bibliomani

A beautiful, clever, epic graphic novel with a doppelgänger/duality/dichotomy-theme. Brilliant.

Jeg var vild med de sirlige tegninger og fine geometriske mønstre i Habibi, men jeg har altså også en forkærlighed for ting som den her, der benytter sig af helt anderledes minimalistiske greb. Og så får hun (som al god, på overfladen underholdende litteratur gør) sneget nogle knivskarpe iagttagelser ind om det moderne liv.

Skynd dig over på marensblog.dk og se nogle af striberne. De kan i øvrigt også snart ses i Politiken, hvor den charmerende tændstikdame bliver fast inventar.

En interessant antologi af danske grafiske noveller (det må det hedde, når de ikke er lange), med et fælles dogme om, at de skal handle om “virkeligheden”. Opgaven bliver løst meget forskelligt, og der var et par, jeg rigtig godt kunne lide (fx StineStregens indlæg og Mantards kølige håndillustration), og nogle stykker, jeg virkelig ikke brød mig om. Og det er jo altid interessant at blive konfronteret med noget, der falder uden for ens gængse smag. Alt i alt en interessant og lækker udgivelse, men nok ikke en, jeg vil huske om fem år.

Oooh, I thoroughly enjoyed Bechdels classic cartoon, spanning 25 years and a multitude of lesbian lives and political rants.

Beautiful, epic and sad, and with a fantastic integration of images and text. I always find that the books I like best are the most difficult to blog about, so I’ll just say this: Go buy, read.

And when you’re done you can take a look at this amazing behind-the-scene material from The Guardian.

Nope, just because it’s told in drawings, it’s not necessarily for children. This is a weighty contribution to the debate about whether prostitution should be decriminalized. Through the account of his own use of prostitutes (or is sex workers a better word?) Brown reflects on the many aspects of paying for sex, including his own and his surroundings’ reactions to it. It is also an interesting argument against what he calls  “possessive monogamy”. I’m not sure I agree with all of Browns points, but Paying For It was certainly enlightning and thought-provoking. And this was the first drawn book I’ve read that had 23 appendices – and notes for them.

I came across the title among the nominations for the Danish award Ping-prisen (go and have a look if you want inspiration for cartoons/graphic novels) and picked it up in (sigh!) Barnes & Noble at Union Square, NYC.

I seem to be on a roll with these memoirs in the shape of graphic novels as this is my third in less weeks. Or maybe I’ve discovered a trend? Anyway, this one is equally well-written/-drawn, but visually very unlike both Fun Home and Jimmy Corrigan due to the watercolour-technique Small applies. And it’s beautiful and striking and grim.

How did I only discover this now when it’s from 2000??! This is one of the most mindblowing pieces of graphic art I have ever laid my eyes on (not that it comes to that many, but I’m sure you get my point). This graphic novel is a graphic novel in the exact opposite way of Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home (see below). Like Fun House it is a story about the relationship between fathers and their offspring, but told in a way only possible because it is drawn. It mixes reality, imagination, dreams and flashbacks into a whirl that demands the readers’ complete attention. Contrasting this is the flat, two-dimensional style and the sparse use of words. Very evoking. I’m looking forward to re-reading this.

Some may know Alison Bechdel for her comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For or maybe for the Bechdel Test, which one should always apply to movies. But Fun House is an autobiographical narration about Bechdels relationship to her father who (maybe) killed himself, (presumably) was a homosexual (like her) and was obsessed with redecorating their Victorian house. The story is gripping and ruthlessly honest and makes a very good novel indeed. It is also drawn.

I know many people don’t like the term ”graphic novel”. They see it as a unnessecary attempt at distancing the medium from ”comics” with its connotations of children, fast punchlines and lack of substance. However, in this case I think it can be used to signify that this is, in fact, an illustrated novel, not a comic. The drawings support the text and illustate the story, but the story itself is central, not the fact that it is conveyed by means of drawings. And it works really, really well. Highly recommendable.

When I bought this graphic novel, the woman behind the counter recommended it fiercely, but I must say I was never really impressed. It’s well done and all that, but just not very spectacular.

I stumbled on the Norwegian artist Vanessa Baird and promptly bought her book of drawings and watercolour paintings. It has no other text than headings for the chapters that the book is divided in to, but the images themselves are poignant. They speak about womanhood, motherhood and the death of parents, strongly, cleverly and beautifully.

I finally remembered to buy the rest of Dranger’s fabulous graphic novels about women. They would work well as an introduction to feminism. For instance, did you know why Cinderella’s stepsisters were so mean? Because she was so freakin’ beautiful and always rubbed it in her ugly stepsisters’ noses.

Marjane Satrapi er jo forfatteren og tegneren bag Persepolis om hendes opvækst i Iran i 80′erne. Embroideries er i den lidt lettere ende af spektret, og hurtigt læst. Den er, kort fortalt, en skildring af 9 kvinders lattermilde og bramfrie snak om sex, mænd, ægteskab og plastikoperationer (et broderi er åbenbart at få kunstigt genoprettet sin mødom). Den rejser nogle samfundsrelevante spørgsmål, men er også en kærlig skildring af en omgangsform. Bestemt en times læsning værd – og fundet på bogudsalget i Politikens Boghal til en 50′er.

Altså, kan man andet end at falde for den lille, magiske mus (med sølvpistolen)? Strid er en stor tegner og en stor poet. Og Enghave station vil aldrig blive den samme igen.

Billedroman om Frøken Mærkværdig, der prøver at få styr på den der Karriere, der jo er så vildt vigtig, mens hun forsøger at undgå mørkemonstret og være tjekket, slank og kreativ. Lige på kornet, og oven i købet godt tegnet.

Nydeligt oversat fra svensk af Nina Hallgren Steinrud og Trine Laier.

Virkelig god grafisk roman om Satrapis opvækst i Iran i 80′erne. Det er samtidshistorie fra en vinkel, der ikke dominerer vores mediebillede, og så fungerer formen rigtig, rigtig godt. Måske endnu bedre end den anden grafiske roman, jeg har læst; Maus af Art Spiegelman. Det er afgjort en genre, jeg skal dyrke noget mere.

… at få en stak bøger med posten fra Amazon. Det var en god fødselsdagsgave.

Poetisk tegneserie. Hvor smukt. WROOOOOM!