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bsparx's review
2.0
What is there to say about Alice in Sunderland? Off the top of my head I can say that I’m happy I finished it finally. When I reached that ending, an ending that felt like it was miles away no matter the closer I got to it, it felt like a great relief.
It isn’t that Sunderland isn’t interesting, it is, but it makes you feel like you’re being bombarded by information left, right, and centre, because you are.
Sunderland is a graphic novel of information overload based around the history and connections of Sunderland, Lewis Carroll, and Alice in Wonderland. I would have loved all this information if it wasn’t absolutely drenched in it and had an easier way of either relating to the reader or a smoother delivery.
This is a chaotic collection of information and facts dressed up in what is meant to be a fun way to experience it all, but it makes me feel like I should have had my umbrella, raincoat, and perhaps taken some form of hallucinogens before embarking on this adventure.
For the rest of my review please visit my blog.
It isn’t that Sunderland isn’t interesting, it is, but it makes you feel like you’re being bombarded by information left, right, and centre, because you are.
Sunderland is a graphic novel of information overload based around the history and connections of Sunderland, Lewis Carroll, and Alice in Wonderland. I would have loved all this information if it wasn’t absolutely drenched in it and had an easier way of either relating to the reader or a smoother delivery.
This is a chaotic collection of information and facts dressed up in what is meant to be a fun way to experience it all, but it makes me feel like I should have had my umbrella, raincoat, and perhaps taken some form of hallucinogens before embarking on this adventure.
For the rest of my review please visit my blog.
aych's review
2.0
A historical analysis of a book I have never read (gasp!) and a place I have never been to (at least not in this corporeal form). Maybe I should correct that.
emilyjbridges's review
2.0
Jesus, what can you say about a book where the author depicts himself rising from the drawing table to lecture you about how relevant graphic novels really are. You had a good idea my friend and you killed it with digression and smugness. I recommend people just read Alice for themselves.
booknooknoggin's review
3.0
Good book of facts related to Alice in Wonderland and even some loosely related items. This is a very thorough and sometimes the author goes on a tangent but I found it interesting.
stopsatgreen's review
5.0
The history of Sunderland, the story of Charles Dodgson (J.M. Barrie) and Alice in Wonderland, the ghost of Sid James... this is a crazy psycho-geographic romp through all of this and much more, told in a combination of text, comic panels, painting, photography and digital manipulation. A true landmark in what's possible with comics.
rickklaw's review
3.0
In this epic tale, writer/artist Bryan Talbot draws on centuries of European history and graphic storytelling to pen this complex, interlocking story of the Sunderland area of England, Lewis Carroll, and Alice, both fictional and real. Talbot, a comic-book artist veteran of some 40 years, creates his most ambitious project to date.
Talbot, as a multiple-identity narrator, uses the legendary Sunderland Empire theatre – Laurel & Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, W.C. Fields, Marlene Dietrich, and the Beatles all performed there – as a backdrop and himself to recount the history of Sunderland and through it the major British events of the previous 3,000 years intertwined within the lives of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, the author and mathematician. Contrary to popular belief, Dodgson, better know as Lewis Carroll, conceived of his book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in Sunderland rather than Oxford. Talbot spends a goodly portion of the book supporting this fact while leading the reader through various aspects of Sunderland, Great Britain, and the myth of Alice.
Related in a nonlinear style, Talbot uses a stream-of-consciousness method owing more to William S. Burroughs than to traditional comics. To further enhance the telling, he employs a mixed-media approach, combining a variety of techniques like photographs, collage, paintings, and drawing in a wide range of visual styles. The combined effect enables Talbot to jump from historical period to historical period and from scene to scene without losing his reader and/or having to explain the dramatic changes. The final project offers a beautifully unique graphic novel.
While Alice in Sunderland represents a visual high point of Talbot's storied career, the author occasionally meanders, causing the reader's interest to waver. His attempts to illustrate the contemporary importance of Sunderland often fall flat.
