Habibi

An artistic and epic story that is a feat of drawing and literature.  Thompson (native of my hometown Portland) places his story of loss & love in an unidentifiable time period and a corrupted eden.  One understands why it took seven years for his sophomore release when viewing the intricately detailed pages of his book - they are at turns beautiful and grotesque.  I cannot recommend this to everyone - so much horror happens to the central children and it never truly attains a 'happily ever after.'  The artistry in Habibi surpasses his previous, award winning book Blankets, but Blankets realized its message and felt agonizingly truthful, while Habibi leaves one wondering what to make of it.  I still loved reading the story, seeing the depths of admiration Thompson expresses here for the beauty and familiarity of the Islamic culture, and enjoying the interweaving of stories throughout in an Arabian Nights style.  The power of a story is perhaps the main message the artist/author succeeds in revealing, and in this, I can be satisfied.  But I suspect there were a great many more messages trying to be heard.   I've never seen someone manage both words and drawings so beautifully as Mr. Thompson - he's really accomplishing something unique here.  But Blankets let me know that his writing can compete with any others (at least when it is his own tale) and so ultimately, he set the bar fairly high himself.  I'm hoping that his storymaking continues and improves to the point that his invented stories achieve the poignancy of his personal history.

October Reads Borrows and Bought

October Reads
The Male Brain - by Louanne Brizendine
Please Look After Mom - by Kyung-Soon Shin
Graphic Design For Non-Designers - Tony Seddon
Habibi - Craig Thompson
The Walking Dead Vol2 - Robert Kirkman (graphic novel)

October Bought & Borrowed
(Borrowed from the library)
Wild at Heart - by Barry Gifford
The Walking Dead Vol2 - by Robert Kirkman
(Purchased from Amazon and Powells)
The Male Brain (3 copies!) - by Louanne Brizendine
Habibi - by Craig Thompson
(Purchased from Friends of the Library sale - I'm an addict!)
Running with Scissors:A Memoir - by Augusten Burrows
Lies My Teacher Told Me - by James Loewen
Peony in Love and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - by Lisa See
Outlander - by Diana Gabaldon
Foucault's Pendulum - by Umberto Eco
How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents - by Julia Alvarez
Into Thin Air - by John Krakauer
The Witches of Eastwick - by John Updike
Reading Lolita in Tehran - by Azar Nafisi
Loving Frank - by Nancy Horan

September Reads Borrows and Bought

September Reads
Blade Runner or Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K Dick
Mermaid: A Twist on the Classic Tale by Carolyn Turgeon
Sifting Through the Madness for the word, the line, the way by Charles Bukowski
The Man From Beijing by Henning Mankell
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
The Male Brain by Louanne Brizendine
Y: The Last Man (Book 3) by Brian Vaughan and others (Graphic Novel)
Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol (Graphic Novel)

September Borrowed & Bought
(Borrowed from Library)
Blade Runner by Philip K Dick
Sifting Through the Madness for the word, the line, the way by Charles Bukowski
The Man From Beijing by Henning Mankell
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
The Male Brain by Louanne Brizendine
Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol
How to Discipline Kids without Losing Their Love and Respect by Jim Fay
Graphic Design for Non-Designers by Tony Seddon
(Purchased from Amazon & the death of Borders)
Y: The Last Man Vol 3 by Brian Vaughan
Blackout by Connie Willis
The Wolverton Bible by Basil Wolverton
Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin
American Dream by Norman Mailer

Graphic Novel Top 10 (ish) Part 2: Honorable Mentions

This is just a quick list + descriptions of graphic novels that were great but didn't make the Top 10 (they round out the top 20 instead).  They are in no particular order because they all hit a similar "great-but-not-the-best" rating.

Y: The Last Man - Imagine all the male creatures on earth were wiped out in an instant... what does that mean for the typical duality-based struggles we are used to on earth?  War, Labor, Creation and Protection of Offspring, Politics etc...   It's a finely drawn and well-thought out concept that follows the lines of post-apocolyptic writing with the exceptions that half of the world is still alive but with skewed experience (i.e. most as in >90% politicians, soldiers, pilots in the world are male).

Aya - Probably the first book I've seen showing a prosperous African nation.  The Ivory Coast is aptly portrayed here as the home of Aya, a typical (if more studious than her boy-crazy friends) young girl growing up in her homeland.  There are obvious cultural differences but most of the time her life and city are as familiar as the small town homes many Americans grew up in.

