Reviews

Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw

gufetto's review against another edition

emotional fast-paced

4.5

colophonphile's review against another edition

Dash Shaw's Bottomless Belly Button takes its navel-gazing seriously, as its title suggests. In it, grown children deal with their elderly parents' decision to divorce late in life, and (to varying degrees of self-consciousness) how the end of their parents' marriage illuminates their own relative states of indecision -- and a grandkid gets in on the act, too. May the circle be unbroken.

If the main character didn't have a face like a frog, and if occasional forays into the literal architecture of storytelling (schematics of scenes, trips behind and between the walls of the house in which much of the story takes place) didn't hint at the diagrammatic fever that was Shaw's Bodyworld, this would be a fairly straightforward, indie-cinema vision of familial dysfunction.

One thing that's clear from the book: its considerable size gives an impression of effort exerted, and perhaps it therefore serves as a reminder that restraint requires as much as (if not more effort than) does production.

mhall's review against another edition

3.0

This reminded me of the movie Margot at the Wedding. It's a thick book but it doesn't take long to read.

davidwright's review against another edition

5.0

I just finished this huge graphic novel, and I’m still processing. In fact, I think I need to read it again, soon. This vast and vastly original graphic novel is not so much about navel-gazing (as the title might suggest) as it is about... er, life. And family and intimacy and the stories we construct around our lives and our unpredictable emotional weather and... well, I probably should have stopped at ‘life.’ Siblings Dennis, Claire and Peter are called together to a family reunion that kicks off with the announcement of their father and mother’s divorce after forty years of marriage. Each child has their own story. Elder brother Dennis has problems coping with the divorce – problems which may turn out to reside closer to home than he thinks. Younger brother Peter – whose tendency towards being an outsider is mad manifest by his frog’s head - belatedly loses his virginity, with all the attendant awkwardness and vulnerability laid bare in excruciating detail. Claire is rather unfazed by the news, too busy trying to raise her teenage daughter, herself a tangle of unresolved body issues. Despite all these raw nerves and unresolved emotions, the book resists soap opera, spacing out the dysfunctional drama of this watershed week at the shore with more spare cinematic passages that linger on seemingly insignificant little human moments, the details of life, as well as refocusing on the physical world around in little taxonomies of inner and outer reality. Graphic novels often call for cinematic comparisons, and this vivid journey through human frailty is definitely an art-house flick – something by Ingmar Bergman or maybe Lars Von Trier or the best of serious Woody Allen, and like the best of their work it is ultimately indeterminate, with a great lingering aftertaste. Okay, I’ve got to give it another read.

wildlikeoscar8's review against another edition

funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

katecutrer's review against another edition

4.0

This is one big and heavy book! I had it mailed at work and had to carry it all the way home with me and it really weighed on my shoulder. Once home I got into it right away but followed the author advice and forced myself to take a 24-hour break between the different parts of the story. This was quite a good advice because in spite of its hugeness it is a fairly quick read - which can be a little disappointing because when you get that big a book you expect it to last ages.

It was great to get to know each member of the Loony family, the characters are not all likeable but they all feel real enough to make you want to know more. I am not sure about Peter though, he is the youngest brother and the only character that does not look human. Okay, he is feeling out of place and unhappy and his look helps to single him out from the rest of the family but he is also kind of embarrassing to look at: as if he had been drawn in a rush and is not entirely finished.

Still it was a really good and suprisingly eventful read: you never know what to expect because everything from death to a flying chair is made possible. And I really liked the way Dash Shaw draws the wind.

sapphaustina's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

pmileham's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

swaggyep's review against another edition

4.0

I didn't feel like I was invested with the characters at all, but when it ended I was actually sad. I wanted a happy ending 😩 I hope there are more books with this family.

jonjeffryes's review against another edition

4.0

I'm always surprised in novels that a single family get-together can lead every member of the family to achieve an epiphany...but overall this is a quick engaging read...the family reacts to the news that the 40+ year marriage of the parents is ending in divorce.

That and I like books with pictures.