Ultimately, Talbot succeeds in producing a fascinating, insightful, and entertaining history of Sunderland, its environs, and the troubled story of Alice and her creator, Lewis Carroll. Alice in Sunderland ushers in a new epoch in visual storytelling, solidifying theories espoused by Scott McCloud and others while expanding on the works of artists such as Dave McKean.
(This review originally appeared in The Austin Chronicle, June 1, 2007.)
link: [http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/review?oid=oid%3A479678]
Talbot, as a multiple-identity narrator, uses the legendary Sunderland Empire theatre – Laurel & Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, W.C. Fields, Marlene Dietrich, and the Beatles all performed there – as a backdrop and himself to recount the history of Sunderland and through it the major British events of the previous 3,000 years intertwined within the lives of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, the author and mathematician. Contrary to popular belief, Dodgson, better know as Lewis Carroll, conceived of his book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in Sunderland rather than Oxford. Talbot spends a goodly portion of the book supporting this fact while leading the reader through various aspects of Sunderland, Great Britain, and the myth of Alice.
Related in a nonlinear style, Talbot uses a stream-of-consciousness method owing more to William S. Burroughs than to traditional comics. To further enhance the telling, he employs a mixed-media approach, combining a variety of techniques like photographs, collage, paintings, and drawing in a wide range of visual styles. The combined effect enables Talbot to jump from historical period to historical period and from scene to scene without losing his reader and/or having to explain the dramatic changes. The final project offers a beautifully unique graphic novel.
While Alice in Sunderland represents a visual high point of Talbot's storied career, the author occasionally meanders, causing the reader's interest to waver. His attempts to illustrate the contemporary importance of Sunderland often fall flat.
Ultimately, Talbot succeeds in producing a fascinating, insightful, and entertaining history of Sunderland, its environs, and the troubled story of Alice and her creator, Lewis Carroll. Alice in Sunderland ushers in a new epoch in visual storytelling, solidifying theories espoused by Scott McCloud and others while expanding on the works of artists such as Dave McKean.
(This review originally appeared in The Austin Chronicle, June 1, 2007.)
link: [http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/review?oid=oid%3A479678]
lesley's review
2.0
I have much appreciation for this mighty graphic novel as it was obviously a labor of love. It's packed with information galore about the UK, the north east of England, Sunderland, Alice Liddel, Lewis Carrol, many many other 'Mackems' and the writer himself Bryan Talbot. As you can imagine the volume of information must have been difficult to put together in a coherent manner and while I think it was done admirably this graphic novel made my head hurt.
jamiely's review
3.0
Talbot takes us on a tour of Sunderland from the Cretaceous to the current day, and does much of it linking history with Alice and Lewis Carroll. This book has everything in both a good and bad way. I thoroughly enjoyed the many historical tidbits (especially related to art and popular culture), and he does an incredible job of linking things in history; however, some of these linkages detract from the flow of the work, and seem to be included just to name drop a famous Mackem.
Although I consider this work incredible in its depth, scope, and style, it didn't keep my interest, and I found myself rushing through certain sections such as descriptions of how people were related to Alice Liddell or Charles Lutwige Dodgson. I think a thorough reading of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass might've gotten me more interested in this. Still, if you are interested in English history and Sunderland in particular, this is the book for you. If you enjoy genealogical studies this may be right up your ally. If you are enchanted by Alice and her mythos, read this book!
Although I consider this work incredible in its depth, scope, and style, it didn't keep my interest, and I found myself rushing through certain sections such as descriptions of how people were related to Alice Liddell or Charles Lutwige Dodgson. I think a thorough reading of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass might've gotten me more interested in this. Still, if you are interested in English history and Sunderland in particular, this is the book for you. If you enjoy genealogical studies this may be right up your ally. If you are enchanted by Alice and her mythos, read this book!
silky_octopus's review
4.0
That was rather splendid, even though as a Geordie by birth, I'm the natural target for humour from the Mackems, something mentioned frequently in the text! This is a great and glorious madcap gambol through the history and folklore of Sunderland and the wider Tyne and Wear region, hung around a narrative skeleton based on the life and works of Lewis Carroll, and was well worth the read.