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4.34 AVERAGE
4.34 AVERAGE
emotional
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
So in the end, I only read half of this. Carlson and Blair have a really interesting story and fascinating people/characters, but the telling of their narrative meanders too much and loses momentum with various poetic inserts. Blair's ink-heavy artwork is very effective at creating mood and solid at storytelling, and Carlson worked in several strong character moments in the pages I read. But like I said, it lost focus on the character arcs once too often for me, leaving insufficient impetus to turn that next page.
Exquisite and expansive, combining beautiful and mindbendingly intricate cross-hatched images with a surprisingly gripping and moving story. The interplay of Dante's inferno (and Matt Rizzo's original texts) with the narrative flow bring to mind the intertextuality of Alison Bechdel, but while this struggles with the burden of family the way Bechdel's work does, there's a whole secondary take of redemption in here about a figure I simply did not expect would play such a prominent role. I also didn't expect that I'd have my opinion of him challenged. In sum: well told, masterfully written, an enormous example of why graphic novels are moving beyond the constraints of traditional text AND comic narratives into something even more humane. Bravo.
It's an interesting true story. I especially enjoyed learning about Nathan Leopold. My problem is that it meandered a lot and the stuff about Dante went way over my head.
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts
This fast read graphic novel is the story of a young man who discovers that his father was not blinded in a hunting accident but in a robbery. The father then served time in prison and was the cellmate of Leopold of the Leopold and Loeb crime. Leopold ended up being a friend and mentor and providing the father with a classical literature education. The father's journey through prison and the son's journey through learning about his father make an amazing tale.
This is a beautiful book.
I can't even imagine how long has took to make the art for this book. I would say at least 2 years. The amount of dedication needed to create these amazing illustrations for a 400+ pages book is out of this world.
The book deserves the 5 stars on the art alone.
The story and writing are also well worth it. Everything is based on real life stories.
The journey of a man through the circles of hell into a possible redemption.
The edition by Darkside books is also outstanding as always.
I can't even imagine how long has took to make the art for this book. I would say at least 2 years. The amount of dedication needed to create these amazing illustrations for a 400+ pages book is out of this world.
The book deserves the 5 stars on the art alone.
The story and writing are also well worth it. Everything is based on real life stories.
The journey of a man through the circles of hell into a possible redemption.
The edition by Darkside books is also outstanding as always.
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
A bit ironic that the cover is in braille and none of the rest is. This was good, but a bit of a mosey of a story.
An absorbing true story that revolves around crime in Chicago, blindness, Dante's Inferno, the panopticon and the Leopold and Loeb murder. I'm not a huge fan of the artwork, although it does have some interesting elements, and some of the characterisation is a bit strained, but overall this is well worth checking out.