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bluepigeon's review against another edition
4.0
One Dirty Tree by Noah Van Sciver is an autobiography that focuses on three distinct times in the artist's life: his childhood in the 90s in NJ in a large, poor Mormon family, his relationship at around his 30th birthday, and 2017 when he's framing the telling of the story of his childhood and relationship.
Contrary to other reviewers, I thought the stories worked well together; however, I think they would have worked much better if the artist went deeper into each time period and told a fuller story. At times, there are many panels, sometimes a whole page dedicated to one moment, while the significance of the moment is not clear. For example, a whole page is dedicated to a strange dad-daughter conversation about Mariah Carey (who's singing on TV). This and many other "memories" must be significant since the artist includes them in the narrative, yet their significance or meaning for the artist is not clear. Often it feels like the artist is just scratching the surface, and like a troubled client who is trying to talk to their therapist, but failing, he needs to work at it more, dig deeper, bring out the whys and hows.
Recommended for those who like old houses, bathtubs, and cookies for breakfast.
Contrary to other reviewers, I thought the stories worked well together; however, I think they would have worked much better if the artist went deeper into each time period and told a fuller story. At times, there are many panels, sometimes a whole page dedicated to one moment, while the significance of the moment is not clear. For example, a whole page is dedicated to a strange dad-daughter conversation about Mariah Carey (who's singing on TV). This and many other "memories" must be significant since the artist includes them in the narrative, yet their significance or meaning for the artist is not clear. Often it feels like the artist is just scratching the surface, and like a troubled client who is trying to talk to their therapist, but failing, he needs to work at it more, dig deeper, bring out the whys and hows.
Recommended for those who like old houses, bathtubs, and cookies for breakfast.
francomega's review against another edition
4.0
Autobiographical novel about the author's upbringing in an old house with a large Mormon family and how that has affected his adult relationships. Standard subject, but told very well, as only a good graphic novel can.
hypops's review against another edition
4.0
One Dirty Tree bounces back and forth between Noah Van Sciver’s childhood home with his financially strapped Mormon family and the beginnings of his career as a cartoonist on the verge of his 30th birthday.
What is here is brilliant. The parallel storylines play off of one another perfectly without the need to explain or overburden the parallels. The use of splash-page sketch portraits also hits all of the best emotional notes.
My only gripe is that it ends too quickly. The final pages have an emotional resonance that far outstrips the slim story we’ve gotten up to that point. Another 100 pages or so spent getting to know and understand these characters and their relationships more would have given those final pages a truly sublime impact. Simply “sitting” with these characters longer would transform this book from very good to exceptional. This is one of the challenges of comics creation: the amount of time it takes to produce is much longer than the time it takes to read, which means that the pacing of longer works is very hard for cartoonists to judge.
On the plus side, after reading this, I’m persuaded that Van Sciver’s best work is still to come. And based on what he’s still producing in his Blammo anthology, he’s got much more memoir material to draw from. Perhaps this short book will end up being merely the beginning of a much longer, much more powerful book down the road.
What is here is brilliant. The parallel storylines play off of one another perfectly without the need to explain or overburden the parallels. The use of splash-page sketch portraits also hits all of the best emotional notes.
My only gripe is that it ends too quickly. The final pages have an emotional resonance that far outstrips the slim story we’ve gotten up to that point. Another 100 pages or so spent getting to know and understand these characters and their relationships more would have given those final pages a truly sublime impact. Simply “sitting” with these characters longer would transform this book from very good to exceptional. This is one of the challenges of comics creation: the amount of time it takes to produce is much longer than the time it takes to read, which means that the pacing of longer works is very hard for cartoonists to judge.
On the plus side, after reading this, I’m persuaded that Van Sciver’s best work is still to come. And based on what he’s still producing in his Blammo anthology, he’s got much more memoir material to draw from. Perhaps this short book will end up being merely the beginning of a much longer, much more powerful book down the road.
hollowspine's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting look at the life of an artist, especially one whose focus is on comics, and how that love grew in his childhood, and affected his relationships in his adult life. I was more captivated by his growing up stories and would have liked to know more about his young life, and even more about his mom. I just don't find relationships that interesting, especially when it seems so doomed from the start.
The illustrations throughout were great however, and I'd definitely seek out more works by Sciver.
The illustrations throughout were great however, and I'd definitely seek out more works by Sciver.
otterno11's review against another edition
4.0
This is the first of Noah Van Sciver’s full graphic novels that I’ve read, and I’m definitely interested in reading more of his stuff. An affecting and funny memoir comic, One Dirty Tree reflects on Van Sciver’s childhood in a large, impoverished Mormon family in New Jersey and its effects on his later life, relationships, and career in comics. Relatively short and easily read, I appreciated his endearing, colorful drawings and detailed, but cartoonish, linework.
It is definitely a melancholic, introspective comic, in spite of a certain self deprecating humor that lightens the mood a bit. Alternating between his childhood, with his many siblings, unfulfilled mother, and bipolar father, and his present (circa 2014), struggling to launch his career in comics while working two other jobs at a bookstore and a Panera as his 30th birthday looms. He depicts his rough upbringing with a mixture of sadness and wistfulness, even as he recalls how he depended upon the church for food and lived without a kitchen, doing dishes in the bathtub, while in his present, he is pensive and self-conscious. His depiction of himself as becoming progressively more monstrous as he feels singled out for his weirdness among his more “normal” significant other and her friends are particularly effective. There are definitely places were I identify with Van Skiver, his childhood interest in fossils and pretending to be a dinosaur and his adulthood lack of a driver’s license, for instance, though my upbringing was comparably normal. I’m looking forward to seeing what else Van Sciver has written.
It is definitely a melancholic, introspective comic, in spite of a certain self deprecating humor that lightens the mood a bit. Alternating between his childhood, with his many siblings, unfulfilled mother, and bipolar father, and his present (circa 2014), struggling to launch his career in comics while working two other jobs at a bookstore and a Panera as his 30th birthday looms. He depicts his rough upbringing with a mixture of sadness and wistfulness, even as he recalls how he depended upon the church for food and lived without a kitchen, doing dishes in the bathtub, while in his present, he is pensive and self-conscious. His depiction of himself as becoming progressively more monstrous as he feels singled out for his weirdness among his more “normal” significant other and her friends are particularly effective. There are definitely places were I identify with Van Skiver, his childhood interest in fossils and pretending to be a dinosaur and his adulthood lack of a driver’s license, for instance, though my upbringing was comparably normal. I’m looking forward to seeing what else Van Sciver has written.
therainbowshelf's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
My husband always chooses excellent books to add to our shelves, and this one is no exception. This comic takes a look into one man's experiences growing up with financial instability and emotional instability in the household. He explores how these conditions in his childhood impact his adult life. He also explores relationships and what it's like having a romantic partner who doesn't respect or understand your passions or past.
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