Stitches: A Memoir -  This is a pretty dark tale told from a young boy's perspective so it won't appeal to all readers, however I found it an amazing coming-of-age/overcoming your crazy-family story full of hope or maybe just sheer stubborness in not living out one's family destiny.  I recommend it for anyone who grew up feeling like the crazy one because of the people influencing their life.

The Color of Earth (also ...of Heaven & ...of Water) - This is a trilogy tale of a young girl/maiden/woman in Korea (each book covering one phase).  It is beautifully drawn and lovely in its content.  I loved especially the story of young love from the first book.

The Walking Dead - I'm going to have to join the chorus out there shouting that the graphic novel is far better than the television series.  And the television series was decent as far as the zombie plots out there go.  I'm not sure why the series made the changes it did but I think they lost some great character development and story-telling along the way.  The drawings are bold and sure-handed which I appreciated, especially if a great percentage of the pictures are going to be dedicated to the grotesque undead. 

Maus (Book1) - I haven't been able to locate the sequel through my library so I've only got half the story, however the tale that looks back through the author's father's eyes leading up to his entry into Auchwitz, is stunning.  We walk through the daily grind of life in Poland in the years leading up to his internment as slowly and inexorably the scenery changes from bad to worse.  Along the ride though we get insights into the family dynamics, personality tics and modern-day concerns that remind us of the very humanity (or in this case, rodentry) that was put on hold for years in the camps.  Strange to say, but it was a delight to read.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (or other Scott Pilgrim tales) - For those familiar with the movie (HIGHLY RECOMMEDED!), the film version is super-dedicated to near panel for panel faithfulness to the original.  I actually prefer the film because I liked the 'look' better than the cartoon-y characters from the graphic novel but the former wouldn't exist without the latter and the latter is pretty-darn good.

A representative of crime/noir - The Black Diamond Detective Agency by Eddie Campbell.  This one has a western bent to it as well but hits two goals for me: 1) it covers Eddie Campbell who is a great contributor to the genre but who's other pieces didn't hit the top o'the list for me & 2) it represents all the crime/noir pieces out there that the graphic novel is SUCH a perfect medium for.  I like classic film noir but usually in small increments (i.e. "Brick" is a fabulous out-of-the-ordinary noirish film with just enough of a light touch, whereas "The Maltese Falcon" is formulaic) and the same goes for novels (Mickey Spillane is a from-time-to-time escape but easy to overdose on).  In graphic novels you get the heights of the Look and Feel of classic noir along with the expected doses of the formula: femme fatales, red herrings, hard-boiled PI's and gritty dialogue.  And it doesn't bore you with its familiarity.  I've seen better as a representation but couldn't remember or uncover the title despite my huntings.  So this'll do and it has the added bonus of the shout-out to Mr. Campbell. :)

So that's it for graphic novel's folks... until Rabbi's Cat 3 is translated or Marjane Satrapi puts out something new!

July Reads Borrows Boughts

Summer flus led to a limited reading list this month but the selection at least held some diversity.  I read many a graphic novel this month to complete my Top Ten List , then finished off a memoir, non-fiction science book & a girly beach read.  None of the latter make it into my 'must-read' list but they were all somewhat entertaining.  I'd recommend Tina Fey's Bossypants out of the lot for some really great laughs and a very human insight into her dazzling self.

Graphic Novel Top 10 (ish) Part 1

For my list, I am only considering ‘original graphic novels’ much like original screenplays in which there was not a book or movie in existence first…. For instance, the Matrix graphic novel, while beautiful and excellent, does not count as the movie preceded the graphic novel’s release. My one exception is Genesis because the origination has been in existence FOREVER and I would also like to encourage all books of the Bible to be turned into a graphic novel!  I tend to be really picky about visuals as well so you won't see the Sandman listed here (though it tops most lists) because, while complex, I HATE the graphics and can't get past them.  So these will all have reasonably 'pretty' graphics from my point of view.

In Order (Top rated first):

#1 (&2-3) Marjane Satrapi’s memoirs… I already mentioned Persepolis I & II, Chicken with Plums is my next favorite and Embroideries is in the top ten, so I’ll group them together for 1st-3rd place. Chicken with Plums tells Satrapi’s uncle’s history as a romantic, a musician and a family man surrounding the premise that he has chosen no longer to live after his wife breaks his favorite instrument in a fit of rage. It is soon to premier at the Venice Film Festival (Persepolis was made into a film as well). Embroideries is an Iranian version of the “Sex and the City” martini conversations… this time around tea with the Iranian matrons and daughters. It’s a great reminder that there is more alike than different between the Persian and Western cultures.

