow  |  Accept  |  Avoid

Plot Synopsis
In Maus, Art Spiegelman graphically reveals the story of his father's time during World War II as well as the time his father spent telling him this story.

My Thoughts

Maus is a powerful book.  Spiegelman simultaneously discusses the art and pain of surviving the Holocaust, the difficult relationships between fathers and sons, and the confusion of a situation not experienced but still vital to a person's life.

On the one hand, I love this book.  I find the story moving, the artwork imaginative, and the themes intriguing.  On the other hand, I do not love this book as much as it seems others do.  This is not the quintessential Holocaust story for me.  Elie Wiesel's Night, David Faber's Because of Romek, Wesley Adamcyk's When God Looked the Other Way, these stories are just as, if not more, powerful for me.

I think what does set this apart is - obviously - the form the story took.  A holocaust story that is a graphic novel, complete with humans depicted as animals, is an entirely unique and daring concept.  And it worked.  Jews are portrayed as mice, Polish are pigs, Nazis are cats, Americans are dogs, Frenchmen are frogs, Swedes are reindeer, and so on, and yet I never felt that these portrayals were diminishing the ethnicity of the individual or the similarities between all humans.

Another major difference between Spiegelman's book and the other Holocaust stories I've read is the focus.  Maus is not focused solely on One Man's Story of the Holocaust.  The real focus seems to be the relationship between Art and his father, Vladek.  I would hazard a guess that at least a third of the book deals with the present instead of the past (WWII).  We see Vladek as an old man, narrating his story to his son, bickering with his wife; we see the tension between Art and Vladek, the flaws of a man who survived so much; we see the struggle Art had emotionally with writing this story.

These separate focuses..foci..are what I was not completely in love with.  I appreciate the honesty with which Art portrayed his father, showing his frugality, racism, and bitterness. I enjoyed the inclusion of an entire separate comic devoted to his mother's suicide.  I even found the section on  Art's success with the original Maus interesting.  But it was all this extra that makes me feel like this is not as powerful of a Holocaust story as the others I mentioned.  Maus is something different.

So my final thoughts...read it.

Memorable Scene: Vladek and Anja sent their son Richieu to live with his aunt Tosha in order to protect him.  When it seemed like Tosha and the children were to be sent to Auschwitz, Tosha poisoned herself, her daughter Bibi and her niece and nephew, Lonia and Richieu, to save them from a worse death. I have heard many stories like this, of an adult killing children to save them from the Nazis, and I can never decide if this is horrible cowardice or amazing mercy.

Memorable Quote: But here God didn't come.  We were all on our own.

Other Reviews
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Question:  Do you think the popularity of this book is due in large part to the originality of form?


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Challenges: 100+ Reading Challenge, Reading Resolutions, World Religions, Take Another Chance, Graphic Novels Challenge,

Graphic Novels Challenge

Rules and guidelines:

* The challenge starts on January 1st 2010 and ends on December 31st (but we don't mind you starting early.)
* You don't have to make a list beforehand (but you can, of course! Lists are great because they give ideas to people who aren't sure what to read. And if you do make one, don't feel forced to stick to it!)
* There will be mini-challenges! Look for a post with more info on that soon.
* Overlaps with other challenges are totally fine.

The Levels: You're more than free to adjust your level of participation after the challenge has begun
Beginner (3 Comics or Graphic Novels)
Intermediate (3-10)
Expert (10+)

I'm going for Intermediate, and I just love the range of that level!

My List

1. Fables: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham
2. The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman
3. The Eternal Smile by Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim
4. britten and brulightly by Hannah Berry 
5. Coraline by Neil Gaiman 
6. The Alcoholic by Jonathan Ames
7. The Surrogates by Robert Venditti
8. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
9. Deogratias: A Tale of Rwanda by J.P. Stassen 
10. Fables: Animal Farm by Bill Willingham 
11. Trickster by Matt Dembicki 
12. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel 
13. Incognegro by Mat Johnson 
14. Fables: Storybook Love by Bill Willingham 
15. Fables: March of the Wooden Soldiers by Bill Willingham 

Book Review: Persepolis

Title: Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
Author: Marjane Satrapi
Published: 2003  Pages:  153
Genre: Graphic Novel, Nonfiction

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Plot Synopsis
Persepolis is the remembrances of a young girl growing up in Iran during the Revolution.

