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saidtheraina's review against another edition
5.0
I read Dash Shaw to stretch my brain.
His aesthetic is pretty out there. Most of his illustrations are clumsy, thick-penned drawings, and occasionally he prints (screen-prints?) a color, or even a photograph, in the background.
His work is cerebral, and trippy, and makes me think. It's occasionally hard to follow, often twisted, and generally self-pleasuring.
THIS book is about a pair of brothers living in a world where Theme Parks are A THING. One mogul has created a time-travel-themed park on an X-shaped island out in the ocean somewhere. After some incident that I only vaguely remember (and yes, I read this entire volume in the last 48 hours), the older brother is sent by his parents to that Time-Travel-X-Shaped-Theme-Park-Island to teach the native peoples English so better to serve the amerikan tourists about to flock to their land. After some years, the younger brother follows.
I could go on, but you could read the summary. I usually don't even go that far in my plot-level description of the books I review*.
Anyways.......
The thing that made an impression on me here - and yeah, what usually makes an impression on me where Dash Shaw is concerned - is the wild aesthetic**. Here, it's the way he uses LANGUAGE, particularly.
He flexes his vocabulary between a fairly common, colloquial, candid speech ("So nobody has sex in high school cuz their moms are home all the time.") and a highly formalized, practically medieval way of speaking ("Answer me, gift of foresight! You MUST be able to see what cover my destiny holds!"), complete with an illuminated-style font.
This use of language communicates, in a way I've never seen before, COMING OF AGE. The younger brother starts out in a mental land of contrived presentation of self. He conforms to the expectations of his parents - nay, his native culture - and only finds himself once let loose in the wilds of X Island.
Dash Shaw's work is the stuff of academic essays. Of philosophical treatises. Of high-as-a-kite trips. If I was the type to reread books, I am CERTAIN I would gather deeper meaning each time I repeatedly read this book.
As such, and as I said at the beginning of all this, I read Dash Shaw because his works stretch my brain. He makes me think. HARD. He is an innovator - a genius who is NOT neurotypical. I admire his work, even when I struggle through it.
And for that, I must give him five stars.
*Sorry about the loquaciousness - Shaw tickles me verbose.
**He doesn't introduce any color, for instance, until Chapter Two.
His aesthetic is pretty out there. Most of his illustrations are clumsy, thick-penned drawings, and occasionally he prints (screen-prints?) a color, or even a photograph, in the background.
His work is cerebral, and trippy, and makes me think. It's occasionally hard to follow, often twisted, and generally self-pleasuring.
THIS book is about a pair of brothers living in a world where Theme Parks are A THING. One mogul has created a time-travel-themed park on an X-shaped island out in the ocean somewhere. After some incident that I only vaguely remember (and yes, I read this entire volume in the last 48 hours), the older brother is sent by his parents to that Time-Travel-X-Shaped-Theme-Park-Island to teach the native peoples English so better to serve the amerikan tourists about to flock to their land. After some years, the younger brother follows.
I could go on, but you could read the summary. I usually don't even go that far in my plot-level description of the books I review*.
Anyways.......
The thing that made an impression on me here - and yeah, what usually makes an impression on me where Dash Shaw is concerned - is the wild aesthetic**. Here, it's the way he uses LANGUAGE, particularly.
He flexes his vocabulary between a fairly common, colloquial, candid speech ("So nobody has sex in high school cuz their moms are home all the time.") and a highly formalized, practically medieval way of speaking ("Answer me, gift of foresight! You MUST be able to see what cover my destiny holds!"), complete with an illuminated-style font.
This use of language communicates, in a way I've never seen before, COMING OF AGE. The younger brother starts out in a mental land of contrived presentation of self. He conforms to the expectations of his parents - nay, his native culture - and only finds himself once let loose in the wilds of X Island.
Dash Shaw's work is the stuff of academic essays. Of philosophical treatises. Of high-as-a-kite trips. If I was the type to reread books, I am CERTAIN I would gather deeper meaning each time I repeatedly read this book.
As such, and as I said at the beginning of all this, I read Dash Shaw because his works stretch my brain. He makes me think. HARD. He is an innovator - a genius who is NOT neurotypical. I admire his work, even when I struggle through it.
And for that, I must give him five stars.
*Sorry about the loquaciousness - Shaw tickles me verbose.
**He doesn't introduce any color, for instance, until Chapter Two.
joy_davis's review against another edition
slow-paced
0.25
Negative 3 stars.
Do not read.
Only good thing about it was the trauma bonding experience of my book club suffering through it together.
Do not read.
Only good thing about it was the trauma bonding experience of my book club suffering through it together.
robin_dh's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
chelseamartinez's review against another edition
3.0
Zany use of saturated color and brushstroke to tell a story about brothers travelling to a made-up country to teach English to workers launching a historical theme park (more like Busch Gardens than Disneyland, I think?). It's really about their relationship, as far as I can tell... all the other characters seem peripheral. The fact that it all takes place in a made-up country but the childhood references are very specific (Jurassic Park, 90s bands) is kind of odd. I kind of took away just an "Americans behaving badly don't even realize it and think people aren't giving them *enough* respect" theme from the book; dunno if the artwork is deliberately hard to follow for a reason connected to that theme...
ktrusty416's review against another edition
1.0
Yeah... Uhm... Weird. Hated the dated way in which Danny spoke. Sounded weird and pretentious. Maybe that was the point. Being a strange person in a strange land doesn't mean you have to be an asshole.
crowyhead's review against another edition
3.0
I think… I don't really get it. Some of it works really well for me -- the culture shock and alienation and sibling rivalry are explored handily. Overall, though, I think it was just… too weird for me, maybe. I dunno. I couldn't quite get on board.
paulinskiii's review against another edition
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
tiedyedude's review against another edition
4.0
Very strong, well-told story supported by beautiful art.