Blankets by Craig Thompson Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $15.00 You Save: $14.95 (50%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $10.00 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Blankets
Book Review: 600 pages of graphic art autobiography, romance
Summary: 5 Stars
Most graphic novels are relatively slim, attesting to the amount of effort involved in evolving a graphic plot: not so BLANKETS, which sports nearly 600 pages of black and white illustration and offers up a blend of autobiography and a close inspection of romance and involvement. BLANKETS is an important achievement in graphic art: it covers fundamentalist belief, love, and life's transitions in much more depth than graphic novels usually offer. Very highly recommended.
Book Review: A Beautiful Book Full of Wonder and Truths
Summary: 5 Stars
"Blankets" is a literary achievement, and probably one of the top five graphic novels of all time. It's a story so fulfilling and so immensely--almost staggeringly--beautiful that it, like first love itself, almost aches to experience it. But, again like first love itself, is something that I'd recommend to any and everyone.
As a man very much like Craig--a Christian who doesn't find everything the church teaches to his liking as well as a person who had a bittersweet first love--I found this book to be so full of poignant truth that I was brought to tears many times over. The way Craig Thompson describes the first contact with his love, Raina; the way he describes the state of waking from a particularly profound dream ("For a while, you feel like a ghost-- Not fully materialized, and unable to effect your surroundings); and, not least of all, how he finds such beauty in things others might see as mundane. When I bought this attractive book, I knew I was going to be experiencing some beautiful art, but Thompson is more than an artist who also writes. He is so talented at both of his crafts that, while reading this, I often felt that these pages may not have been created, but simply generated by Thompson's brain.
The way the art is handled is nothing short of masterful. Craig Thompson is a master of comic art, and knows how to evoke just the right kind of emotions. Whether it be the framing of a panel, the use of white space, the way some things are so detailed but others look so mundane, the way some things look so realistic while others look like caricatures, how some panels are inked and shaded while some are just bare-boned (not shaded)... Whatever Thompson does from panel-to-panel--and trust me, I've read a lot of comics, some of his techniques are breathtakingly innovative--evokes just as much emotion as his writing itself does. The writing blends so nicely with the art, creating such a tight, purposeful feeling behind every page.
I read "Blankets" in about half the time I thought it would take to finish it. It's focused, poignant, and so very beautiful. For my four hundredth review, I am more than proud to give this classic graphic novel five well-deserved stars.
10/10 Classic.
Book Review: A Breath of Fresh Air
Summary: 5 Stars
For the most part, I feel as if graphic novels have done a good job of feeding into the stereotype of all nerds actually being incredibly sarcastic with tendencies to mouth off in front of any and all authority figures. And while this stands true to some degree, that doesn't mean that all non-jocks and non-preppies had this type of personality when growing up. That said, Craig Thompson's "Blankets" does an excellent job of portraying another demographic of children growing up in the early nineties: the innocent non-rebellious children who grew up under a religious household.
Upon first finding out of the somewhat heavy doses of religion in this work, I had some doubts about reading it. However, skimming through some pages to get a feel for things, the topic of religion was easily balanced out with nostalgic childhood flashbacks as well as the romance between the author and his love interest. Neither of these three concepts/plots overshadowed the other and all seemed to balance out fine, working well off the other in a complimentary sort of sense without coming off as too predictable or preachy.
As a whole, "Blankets" is an incredibly endearing, sincere and inspirational work that's a nice change of pace from the angst-ridden tales of childhood that I've gotten used to.
Book Review: A Graphic Novel for People Who Don't Read Graphic Novels!
Summary: 4 Stars
After hearing all the hype about this graphic novel, I was afraid I'd be disappointed after finally reading it. Fortunately I was pleasantly surprised by how accurate all the hype was. This is a beautifully written story, many of us can relate to. A graphic novel that actually puts you through a mix of emotions and shows you how powerful a "comic book" can be. Read this and see that all graphic novels aren't about flights and tights! Highly recommended!
Book Review: A Masterful Work of Romance and Philosophy
Summary: 5 Stars
This phone book sized graphic novel is probably the best work of sequential art and what is more the best work of literature I have read in a long while. The story is so universal yet so unique it will have you pausing every so often to sort out your own thoughts and memories. It is nothing short of genius in the art form and something for us comic book lovers to use as a tool to bring nay sayers over to the dark side. Simply one of the best uses of words and pictures ever produced.