Chopsticks

This whimsical coming-of-age novel was so beautiful. The story is told through photographs, youtube videos, snippets of text messages, newspaper clippings and other odds and ends. The harder you look, the more you glean from its pages. It could stand alone as a coffee table book. You could almost flip through the pretty pages absentmindedly and not take in the story, almost.

There is a story there though. Frank and Glory fall in love. From his drawings and almost brutish persistence, I have trouble knowing if he is in love or just lonely and in seventeen-year-old-boy lust. At times Glory is vacant and distant. Their love seems to ebb and flow, like love does.

I enjoyed listening to the various songs on the mix cds that the lovers made for each other while I was enjoying the novel. That really added an extra layer to multimedia experience that this book was trying to produce. It really gave you a very tactile experience. There were some links that did not work, which was disappointing, but I forgave it.  

I had difficulty pinpointing a theme that I was pleased with. Perhaps this is due to lack of narrator. Whatever the reason, I settled on the bohemian “art, freedom and love conquer all.” How it all ended was difficult to infer, but I like to think that Glory got a job on a cruise ship playing things that made her happy, jumped port in Argentina and Frank followed her there. They lived happily ever after drinking red wine and eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with the windows open and a slight breeze. They freely made art, love and music the rest of their days.

MAUS

Although I went into reading this book knowing that it was a graphic novel about the Holocaust, I really could not fathom how that was going to play out. I wondered if the seriousness of the event would be dampened or if it would be some sort of dark comedy. The book is definitely not a comedy and never makes light of its tragic subject. Maus was generally a critical success and won many awards including the 1992 Pulitzer Prize.

I have to admit that this was my first graphic novel. Being a virgin, I did find that I primarily focused on the words rather than the pictures. I had to train myself to take the drawings into account. I eventually was able to read it effortlessly the way I believe it was intended.

Maus’ author, Art Spiegelman, has received a some criticism over the way is father is portrayed. There has also been much discussion over the use of animals to portray humans and more specifically which animals are used to depict particular races. I did not find this to be a stumbling block. In fact, I believe it adds character to the story and plays directly into the theme “no one escapes unscathed.”

The novel is dealing with a complex set of issues and is as forthright as it can be. One issue is Art portraying his father’s past through the eyes of his father. Of course this can not be objective. People tend to cut themselves quite a bit of slack. Another issue is Art portraying his father now through his own eyes. What we can glean from this is only the tip of the glacier that is parent child relationships. One can easily see that although his father is demanding and unreasonable in his old age, Art is also resistant to his father’s complaints and agenda and has his own objectives.

Arthur’s father is a victim that turns into a very difficult adult. It is easy to see so many of his issues are directly related to what he has been through. One can easily see how living through a monumental tragedy like a concentration camp scars you. The couple, though they survived, did not escape unscathed.

Tiny Time Traveller. A dream.

I was at a bar with Michelle. David came in and said hi, that he was surprised to see me and that he was waiting for my dad and brother. Then he went and stood nearby,  but not with us. Then Thomas came in. He was loud and very happy to see David. I felt angry that they hadn't told me they were in town. Thomas said something to David like "it's good to see you,  man. I really wanted to catch up with you while I was in town."
I turned around and said,  "Hi Thomas." And he looked surprised and confused,  wondering if I'd been invited or if I just happened to be there. And I said something like,  "Imagine! Running into your sister, at a bar in the city that she lives when you were just trying to catch up with the rest of your family!"
Thomas rolled his eyes and looked pissed off. I introduced them to Michelle briefly and they hugged her awkwardly.
Thomas and David went to another part of the bar because they didn't want to hang out with me. Then I saw my dad with a little boy. It was a little Thomas. Thomas when he was three or four.  I went over to my dad and asked if I could talk to him (little Thomas).
He said yes, and I scooped him up and he threw his little arms around my neck. I was trying not to cry and I said "Hi Thomas!" He said "Hi Heidi." I asked him "Are you being a good boy?" He nodded solemnly.
"Are you brushing your teeth every day? Are you listening to mommy and Maria? Are you eating all your lunch?"  He would think about it and nod each time. "Be a good boy,  ok? Be careful. Be careful when you cross the road,  don't forget to look both ways." (He was an absent minded child and I was always scared he was going to die because he almost did when he was a baby).
I was holding him and hugging him and tears were streaming down my face. "Are you staying in your bed?" (He never stayed in his bed and my mom used to lock him in his room) "Noooo." He said, smiling bashfully. "Stay in your bed, sweetie. Otherwise mommy will lock your door and you don't like that. Just play in your bed quietly if you can't sleep."
"Ok." He said. "Keep being good,  ok?  Help mommy when she's tired. If she looks tired ask her if you can help her with something. And help Daddy put away the laundry, Ok?" "Ok." He said.
"Don't forget me. Don't forget how much I love you, that I've known you from the beginning." I squeezed him one last time and put him down. I thought about him growing up now in the wrong time and was worried he would turn out differently and that he wouldn't meet his current girlfriend,  Sharon.  Then I woke up.

Nothing but the Truth

This self-proclaimed documentary novel was comprised solely of conversation snippets,  letters,  telegrams, memos and journal entries. Cleverly, Nothing but the Truth was just cold hard facts with a very objective eye. 

Although the story was an upsetting one,  I really liked this method of story telling. There are no judgements made. The facts are laid upon the table and you may do with them what you will.  This leaves room for a vast array of feelings for the reader and treats each character with fairness and shows them in a fairly unbiased light.

I could sympathize with each character and I enjoyed being the only one holding all the information. Each character had flaws,  just like everyone does,  but it did not seem like any one character was villianized. They were all just very understandable. The theme of the novel could be "the truth is in the eye of the beholder," but I think more is being said about knee-jerk reactions, and jumping to conclusions. Therefore,  I feel that the real crux of the novel is the importance of telling and seeking out the whole story.

The Eyre Affair

This book was a lighthearted breath of fresh air.  It was very playfully written, with characters named Thursday Next, Jack Shit and Acheron Hades. The narrative uses Jane Eyre as a backdrop for part of the story, adding a new meaning to "getting lost in a book". The story was so creative with its alternate universe that I was amazed that the author was able to keep so many complicated ideas in his head.

Some of the action sequences seemed complicated and hard to follow to me. There is a very good reason car chases and fist fights work better on film. I do not think I felt the sense of excitement during those moments in the book that I believe the author was trying to convey. It was clear that he had a well thought out idea, and the writing was concise, but it was still not easy to follow. 

In spite of this, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It was a sci-fi, fantasy,  action novel that I have never seen the likes of before.