My Thoughts
The limitations placed on people and the struggle to free one's self from those limitations is a heartbreaking topic.  Each story Marji relates and illustrates reminds me of how good I have it, and reminds me that those across the oceans are not so different.

Marji's Marxist parents allow her to be a freethinker, challenge her to question the Shah and the subsequent regime which attempt to impose ideology upon the country.  Marji questions her teachers, revels in stories of revolutionary heroes, and rocks out to rock and roll in her Michael Jackson jacket and forbidden blue jeans.  In the midst of cultural repression and the subjugation of women, Marji is all punk and sneakers.

In this graphic novel, the relationship between the images and text is symbiotic, each necessary to the other for the full story to be told. The images do not merely visualize the text, they add to the text, and sometimes do so in a dramatic fashion.  Juxtaposing words of pride in the heroic men with images of the dead really highlights the ideas of a child with the reality of a war.  I was impressed by the starkness of both the words and the images.

Side Note: Persepolis has a sequel which I'm bound to pick up sooner or later.  Some of the linked reviews below discuss both stories.

Memorable Scene:  A teacher who had been telling her students that the Shah was put in power by God does a complete turnabout once said Shah has been displaced.  Marji calls her on this contradiction.  Go Marji!  Bad teacher!


Memorable Quote: If hair is as stimulating as you say, then you need to shave your mustache! You have to read the book to see the funny.

Other Reviews
If I've missed yours, let me know!

Book Nut; At Home with Books; Rebecca Reads; things mean a lot; Trish's Reading Nook; Worducopia;

Question:  Do you guys know of any other non-fiction graphic novels? I really enjoyed this - and probably would not have read it if it wasn't a graphic novel.

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Challenges: Unlock Worlds, Women UnBound

Book Review: Dream Country

Title: Dream Country
Author: Neil Gaiman
Published: 1995 Pages: 112
Genre: Graphic Novel

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My Thoughts
Dream Country contains 4 disturbing stories: Calliope, A Dream of a Thousand Cats, A Midsummer-Night's Dream, and Facade. Plus, Gaiman has included his script for Calliope which gives us insight into Gaiman's writing process on this particular story.

Calliope was difficult for me to read. Artfully done and intriguing, the story features a young author who comes into possession of a muse (who used to date...is that the right word?...Dream) and uses her to become rich and famous. That is not the difficult part. The author rapes the muse. And not only do we read about it: "She's not even human, he told himself. She's thousands of years old. But her flesh was warm, and her breath was sweet, and she choked back tears like a child whenever he hurt her." But since this is a graphic novel, we also get to see it. Rape is so abhorrent to me that I dislike seeing it in books or films.

A Dream of a Thousand Cats freaked me out with its focus on the possibility of dreams. In it, a group of cats listen as one cat tells them about their power to change the world, to re-elevate cats over humans, through a mutual dream. I find cats terrifying; I find the images in this story stomach-clenching. The illustrators manage to create visuals of cats that are at once familiar and highly other. It may have been my favorite of the collection.

In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Titiana and Auberon arrive as guests of Dream to watch Shakespeare and Company present A Midsummer Night's Eve. I loved the layers of this story, the intricacy of a play about fairies being shown to the real fairies. And who doesn't love Puck?

Facade features Urania Blackwell, a lonely woman, altered by Ra, able to change her physicality but unable to fix her destroyed face. She uses masks to hide her disfigurement but is still primarily a solitary figure. Death reappears in this story, as an unexpected consolation.

