Blankets by Craig Thompson Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Blankets
Book Review: Big let down
Summary: 2 Stars
Blankets had it's moments. But the ending was pretty limp IMHO. You'd figure that after all Craig went through he would lead you to some conclusion, but at the end he was even more confused and depressed.So what's the point after all 600 pages? A big disappointment that's what.
Book Review: Bittersweet and beautiful storytelling
Summary: 5 Stars
Craig Thompson's semi-autobiographical tale manages to avoid the weaknesses found in the work of many other artists. Shunning cliche and self-aggrandizement, Blankets is a story of coming of age. In it we see the difficulties of wrestling with faith, falling in love and finding one's path in a world that is not always an easy place to understand or even survive.
Thompson presents the intensity of the emotions and situations in his tale with an openess and honesty that ring true. Without pulling punches he still manages to delicately address a wide range of issues that many other authors either fear to touch or only seem able to handle with a sledgehammer.
His distinctive artwork manages to capture both the subject matter and the setting. His landscapes and facial expressions, in particular, standout. Few artists can convey the full glory and fury of a Midwestern winter with the deft hand that he manages.
A very strong sophomore effort for Mr. Thompson and I hope to see more from him in the future.
Book Review: Bittersweet childhood comes rushing back (some spoiler-ing)
Summary: 5 Stars
I just finished reading this book while at work and for the last half hour, I have had tears in my eyes while barely supressing the urge to go outside and sob. It's not really tears of sorrow that I feel like shedding after reading this book, but rather from raw emotions recollected from childhood and late adolescence. From page one, Thompson grabbed my attention with his memories of blanket wars and parental intervention. A gentle smile spread across my face and I often broke into laughter at some hilariously illustrated incident. I'm trying here not to just repeat what everyone else has said about this book, but it's hard not to go off about the fact that he has this method of capturing in a couple of frames what would take pages of narrative in an ordinary novel. I guess what I really appreciated about this book was that he spoke directly to me in my language of a fundamentalist background, coupled with a history of feeling like an outcast. I can relate perfectly to his relationship with Raina, especially when they first meet. My first love happened almost exactly the same way: us both feeling like outcasts, me just kinda standing there against the wall, and then I saw her; all blue eyes and yellow curly hair, and the way she moved towards me (you'll get the picture)......that moment on page 90 is a moment we all feel at some point in our lives. I love how Thompson so delicately sprinkles his philosophy througout the book and how Craig is constantly conflicted about his feelings for Raina. I can SO relate to that. I suppose the best page in the book would have to be page 571...so beautifully illustrated.
The feeling of loss and emptiness that Craig feels are so wonderful because it's almost too painful for me to read this book (although I will read it over and over again) because he walks along this razor edge line of love which produces such overwhelming, unfamiliar emotions. I can't remember feeling such emotions since the times in my life that the novel describes. Have I become that emotionally empty?
I don't want to sound repetitive, but this book gripped me from page one and never let go until, at the end of the book, I was filled with this unbelieveable heart-wrenching beautiful memory of love.
To awaken parts of your soul that you might have forgotten about, maybe you should check out this book.
Book Review: Blankets
Summary: 5 Stars
Craig Thompson's Illustrated Novel "Blankets" is a masterpiece. His story is well told and his imagery supplements it. Thompson's layouts are innovative and push the boundaries of the traditional graphic novel layout. overall the work is very strong. The term graphic novel, often applied loosely to this genre has true meaning in this book in that it truly is a Novel.Book Review: Blankets
Summary: 4 Stars
Very nice story, haven't finished reading it all the way yet, but I like how soft the art is.