An added bonus:the graphics are delightful.

#4 Genesis as portrayed by R. Crumb.   This celebrated underground comix artist (depicted by James Urbaniak in “American Splendor” with Paul Giamatti) takes the entire book of Genesis, every chapter, and graphically portrays the stories, ‘begots’ and characters therein.  I’ve never cared much for his stylized humans (they’re usually somewhat grotesque and unlikable) but it works well to engage the reader here and remind one that the book of Genesis, far from being a morality tale, is about humanity and our hit-and-miss relationship with God.  I’m hoping he carries on with Exodus and the rest of the gang!
 

#5 Watchmen by Alan Moore (I know, I know… EVERYONE says this! (at least it wasn’t #1!!).  Considering that this is an incredibly familiar yet complex and fantastic world and that it was written during the age of Star Wars (the counter Mutually-Assured-Destruction Reagan program, not the space-cowboy trilogy), corrupt politicos, gang and drug problems on the rise and the dwindling of the comic-book genre, this story is a true coup.  Alan Moore has produced some other works (Promethea is often mentioned for example) and is a big hero in the graphic novel space but I haven't found anything as creative or rigorous as this in his repetoire.  Instead of the laziness of superheroes with unlimited powers, we're following fairly normal people who once took it upon themselves to become superheroes and are now obsolete and even marginalized.  It captures the sense of an era and people let down by their power structures and facing the real possibility of the end of their world.  The superheros struggle with whether they even want or should try to salvage humanity and the world.  Lovely. (or dark, whatever)
#6-8   These three sort of tie for me as they each have amazing graphics, amazing dialogue and amazing philosophies to contend with.  I'll start with the most familiar and end with the most foreign (to me). 

Blankets by Craig Thompson is the graphic novel answer to the film "Saved" which fundamentalists called 'meanspirited' and I saw as a revelatation for my friends who thought the film was a satire until I told them it was my adolescence.  It's essentially the author's memoir about growing up as a fundamentalist Christian striving to be worthy and faithful to his God, parents and faith and struggling in the face of ill-conceived small-town morality, peer Christian's horrendous behavior and the misunderstanding of his own poetic soul and artistic talents.  It would be the fundamentalist Christian version of Chaim Potok's The Chosen - drawn with beauty and artistry.  I saw myself, my other now-jaded friends and those we left behind in our home town(s) in this tale.  The particular struggle of trying to honor one's parents while rejecting their dogma especially hits close to home.  I'm not sure if mainstreamers are as touched by this story, but I would recommend it anyways and evangelize it to those who grew up in the far right.

The next is the Rabbi's Cat by Joann Sfar which I chose as less foreign than the third selection because it takes place in a foreign place so the strangeness feels right  ('right' not being the adequate word by any means but it'll do).  This book has it all: 1930's historical Algeria and Paris, Judiaism, Arabic-Jewish relations, anti-semetism, philosophy, struggles with faith, love and family tensions.  And the narration of the cat who learns briefly how to speak and uses his speech to take on the resident head rabbi in Talmudic debate is truly a delight.  The follow-on book (same name + "2") is beautifully drawn but more of a set of connected short-stories with an historical backdrop rather than the depth of the first book.  (Note: the third has yet to be translated to English from its original French)  I'm a fan of Joann Sfar's work anyways since whatever he writes tends to be beautifully drawn (either from his own hand or in collaboration) and full of a sense of whimsy.  His other works are worth checking out.

Finally: American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang blew me away as one of the best works out there addressing second-generation Americans searching for their identity in the only country they've ever known as home while straddling parental and familial expectations of respect and duty to where their ancestor's originated.  Honestly, it would probably be at the top of my list (after Persepolis) if not for the sometimes comical graphics which annoy me.  Granted, when they're used, the PURPOSE is to annoy -- they usually crop up when the central character is showing his view of his 'backward' origins that cause the wanna-be-cool Chinese youngster to cringe.  Ultimately the narrator comes to terms with his Chinese-ness as a critical component of his identity and embraces it as part of his coming-of-age as yet another awkward teenage American.  Everyone can identify with these feelings and yet the specific struggles of non WASP-raised adolescents are unknown to WASPs which makes the book terribly relevant and eye-opening.  I think I'm unable to really read memoirs anymore unless they're in this type of format now!

