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emoryalexander's review against another edition
5.0
Absolutely fantastic book! However, it was totally not what I expected at all. The book details the history of Sunderland and links it with Lewis Carroll and Alice in Wonderland. It was a through history of Sunderland and very enjoyable. The illustrations were fantastic and the variation of the use of colour and different styles was superb. Would recommend to anyone
beautyistruth's review against another edition
1.0
Just didn't like it. It was weird, like a boring history lesson cluttered with facts. I was not interested in these facts because I knew much of it already, so I felt patronised, and because it lacked much commentary or a point to it that I could see, for relevance. Perhaps it meant to convey how real life is much like a confused and strange Wonderland itself but it didn't speak to me. If I had written a history essay simply presenting the facts, however true, I would have got a D or an E for it. Talbot is no Nancy Mitford, who would have managed something captivating or full of interesting gossip.
So, there was not much of a story alongside the presentation of various facts largely based on the British city of Sunderland, and Lewis Carroll's history and there was no depth of characterisation, while the self-conscious parts e.g. the referring to the author's writing of the graphic novel and name-dropping were borderline insufferable. The graphics were good - varied and colourful - but that means nothing without a good script.
So, there was not much of a story alongside the presentation of various facts largely based on the British city of Sunderland, and Lewis Carroll's history and there was no depth of characterisation, while the self-conscious parts e.g. the referring to the author's writing of the graphic novel and name-dropping were borderline insufferable. The graphics were good - varied and colourful - but that means nothing without a good script.
theliteratecondition's review against another edition
5.0
Intertextual (an well done intertextual at that); excellent use of visual story-telling to enhance the written word, and to explore meaning in ways the written word cannot. Wonderfully and ambitiously comprehensive! This is not just a graphic novel of Lewis Carroll and his story "Alice in Wonderland" it is, as the book back describes, "an epic meditation on myth, history and storytelling".
manuphoto's review against another edition
3.0
This book represents a ton of work from its author. It is quite interesting on a historical level and filled with funny and relevant details. But… it is also designed in a non-linear “exploded” way that I didn’t really enjoy.
Don’t get me wrong, Talbot is absolutely a master at this and his drawing skills are remarkable, but I just had too much of a hard time to really appreciate it. I do believe some readers will enjoy it a lot more than I did, and some will quit after 10 pages… This is certainly special and polarizing work, but worth checking out as a comics fan.
Don’t get me wrong, Talbot is absolutely a master at this and his drawing skills are remarkable, but I just had too much of a hard time to really appreciate it. I do believe some readers will enjoy it a lot more than I did, and some will quit after 10 pages… This is certainly special and polarizing work, but worth checking out as a comics fan.
mellanclear's review
adventurous
challenging
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
bellatora's review against another edition
1.0
I cannot take this. It is way TOO WEIRD.
First of all, it doesn’t have a plot, which I didn’t realize – I thought it would be a twist on Alice in Wonderland. Instead, it’s a history of Sunderland, which I didn’t know before but now know is a real place.
It’s in a bizarre, surreal style. It’s not in any kind of logical order, either by topic or chronology. It has the story of Lewis Carroll mixed in (sporadically) and random characters (or, well, people in rabbit masks and the Mad Hatter and such) mixed in.
While Sunderland has some interesting and rich history, I just cannot take this format. It’s like Horrible Histories on an acid trip.
First of all, it doesn’t have a plot, which I didn’t realize – I thought it would be a twist on Alice in Wonderland. Instead, it’s a history of Sunderland, which I didn’t know before but now know is a real place.
It’s in a bizarre, surreal style. It’s not in any kind of logical order, either by topic or chronology. It has the story of Lewis Carroll mixed in (sporadically) and random characters (or, well, people in rabbit masks and the Mad Hatter and such) mixed in.
While Sunderland has some interesting and rich history, I just cannot take this format. It’s like Horrible Histories on an acid trip.
brenda8's review
challenging
3.0
I'm like
<img src="https://atopisimo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/pero.png"/>
I feel I'm missing something, and I'm probably am, but I can't shake off the feeling that this was just... bizarre. It had a very interesting storytelling style, but wow, it really was like falling down the rabbit hole, except that you didn't land on a room, you just keep spiraling.
