Reviews

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel

Only show reviews with written explanations

itacuz's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

I saw the musical, read The Secret to Superhuman Strength, and then read Fun Home, so my third experience with it was its first iteration. I do feel like the others tell this story better, whether due to my bias in format, as is the case with the musical, or in time's ability to create greater context, as in the other comic's case.

That said, I don't think either rob the original of its own quality. The emotion and sense of discovery comes across with every revelation and reflection on the life she thought she knew. The characters are drawn and written with a kindness they don't always deserve. Bechdel clearly loves her mother and father despite all their faults, wrestling with who they are as people separately from what they are as parents.

It's good, but you probably already knew that.

sabrinaliterary's review against another edition

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5.0

Alison Bechdel's delightful comic ran (still runs?) in my college newspaper, so I already loved her creation of characters and her wit. What I did not realize is what a wonderful writer she is, and that talent really shines in this book. The opening scene is absolutely perfect in every regard.

mehsi's review against another edition

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1.0

Mehhhhhh. Wat een teleurstelling zeg. Ik heb me echt door dit boek moeten duwen hopend, steeds hopend, dat het gewoon beter zou worden. Werd dat het? Nee. Alleen maar slechter. Het was chaotisch, de tijd sprong steeds heen en weer en op een gegeven moment wist ik niet meer wat er nou allemaal gebeurde. Het was ook retesaai. De art was zo-zo, niet helemaal een stijl die ik leuk vind, maar nog wel OK. Ik vond alle karakters maar meh.

mainamorand's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

togidemi's review against another edition

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3.0

i'm not a smart person therefore i do not enjoy smart comics

Okay, first of all, a petty remark: this graphic novel isn't really funny. "yeah togi it's about alison's distant dead father, ofc it's not gonna be funny?" yEAH BUT THE BLURB SAID IT WOULD BE. I WAS WAITING UNTIL THE LAST PAGE FOR THE CHUCKLES AND RECEIVED NONE. Now that that's out of the way... yeah it was okay. Like. Yep.

It was clearly a very introspective and heartfelt comic, but it just doesn't do it for me. Lots of text is pretty much a given for autobio graphic novels, but the text and art didn't really jive well enough to justify its existence as a comic. ("Blankets" is the only other autobio graphic novel I've read, and it just WORKS as a comic. it's also one of my favorites so i'm probably just being biased) It's also loaded with borderline pretentious literary references - Camus, Fitzgerald, Proust, Wilde, Joyce, the Odyssey, you know, THOSE fuckers - that are just alienating when you have no idea where the metaphor is going.

hope the musical's better smh

franservello's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

4.0

sad and conflicting. the quote “dad didn’t have much use for small children, but as i got older, he began to sense my potential as an intellectual companion” very much stood out to me. should i be reading that much lesbian literature????