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poubelleboi's review against another edition
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol
satanicangel's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
2.25
obscene jokes, impossible to read font and layout, very unlikable narrators.
haoyang's review against another edition
funny
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
4.0
beautiful art; a bit hard to follow narrative though because the perspective keeps changing and it isn't made explicit at times, and it isn't chronological
susannes_pagesofcrime's review
3.0
An ambitious look at Edvard Munch's life and work in graphic memoir format. Parts of it are great, and the artwork amazing but other sections are a little confusing and seem to have been rushed.
hca's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed a lot of the art in this and I thought that the concept of a graphic biography of an artist told in quotations from the artist himself and his contemporaries was excellent. I liked the way that Kverneland was able to incorporate images of Munch's work in with his own and the many different styles he was able to incorporate throughout the book (even within a single page).
I found the execution to be a problem though. The book jumps around in time and moves from scene to scene with no context - I kept checking to see if I had skipped pages, but it was just extremely choppy narration for no apparent reason. I found it difficult to keep track of different people - who they were, their relation to Munch, etc. Also, the book focuses heavily on the social lives of Munch and his group of friends - which of them were sleeping together, which of them were fighting and why, when I was much more interested learning about Munch's artwork and his process.
If it weren't for the fantastic art this would definitely be a 2 star review.
I found the execution to be a problem though. The book jumps around in time and moves from scene to scene with no context - I kept checking to see if I had skipped pages, but it was just extremely choppy narration for no apparent reason. I found it difficult to keep track of different people - who they were, their relation to Munch, etc. Also, the book focuses heavily on the social lives of Munch and his group of friends - which of them were sleeping together, which of them were fighting and why, when I was much more interested learning about Munch's artwork and his process.
If it weren't for the fantastic art this would definitely be a 2 star review.
danni_faith's review
3.0
I commend Kverneland on his research and dedication to this undertaking. Also the art was impressive.
This book is inaccessible and a waste of my time for two main reasons: the story lacked flow and cohesion and it didn't focus exclusively on Munch. The first half of this is dominated by Munch's time in Berlin and the friend group of artists he had—Yes, I know that this book stated that it wanted to explore the relationships that influenced his art, but boy, were those relationships were foolish. I didn't care about their petty squabbles and jealousies. To this end, the first half was not interesting. The author of the book and the translator were characters in the book, every now and again dropping in to give exposition. There were weird time jumps and location jumps. One minute Munch was in Paris and the next he was back in Kristiania (current day Oslo) which any transition or information that the narrative has moved.
I want to give this two stars for the content. When I pick up a book about Munch, I want to read about Munch and in particular Munch as an artist or his life as it relates to his artwork. I don't care about his day-to-day life as a heavy drinker. I care even less about his artist friends. I think that one should have done other readings must be done before picking this up. Clearly Kverneland wanted to write a different biography than those previously published on Munch. But I don't know that this offers anything worth really knowing.
This book is inaccessible and a waste of my time for two main reasons: the story lacked flow and cohesion and it didn't focus exclusively on Munch. The first half of this is dominated by Munch's time in Berlin and the friend group of artists he had—Yes, I know that this book stated that it wanted to explore the relationships that influenced his art, but boy, were those relationships were foolish. I didn't care about their petty squabbles and jealousies. To this end, the first half was not interesting. The author of the book and the translator were characters in the book, every now and again dropping in to give exposition. There were weird time jumps and location jumps. One minute Munch was in Paris and the next he was back in Kristiania (current day Oslo) which any transition or information that the narrative has moved.
I want to give this two stars for the content. When I pick up a book about Munch, I want to read about Munch and in particular Munch as an artist or his life as it relates to his artwork. I don't care about his day-to-day life as a heavy drinker. I care even less about his artist friends. I think that one should have done other readings must be done before picking this up. Clearly Kverneland wanted to write a different biography than those previously published on Munch. But I don't know that this offers anything worth really knowing.
shim's review against another edition
1.0
An incoherent mess. It's practically impossible to follow anything that goes on in this, which you might mistake for artistic creativity, but it's actually just poor construction. You will not come away from reading this with an understanding of Munch's life, just a sense of the author's obnoxious drunkenness and lewd behaviour.
The book is inexplicably interspersed with photographs and drawings of the author and his friend rather than focusing on its subject.
The focus shifts backwards and forwards through time so much you get whiplash.
The book is inexplicably interspersed with photographs and drawings of the author and his friend rather than focusing on its subject.
The focus shifts backwards and forwards through time so much you get whiplash.
taleofabibliophile's review
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Alcoholism
Moderate: Fatphobia, Violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Mental illness, Blood, Suicide, and Grief
Minor: Bullying and Cancer
alexlanz's review against another edition
This was really funny and clever; the structure was odd but I loved the meta layer and the stylistic versatility that entailed.