<img src="https://atopisimo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/pero.png"/>
I feel I'm missing something, and I'm probably am, but I can't shake off the feeling that this was just... bizarre. It had a very interesting storytelling style, but wow, it really was like falling down the rabbit hole, except that you didn't land on a room, you just keep spiraling.
jessalynn_librarian's review against another edition
3.0
This is a big, fascinating jumble of history and stories and artwork, with plenty of tangents and odd facts. If that sounds appealing, pick it up. While I loved the juxtaposition of things, the illustrations were a little overwhelming at times, since they were often full-page spreads and rarely laid out in comic strip form, like a lot of graphic novels. The text was often similarly over-stimulating, but this worked better for me since I love odd historical facts and legends and coincidences. The Alice story - and lore - play a big part in the story, but it's more a history of the place than it is about Alice or Lewis Carroll. It didn't seem to really go anywhere, but I enjoyed the ride.
crowyhead's review against another edition
3.0
Huh.
This is one that I have to recognize as a massive achievement, this free-ranging history of Sunderland and its environs, but it left me rather unmoved. It was so firmly tied to a single place -- which I realize is the POINT -- but since it's a place I've never been and may not ever visit, I had a hard time really feeling involved.
I would love to see someone perform a labor of love like this for Portland, OR, mind.
This is one that I have to recognize as a massive achievement, this free-ranging history of Sunderland and its environs, but it left me rather unmoved. It was so firmly tied to a single place -- which I realize is the POINT -- but since it's a place I've never been and may not ever visit, I had a hard time really feeling involved.
I would love to see someone perform a labor of love like this for Portland, OR, mind.
rachelcabbit's review against another edition
5.0
I have been meaning to read this graphic novel for so long and I don't know what stopped me! This is a beautiful love story to Sunderland and to Alice in Wonderland. Talbot, an adopted son of Sunderland rather than a native, have penned and illustrated the most schizophrenic yet meticulous history of the oft forgotten City in the North East of England and all of its connections with Lewis Carroll and his famous children's books and poems.
As a Mackem myself, I was fascinated to read about facts I had only half heard, and some of which I had never heard. The art installations I regularly walked past as a child were finally explained to me and their purpose dawned upon me. Very clever!
The use of photography as well as illustration was excellent, and each page burst with images and colour. It is almost enough to give you a headache! I read the book in one sitting, marvelling at how Talbot captured my hometown and at all of the brushes with fame that Sunderland has had. It was refreshing to see a book on North-East history that wasn't saturated with a tonne of references to our noisy neighbour to the North (Newcastle) though their inclusion in the history could not be completely avoided.
While I always knew about the links to Alice, from growing up here, it was fabulous to see it all explored - even links by various ancestors and distant relations.
I found it sad in a way, to see the historical Sunderland come to life, because our council has taken so much of it away from us, however there is still so much still present. The Empire Theatre (where once I worked as an usher a few years back) is just as portrayed in the novel, though Talbot forgets to mention the interesting history of the ghost of Molly Moselle, a stage manager who disappeared without a trace in 1949 and who has been spotted around the place! And the fact that Vesta Tilley supposedly haunts the place too.
And there were a few other ghost stories about Hylton Castle he neglected to mention, however the graphic novel was already quite long and so I can forgive him missing some things out.
It is a fantastic graphic-documentary told in a meta, disjointed fashion that completely pulled me in with its combo of crazy narrative style, local history and literary history.
As a Mackem myself, I was fascinated to read about facts I had only half heard, and some of which I had never heard. The art installations I regularly walked past as a child were finally explained to me and their purpose dawned upon me. Very clever!
The use of photography as well as illustration was excellent, and each page burst with images and colour. It is almost enough to give you a headache! I read the book in one sitting, marvelling at how Talbot captured my hometown and at all of the brushes with fame that Sunderland has had. It was refreshing to see a book on North-East history that wasn't saturated with a tonne of references to our noisy neighbour to the North (Newcastle) though their inclusion in the history could not be completely avoided.
While I always knew about the links to Alice, from growing up here, it was fabulous to see it all explored - even links by various ancestors and distant relations.
I found it sad in a way, to see the historical Sunderland come to life, because our council has taken so much of it away from us, however there is still so much still present. The Empire Theatre (where once I worked as an usher a few years back) is just as portrayed in the novel, though Talbot forgets to mention the interesting history of the ghost of Molly Moselle, a stage manager who disappeared without a trace in 1949 and who has been spotted around the place! And the fact that Vesta Tilley supposedly haunts the place too.
And there were a few other ghost stories about Hylton Castle he neglected to mention, however the graphic novel was already quite long and so I can forgive him missing some things out.
It is a fantastic graphic-documentary told in a meta, disjointed fashion that completely pulled me in with its combo of crazy narrative style, local history and literary history.