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4.26 AVERAGE
4.26 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It took about three years, but I've finally read the full run of Peanuts. What's next on my bucket list?
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I am so sad to have reached the end. What an amazing body of work Schulz created.
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
On the minus side, the introduction from President Obama is very short and kinda meh. And half the book is reprints of Schulz's first work, Li'l Folks --- basically one-panel comics with kids saying funny things. (The big focus is using language that sounds more adult, e.g. a kid in a sandbox exclaiming "Yes, sir, this is the life for me! Back to the soil!!".) You see some glimpses of Peanuts (a kid called Charlie Brown, cute dogs, kids playing Beethoven), but it's not that moving or funny.
The other half of the book, covering the last year of the Peanuts strip, has a lot of Rerun (to very good effect), the return of Snoopy's brothers Andy and Olaf, and Sally trying on more philosophies. (My favorite is "We'll always have Minneapolis.") And it's quite strange to see Sally writing a letter to Harry Potter. Good stuff throughout, with only a few strips near the end that show any decline.
The other half of the book, covering the last year of the Peanuts strip, has a lot of Rerun (to very good effect), the return of Snoopy's brothers Andy and Olaf, and Sally trying on more philosophies. (My favorite is "We'll always have Minneapolis.") And it's quite strange to see Sally writing a letter to Harry Potter. Good stuff throughout, with only a few strips near the end that show any decline.
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What a mix of emotions I have! Since 2004, I've been reading this series and now I can say I have read every single Peanuts strip ever. During the prior volume I thought I'd get verklempt while reading the last volume, but it never happened because I was still so engaged by the happenings of the ol' gang. The final message from Sparky came as a record scratch, but I already knew it was coming so it didn't catch me as off-guard as I anticipated.
Originally when Rerun showed up, I thought of him as a jump-the-shark move in the "Enter Cousin Oliver" vein. He grew to became Snoopy's friend, an underground comics artist in this volume, and developed more as an interesting character. I'm embarrassed to admit I wrote him off initially.
In addition to referencing underground comics, a couple of other signs of the times popped up in this volume. Mark McGwire, newfangled cars with fancy electronics, Harry Potter, and vegetarianism all get mentions in this final volume. The Harry Potter mention took me out of the strip a bit, as I had forgotten Pottermania was just in its infancy in November 1999 when that strip ran!
Since I was still engaged by the strip, it came as a surprise when I reached February 13, 2000 and read the message I remember seeing in the newspaper. I noticed the date and flipped back several pages to realize that Schulz had already ended the daily strips but continued on with fresh Sunday strips for several weeks.
While it felt a bit jarring it was also nice to enjoy the predecessor to Peanuts, a late-1940s strip called "Li'l Folks" that ran in The St. Paul Pioneer Press. There are clear predecessors to Peanuts characters—and Snoopy actually looks like a beagle! Schulz even has a character referred to as Charlie Brown, and in one panel two girls have the exact conversation about him that Patty and Shermy have about Charlie Brown in the very first Peanuts strip.
The foreword by President Barack Obama? Not his best work, and frankly there have been other authors who seemed to love the strip more genuinely. But hey, they got President Obama, awesome! I love that guy almost as much as I love Snoopy.
Now that I don't need to worry about finding the new volume every six months or so, what will I do with myself? My guess is that I'll start a re-reading project at some point...
Originally when Rerun showed up, I thought of him as a jump-the-shark move in the "Enter Cousin Oliver" vein. He grew to became Snoopy's friend, an underground comics artist in this volume, and developed more as an interesting character. I'm embarrassed to admit I wrote him off initially.
In addition to referencing underground comics, a couple of other signs of the times popped up in this volume. Mark McGwire, newfangled cars with fancy electronics, Harry Potter, and vegetarianism all get mentions in this final volume. The Harry Potter mention took me out of the strip a bit, as I had forgotten Pottermania was just in its infancy in November 1999 when that strip ran!
Since I was still engaged by the strip, it came as a surprise when I reached February 13, 2000 and read the message I remember seeing in the newspaper. I noticed the date and flipped back several pages to realize that Schulz had already ended the daily strips but continued on with fresh Sunday strips for several weeks.
While it felt a bit jarring it was also nice to enjoy the predecessor to Peanuts, a late-1940s strip called "Li'l Folks" that ran in The St. Paul Pioneer Press. There are clear predecessors to Peanuts characters—and Snoopy actually looks like a beagle! Schulz even has a character referred to as Charlie Brown, and in one panel two girls have the exact conversation about him that Patty and Shermy have about Charlie Brown in the very first Peanuts strip.
The foreword by President Barack Obama? Not his best work, and frankly there have been other authors who seemed to love the strip more genuinely. But hey, they got President Obama, awesome! I love that guy almost as much as I love Snoopy.
Now that I don't need to worry about finding the new volume every six months or so, what will I do with myself? My guess is that I'll start a re-reading project at some point...