Lost Girls, Vols. 1-3 by Alan Moore Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Lost Girls, Vols. 1-3
Book Review: Pretty & Pretty Clever
Summary: 4 Stars
The first thing to notice about this Lost Girls collection is how beautiful it is. The artwork is very attractive and it comes as three large volumes in a boxed set that is reminiscent of the collections of fairy tales the authors are emulating. Of course, you wouldn't want to inadvertently leave this on your child's bookshelf because this is a collection that is clearly for adults.
I think creating good erotica is one of the hardest tasks for a writer--too much depends on the quirks and tastes of the reader. I have rarely read an author who I felt was completely successful and Moore & Gebbie are no exception. Still, much of what you will find here is very good.
The story is framed around three women who meet at a hotel run by a Frenchman of rather sexual tastes. But he is only a minor character. It is the three women who are the driving force here. They quickly become intimate (in more ways than one) and share their sexual histories. Gradually, it becomes clear that these three women--Alice, Dorothy and Wendy--are telling variations of Through the Looking Glass, The Wizard of Oz and Peter Pan. Ironically, these retellings are in some ways more believable than the originals, though for adults only. In any case, anyone with real strong feelings for these three children's stories is advised to tread carefully.
I, for one, felt Wendy's tales to be the most absorbing with Dorothy's coming in a close second. There are also some excerpts taken from classic Victorian erotica that make an occasional welcome presence. The rest I could take or leave, which leaves for some short stretches of rather uninteresting reading.
In the end, however, I have to give Moore & Gebbie credit for creating something very clever. I can appreciate the skill it took to weave these retellings and I enjoyed much of it. Certainly, I enjoyed the artwork and I am interested to see what else might spring from their imagination.
Book Review: Puts The Fantasy Back In Fairy Tales
Summary: 5 Stars
"Beautifully illustrated and intelligently scripted, this odyssey avoids many of the traps of obvious plot points that other reinterpretations of classic stories have fallen into. Thought provoking and dreamlike this collection is an excellent experience for anyone on either side of the looking glass"Book Review: Putting the "graphic" in graphic novels
Summary: 3 Stars
I had an idea of what to expect from _Lost Girls_ given the reviews on Amazon: a re-telling of _Alice in Wonderland_, _The Wizard of Oz_ and _Peter Pan_ from the perspective of Wendy, Alice and Dorothy as adults, and with an understanding that the book is "erotica." Mostly I was interested in how Alan Moore would handle the stories. I have very mixed feelings about the book.
Moore was typically clever - I loved the allusions (both in dialogue and in artwork), from the setting of the story where the girls meet (a resort in Austria called "Himmelgarten" - "Heavenly Garden" - "Eden", perhaps?) to references to Robert Graves (Good-Bye to All That) and Oscar Wilde (The Picture of Dorian Gray (Modern Library Classics)). As each character told their story, the artwork similarly changed: with Alice, images were portrayed in an oval (as a mirror), Wendy images through silhouettes (as in a picture book), and with Dorothy with wide panoramic expanses. Stylistically there are elements of pointillism, abstract expressionism and art nouveau - all in keeping with the time period in which the story is set (summer, 1914). Of course Moore couldn't resist subtle word play, which I also immensely enjoyed - a soldier with a foot fetish, was described as "Boots, boots, boots, boots, marching up and down again ... having to start at the bottom, all that spit and polish, I wouldn't want to be in his shoes." The artwork similarly had its playful elements, as a stodgy British couple, with typical Victorian attitudes politely looking away as one slips into a nightgown, and gingerly kissing each other goodnight, the artwork juxtaposed into a more lewd reference - a suggestion of what each may be really thinking beneath their "proper" behaviour.
The creative license Moore took with the stories was also intriguing - although understandably disturbing to some. The idea that Wendy's experiences were a sexual awakening with a street urchin (her "Peter"), that Dorothy's tin man, scarecrow and cowardly lion were farm hands with whom she had various sexual laisons, (the "wizard" was particularly suprising) or that Alice's journey "through the looking glass" was her self-discovery of her budding sexuality certainly shade the way in which I think about these classics. As Wendy put it, "It is magic, isn't it, the time before we were all properly grown up? Its all so shadowy and wild."
In fact, it was precisely the nature of the "shadowy and wild" parts of the story that I didn't care much for; the sex (and I'm all for sex, don't get me wrong) was a bit over the top. So much so, that I began to wonder if the purpose of the book was to re-invent these stories or to merely titilate. Regarding the broader story being told, the girls are vacationing in the summer of 1914, and the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Sophie figure into the story as a way of pointing out the changes Europe is undergoing (specifically sexually, but also in the myriad of other ways in which the world was transformed as a result of the conflict.) Had this been more developed - even subtly as Moore has demonstrated he can do, I think the book would have been much better. Instead it is an entertaining (if somewhat disturbing) story with a strong sexual content that exists largely to serve its own purposes. I'd pass on this one.
Book Review: Sorry, Alan... it's not porn
Summary: 5 Stars
I know Alan Moore is adamant that "Lost Girls" is pornography, but I just don't see it. Yes, Gebbie's art lends a dream-like eroticism to the book, and Moore does his best to infuse the proceedings with sufficient perversity to offend the sensibilities of those who like to be offended. But that's about it... "Lost Girls" is far too literate and artful to be a true, one-handed read.
Fortunately, I don't care that doesn't live up (down?) to the author's ambitions... it's still an amazing, enjoyable piece of work.
Book Review: The most inspiring read
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the most amazing works of art I ever set my eyes on. Beautiful images, enticing story and intelligent characters , this is updating of De Sade at its best.