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germancho's review against another edition
4.0
Lindo, lleno de historia pero tal vez un poco corto en cuanto al elemento humano.
mangosmar's review against another edition
2.0
Loved the comic style, but the story itself felt more like a collection of moments than a novel. I don't feel like I really got to know the characters. I suppose it's difficult to do a biography differently, but still.
meredithmc's review against another edition
3.0
i only knew of kiki from the photographs taken by man ray (the most famous of all being the cover art).
her story reads like a fable or another form of often-told story. poor girl is abandoned by her parents (primarily her mother, since her father leads another life), grows up happily then goes to the big city, where she experiences the cultural changes firsthand and finds herself an integral part of an emerging lifestyle & artistic movement. after a brief life of fame, she ends up alone, poor, and desperate.
a more conservative reader might suggest she deserved what she got, with her free sexuality and willingness, but that's not how i saw her story. men continually used her as a muse but rarely did they see the woman beyond the canvas or photograph; kiki herself was talented and sought to experience more of the world but her love (and even dependence) on these men (and drugs) kept her back from what she could've accomplished on her own.
of course, this is all pulled from this book. i'd like to read something more in-depth about her and the art scene in paris during which she lived.
her story reads like a fable or another form of often-told story. poor girl is abandoned by her parents (primarily her mother, since her father leads another life), grows up happily then goes to the big city, where she experiences the cultural changes firsthand and finds herself an integral part of an emerging lifestyle & artistic movement. after a brief life of fame, she ends up alone, poor, and desperate.
a more conservative reader might suggest she deserved what she got, with her free sexuality and willingness, but that's not how i saw her story. men continually used her as a muse but rarely did they see the woman beyond the canvas or photograph; kiki herself was talented and sought to experience more of the world but her love (and even dependence) on these men (and drugs) kept her back from what she could've accomplished on her own.
of course, this is all pulled from this book. i'd like to read something more in-depth about her and the art scene in paris during which she lived.
tytti's review against another edition
3.0
A biography in the form of a graphic novel about a woman who almost defined the art scene and the night life of Paris and particularly Montparnasse during the 1920's. Of course I had never heard of her before but I had heard of many of the men in her life.
I am not a one who is interested in celebraties of today but when they "become history" I start to get interested, especially if they had a controversial or eventful life. Kiki liked to party and unfortunately that ended her life eventually.
This is only my second graphic novel that I have read and I am still not sure if I like them. I may have preferred a normal biography, maybe it might have felt less shocking in places. (It's not really shocking but it just feels that way when real people are "speaking".) I did find the descriptions of the Paris art scene interesting and also all the people she interacted with, even though I wasn't always sure who they were. I think my favourite part were the short biographies in the end.
A longer review in Finnish: http://lukemattomatlukemattomat.blogspot.com/2016/02/catel-bocquet-kiki-montparnassen.html
I am not a one who is interested in celebraties of today but when they "become history" I start to get interested, especially if they had a controversial or eventful life. Kiki liked to party and unfortunately that ended her life eventually.
This is only my second graphic novel that I have read and I am still not sure if I like them. I may have preferred a normal biography, maybe it might have felt less shocking in places. (It's not really shocking but it just feels that way when real people are "speaking".) I did find the descriptions of the Paris art scene interesting and also all the people she interacted with, even though I wasn't always sure who they were. I think my favourite part were the short biographies in the end.
A longer review in Finnish: http://lukemattomatlukemattomat.blogspot.com/2016/02/catel-bocquet-kiki-montparnassen.html
spacestationtrustfund's review against another edition
3.0
Kiki de Montparnasse, née Alice Prin au tout début du XXe siècle, fut l'une des figures les plus marquantes de la vie artistique parisienne de l'entre-deux guerres, lors des Années Folles. Égérie et amie de très nombreux artistes — Modigliani, Duchamp, Desnos, Picasso, Cocteau, Aragon, bon nombre des surréalistes —, Kiki fut la muse et l'inspiratrice de créateurs devenus depuis des signatures majeures de l'art moderne, comme Foujita et Man Ray. C'est cette existence hors norme, retracée à travers la plupart des épisodes-clés d'un parcours de vie trépidant, que racontent avec passion Catel et José-Louis Bocquet, dans un album ambitieux qui est autant l'évocation d'une époque que le magnifique portrait d'une femme libre. Plus de trois cent planches de création exigeante et généreuse, en hommage à l'art sous toutes ses formes.
Quant à Kiki elle-même, j'ai une photo d'elle sur le mur.
Quant à Kiki elle-même, j'ai une photo d'elle sur le mur.
naimfrewat's review against another edition
4.0
Such a pleasant book particularly because of the illustrations which I found quite smart, yet never overshadowing the text. A word of advice: Be sure to check the annex of the characters first, in case your memory of 1920s Montparnasse needs refreshing...
yaizaps's review against another edition
3.0
Una buena forma de acercarse al París de principios del siglo XX a través de la sorprendente vida de Kiki y de todo su círculo de artistas bohemios.
https://losmundosdelaestanteria.wordpress.com/2017/02/22/kiki-de-montparnasse-retopata-4/
https://losmundosdelaestanteria.wordpress.com/2017/02/22/kiki-de-montparnasse-retopata-4/
ghostofyesterday's review against another edition
4.0
A beautifully illustrated biography of an inspiring, albeit tragic, muse and artist who very much embodied the energy and decadence of the Roaring Twenties à la française. There will never again be a woman quite like Kiki!