#9 Robot Dreams by Sara Varon.  I'm perhaps cheating a bit here by including this one because there are actually no accompanying words in this book.  However, I think words would take away from the emotion and depth the 'reader' attributes to the story from their own interpretation.  This is not a child's picture-book.  It is a tale of love and loss that happens when one party outgrows another despite one's belief in a committed, unending relationship contract.  Spielberg/Kubrick's "A.I" doesn't even come close to the depth (and tears wrought) of this story. 
While I'm at it, I'd like to sneak in another no-words special-mention here which is sort of a child's book.  If you ever have the opportunity to see The Arrival, check it out as it really brings home a picture-is-worth-a-thousand-words by telling the tale of immigrants looking with fresh eyes at a foreign world (food, plants, people, signs).  It's incredible and incredibly drawn.  Sorry, I digress.

Finally - #10 - Whiteout by Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber.  The artist mention is critical here because the story wouldn't make it without the amazing use of negative space by the artist to depict Antartica as it's own character.  (Actually, it went through a different artist for each edition for awhile and they were each amazing - Lieber was just the final one & the one who continued on Whiteout 2 which is also great).  Once feels notes of familiarity with the recently popular Scandinavian mysteries that are flooding the English market now and introducing their bare, cold, unforgiving Scandinavian landscapes as the vehicle for mood, foreshadowing and characters' internalizations.  I've heard the movie doesn't even come close. 

The last one on my list points out a theme to me about why each of these hit the top 10... I felt like I learned something or changed somehow with each example.  Either it helped me understand an era, place or demographic better, or it helped me get in touch with pieces of my own past and growth.  And this is perhaps what further separates graphic novels from serialized stories or comics for me... they can achieve as much as any literary masterpiece in the library.
Honorable Mentions coming soon....  (I just can't stop at 10!)

Graphic Novels Discussion

There isn’t a definitive requirements list for establishing what a graphic novel is, and isn’t and I’m sure to offend die-hard fans of the genre so I’ll preempt this description with the declaration that I’m explaining for those who aren’t yet fans…

My Definition: A Graphic Novel is a complete story told through pictures with dialogue and narration in which the character or characters progress through plot points similar to a literary novel. It falls somewhere between an illustrated novel and a serialized comic.

My Graphic Novel Experience:

Great Illustrated Classics introduced me to Ben Hur, Captains Courageous, Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities, Sherlock Holmes, The War of the Worlds and other classics before I ever read the literary originals. These had one black and white drawing per page of writing in the abridged books and kept the tales moving along well. These hooked me on classics (especially adventure classics like Ben Hur and Captains Courageous).

I wasn’t reading superhero comics at the time (I was allowed Archie comics and Sunday comics but that was about it!) so these were my first experience of a story told through words and pictures. I never did become a comic book reader (though I love comic book movies!) likely because I felt too old for the medium once I was allowed to read it. Also, the comic book tales were serialized and not necessarily continued with the same authors or artists so they told short stories with new gimmicks every time rather than one complete story arc. The mythology of the characters becomes well developed (see any of the “[Insert Superhero] Men: The Ultimate Guide” books for references) but the stories themselves aren’t compelling or educational. We get to identify with the characters (teenage angst, isolation, etc) but not grow as a result of their stories.

Then along comes a graphic novel…. Propelled by graphics, yet full of beginning, middle & end story arc(s) that shows uses both the literary media and the graphic one to tell a tale that we take away a great deal more of. Whether memoir or fiction, these stories can move one as much as a book, or inform one where the printed word alone would be ignored.

I don’t remember my first graphic novel, but the one that hooked me on the genre (and made me take it seriously) was The Complete Persepolis , a compendium of Persepolis I & II which chronicled the author’s childhood and teens as a young Iranian woman (In Iran and France). I was blown away… not only did Iranians seem so relatable, but it put the last 30 years of political engagements with the U.S. into a completely different context. This was both the easiest and most engaging way to learn history ever! The author does a great job telling (true) stories as evidenced by her other works as well.

I’ve even discovered a favorite publisher: First Second (now owned by Macmillan) – they seem to have the right combo of story & good graphics for me. Eddie Campbell, Joann Sfar, Gene Luen Yang & others favs of mine are published with them.

So now, I’m a fan, and bound to add my own “Top 10”-ish List to the plethora out there.