Other Reviews
If I've missed yours, let me know!

Books & Other Thoughts; Casual Dread; Rhinoa's Ramblings; The Wertzone; Once Upon a Bookshelf;

Me and the World

I am cold tonight. Offices below, headstones marking daily graves of thousands. Inside, across clock faces, as observed as those of celebrities hands commence final laps. Oblivion gallops closer, favoring the spur, sparing the rein. I think we will be gone soon...If reading this now, whether I am alive or dead, you will know truth...For my own part, regret nothing. Have lived life, free from compromise, and step into the shadow now without complaint.

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Just me and the world.

~Alan Moore
Watchmen

Do you have any major regret, something you did or didn't do?

Book Review: Watchmen

Title: Watchmen
Author: Alan Moore
Published: 1995 Pages: 416
Genre: Graphic Novel
Rating: 5/5

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Watchmen was my first foray into graphic novels, and I was immediately hooked. I found the characters fascinating and intricate, the illustrations vivid and evocative, and the plotline depressing as hell.... To explain: Moore wrote this in 1985 but it could just as easily been today with minor changes. Different players but the same game. It's a mad world. It always has been and heaven help us, it always will be. At least that's what it feels like sometimes.

Moore creatively intertwines various stories, highlighting not only our "heroes" but also ordinary people on a street corner. This juxtaposition helps the reader see the hero, the villain, and the victim in everyman.

The ninth requirement for Jenners' Take a Chance Challenge asks participants to write a poetic review using three different forms of verse: haiku, limerick and free verse. Originally, I was going to use a book I read for the challenge, but I thought it would be more fun to write a review of Alan Moore's Watchmen in this form.

Disclaimer: I'm not a poet.

Morality is fluid
A world that is flawed
The human in the hero

There once was a man named Rorschach
Who knew he could never go back
The others copped out
Too filled up with doubt
So he had to pick up the slack

Then and now intertwine
As nuclear power becomes technological power
And Ozymandias becomes Thomas Gabriel
Rorschach is reborn in all our anti-heroes
Manhattan is all who could help but for a broken heart
Moore saw the present and the future
And the future in the present
We can but hope for change,
While we mourn for our loss,
And a World without Heroes. Amen.

Book Review: The Dark Knight Returns

Title: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

Author: Frank Miller

Illustrators: Klaus Janson and Lynn Varley

Published: 1997 Pages: 224

Genre: Graphic Novel

Rating: 4/5

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Plot Synopsis

Batman comes out of retirement, older, weaker, and more tortured, but still capable of taking on Gotham City's criminals. Over the course of the four books in the novel, Batman meets up with Harvey Two-Face, the Joker, a new Robing, and *drumroll please* Superman. And through it all the public is still engaged in a neverending battle discussing whether Batman is a hero or a villain. I'm not sure even Batman himself knows the answer to that question.

My Thoughts

I loved it. I enjoyed this new twist on the Batman character. Always a bit darker than his "superhero" counterparts, Batman's dark side and his mental anguish are given free reign in Miller's adaptation of the Batman icon. The inclusion of Superman into the mix was a nice foil, helping the reader to see Batman as the black sheep among his kind, but one who is doing what's necessary to help society. That has always been a theme within the series, then and now, in novels and film: Batman is whatever Gotham City needs him to be. As always, James Gordon is my favorite character. He had a decent sized role in this story with his retirement and thoughts on his replacement as well as a short and nice action sequence.

On the down side, there were a few times where the repetition got to me. All four stories had numerous lines on how Batman was getting old and tired, and all four included none-too-small segments showing the media debate over the necessity, sanity, and morality of Batman. Now and then I was thinking "yeah, I get it already". But overall, those two annoyances did function as literary devices within the text, foreshadowing events mainly. Despite the downside, this was an excellent novel and I highly recommend reading it.

