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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
I liked it, but didn't *love* it. I actually liked the appendix more than the graphic novel - the appendix went into page-by-page detail of the fact and fiction in the book. Good book club choice, though.
Wowwwwwwwwwww!!!
Okay
My mistake was reading it as an ebook - the print is stylized, and SOOOO TINY.
As others have said, the black and white drawings make it very difficult to tell who is who and what is what. On the one hand i don’t like to see graphic violent scenes so the b&w drawings made it easier to get past. But i did not know what was always happening.
But the APPENDIX is where the gold lies! I was enthralled. The amt of research Moore has done is truly spectacular. I don’t think any brochure or book lies unread. And it was sooooo engrossing!! I was glued to his explanations of every page. Of course, i immediately had to go back and read some of the comic pages that stood out to me. As a result it took my almost 3 weeks to complete this monster. I don’t think i will read anything that will compare to this. I look forward to picking it up again sometime - hopefully in a print copy because the appendix print was even SMALLER that the comic, though thankfully not stylized.
Okay
My mistake was reading it as an ebook - the print is stylized, and SOOOO TINY.
As others have said, the black and white drawings make it very difficult to tell who is who and what is what. On the one hand i don’t like to see graphic violent scenes so the b&w drawings made it easier to get past. But i did not know what was always happening.
But the APPENDIX is where the gold lies! I was enthralled. The amt of research Moore has done is truly spectacular. I don’t think any brochure or book lies unread. And it was sooooo engrossing!! I was glued to his explanations of every page. Of course, i immediately had to go back and read some of the comic pages that stood out to me. As a result it took my almost 3 weeks to complete this monster. I don’t think i will read anything that will compare to this. I look forward to picking it up again sometime - hopefully in a print copy because the appendix print was even SMALLER that the comic, though thankfully not stylized.
This, this is something else.
Surpasses the genre, a literary bombshell of descriptive art, detective work, and obscene visuals and writing.
A masterclass in layered storytelling, the new baseline for a 5✨ graphic novel.
My mind is blown.
Surpasses the genre, a literary bombshell of descriptive art, detective work, and obscene visuals and writing.
A masterclass in layered storytelling, the new baseline for a 5✨ graphic novel.
My mind is blown.
Maybe Alan Moore's best? Hard to say, but it's excellent. The ultimate Ripper pastiche, functioning of summary and compilation of every theory, every scrap of evidence from the past century, but also as Moore's opportunity to add to the tradition - Jack the Ripper as reactionary sorcerer, conducting a ritual to destroy socialism and summon the 20th century of war and blood and glass towers and computers. It's cool as hell.
There's a lot of conversation about "True Crime" these days, and I think this book is a great read for anyone thinking through the societal costs and implications of that genre - the industry that emerged alongside those murders in Whitechapel, August 1888 is the parent of every true crime podcast getting millions of downloads today.
There's a lot of conversation about "True Crime" these days, and I think this book is a great read for anyone thinking through the societal costs and implications of that genre - the industry that emerged alongside those murders in Whitechapel, August 1888 is the parent of every true crime podcast getting millions of downloads today.
I am a fan of different Jack the Ripper conspiracy theories. While this theory that the Whitechapel murders were done by Queen Victoria's own physician has been wildly discredited, this book was a wildly entertaining and a well executed graphic novel of that theory. I rather enjoyed it.
I think that Alan Moore is amazing, but I didn't really like this book that much. That's all I have to say.
As much as I like Jack the Ripper I hated this story. It was well done in the aspect of keeping with the times and historical accuracy (ish) BUT I HATED the changing of fonts and the scratchy ness of the writing. You could barely read and the pictures were okay. I just felt like it took me forever to read because I just wanted to finish it, not because I was enjoying myself. Was very disappointed.
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Okay, so is Alan Moore good at what he does? Yes, he is. Is this a monumentally researched and intricately literary graphic novel? Yes. So kudos for that. This is also a work that is stranded on the knife-edge of misogyny by being a bit too in love with the power and horror of a cosmic myth of misogyny. That is, it KNOWS the misogyny it describes is reprehensible, which is almost a critique of it, but it is a bit too mesmerized by the mythic, the cosmic, the powerful, and the horrific of its own story. Is that great literature? Possibly. Does it also sort of fundamentally suck? Yes.
For a few brass tacks: I will never love the artwork, and two key heavyset dark haired male characters look freaking alike when they really should be distinguishable. I hated the first, like, two issues-worth because nothing made sense yet. It wasn't *that* satisfying to see it all come together as it went on that I don't have some leftover annoyance from how long it took to not seem totally inchoate at first.
I'm left not totally certain what to do with a guy who sees the utter horror of a misogynistic culture and individuals clearly enough to articulate it all in harrowing detail, but can't bring himself to care about that enough to make a statement on it.
For a few brass tacks: I will never love the artwork, and two key heavyset dark haired male characters look freaking alike when they really should be distinguishable. I hated the first, like, two issues-worth because nothing made sense yet. It wasn't *that* satisfying to see it all come together as it went on that I don't have some leftover annoyance from how long it took to not seem totally inchoate at first.
I'm left not totally certain what to do with a guy who sees the utter horror of a misogynistic culture and individuals clearly enough to articulate it all in harrowing detail, but can't bring himself to care about that enough to make a statement on it.
Alan Moore has consistently pushed against the graphic novel genre turning comics into art, and the words portion into scripture so that his works can rival and indeed stand with the greatest works of modern literature. His masterpiece is this gargantuan collection of print and picture that cannot be praised too highly. Moore makes his initial subject the Ripper killings of 1888 which expands as the novel progresses to encompass not just the five murders themselves, but all of humanity, and all time. Every chapter is a panting, anxious blur of Masonic conspiracy, royal intrigue, the very lows and the very highs of society from before time until the present day. As haunting and intense as any horror movie it grips the reader by the stomach and pulls mercilessly towards a conclusion that asks more than it discloses, and is all the better for it.