Other Reviews
Let me know if I've forgotten your review, and I'll add it to the list

An Existential Nightmare

Asa Winstanley

The One and Only Blog

Book Review: Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere

Title: Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere
Author: Neil Gaiman, Mike Carey, Glenn Fabry
Published: 2007 Pages: 224
Genre: Graphic Novel
Rating: 3.5/5

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Plot Synopsis

Richard Mayhew is in a rather dysfunctional relationship, being controlled by his girlfriend rather completely. But on the day he defies her and stops to help a mysterious woman, his life changes. Now he's in a strange place being pursued by dangerous men, and he's partially responsible for saving this new world.

My Thoughts

When I bought this book, I didn't realize it was the graphic novel version of a full length Neil Gaiman book. Now, all I can think about is reading the actual book. Reviews indicate that this version is a pretty true adaptation with just a few plot points missing.

For some reason though, I wanted more when reading this. I like graphic novels; I appreciate the art work, the concise dialogue-based writing, but certain stories leave me thinking that the back story and further plot development are practically necessary. This is one of them. Perhaps my feeling of "something lacking" is a sign of how good the novel is...I want more.

Other Reviews

Muse Book Reviews

Book Review: Preludes and Nocturnes

Title: Preludes Nocturnes
Author: Neil Gaiman
Published: 1995 Pages: 235
Genre: Graphic Novel, Horror
Rating: 3/5

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Preludes Nocturnes is the first novel in Gaiman's Sandman series. A graphic novel, P&N introduces readers to Morpheus, the Master of Dreams. Imprisoned for decades by a power-hungry man, Morpheus frees himself and attempts to retake various trappings of his profession. Other stories, related directly or indirectly, are interwoven into the narrative.

I was intrigued by the foundation this novel sets up, but I'm not rushing to go out and buy the second. I probably will as I am a bit curious to see where the story goes. I will say this: There is a mini-story in the novel called 24 Hours that is absolutely horrifying. I was so disturbed I read it twice - I like being disturbed; what can I say?

The more I write and think about this novel, the more I find myself feeling kindly towards it if that makes sense. For instance, I just flipped it open and caught this passage:

"People think dreams aren't real because they aren't made of matter, of
particles. Dreams are real but they are made of viewpoints, of images, of
memories and puns and lost hopes."

A wonderful philosophy. So I will go buy the next and see what happens.

Side Note: I typed up the review for this quite a while ago, but forgot to post it, so that's why this review comes after my review of Doll's House.

Book Review: The Doll's House

Title: The Doll's House
Author: Neil Gaiman
Published: 1995 Pages: 227
Genre: Graphic Novel, Horror
Rating: 5/5

Buy  |  Borrow  |  Accept  |  Avoid

The Doll's House is the second in Gaiman's Sandman series, after Preludes and Nocturnes, and I must say I am now hooked. I did enjoy the first novel, but I didn't feel that burning need to read the second - the true mark that I am not totally in love with a series. The Doll's House, on the other hand, I was sad to finish, and I'm already planning on heading to Barnes and Noble to pick up the next two graphic novels in the series...probably today.
Many times when I read something I deem creepy, it's in a sporadic, silly, or disgusting way, but not this novel. Gaiman sets a creepy tone and maintains it throughout the entire story. The pictures accompanying the text - this is afterall a graphic novel - do nothing the diminish this tone. I never found myself smiling at a ridiculous image. When I did smile, for there is humor, it was not a this-is-funny type of grin; it was more an amused but horrified grimace.
The plot involves interweaving stories which simultaneously focus on Dream, one of the Endless and if I'm not mistaken, the main character in the series, and Rose Walker, the focus of this book in the series. Rose, unknowingly and mistakenly, is a dream vortex. The Doll's House is her story. And yet, it is a continuation of Dream's story begun in Preludes and Nocturnes. I find myself wanting to say so much more and yet any type of plot summary, in my mind, is a spoiler. I don't even read the backs of novels before reading the story itself. Suffice it to say, the plot is complex, surreal, and most importantly, interesting.