Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Classism
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
FIRST READ REVIEW
Harsh and brutal and not for the fainthearted.
SECOND READ REVIEW
Any book that bears a second read has to have something going for it. Any book that actually improves on that second read is something else altogether.
It’s been about 10 years since I first read From Hell and my review at the time was that it was “harsh and brutal and not for the faint hearted”. In many respects I don’t think that that review is changed by a second reading. It is truly brutal in places, and the harshness and at time vagueness of the monochrome artwork adds layers to that brutality. What has changed however is the way I feel about the book and what I now take away from it.
The Whitechapel murders and the identity of “Jack the Ripper” is in some ways a peculiarly British fixation. Like our fascination with Henry VIII it’s a fixation that never seems to sate itself, the more we read and know (or in this case don’t know) the more fascinated by it we become and the more we want to know.
Moore’s story, as he himself will admit, is not the definitive story, it’s not what really happened and is no more or less true than any other version of the story. It contains much that is known, much that is supposed and much that is a flight of his own imagination. It is after all fiction and is not meant to be taken as anything else. This is something he reflects upon in the epilogue, Dance of the Gull Catchers. Moore is aware of the ground on which he treads and of the history of those who have tried to tell the story of Jack the Ripper. Its this in some senses for me is the best part of the book as it in some small way brings us back to our reality and remind us that we will never truly know who Jack was and why he did what he did. The dance also reminds us that we are merely viewers of a spectacle that has gone on for many years and will continue on long after we’re gone.
This second reading has changed my mind about this book, it is truly his best work and deserves more than the 4 stars I first gave it. This is a 5 star, disturbing, twisted and horrific masterpiece.
Harsh and brutal and not for the fainthearted.
SECOND READ REVIEW
Any book that bears a second read has to have something going for it. Any book that actually improves on that second read is something else altogether.
It’s been about 10 years since I first read From Hell and my review at the time was that it was “harsh and brutal and not for the faint hearted”. In many respects I don’t think that that review is changed by a second reading. It is truly brutal in places, and the harshness and at time vagueness of the monochrome artwork adds layers to that brutality. What has changed however is the way I feel about the book and what I now take away from it.
The Whitechapel murders and the identity of “Jack the Ripper” is in some ways a peculiarly British fixation. Like our fascination with Henry VIII it’s a fixation that never seems to sate itself, the more we read and know (or in this case don’t know) the more fascinated by it we become and the more we want to know.
Moore’s story, as he himself will admit, is not the definitive story, it’s not what really happened and is no more or less true than any other version of the story. It contains much that is known, much that is supposed and much that is a flight of his own imagination. It is after all fiction and is not meant to be taken as anything else. This is something he reflects upon in the epilogue, Dance of the Gull Catchers. Moore is aware of the ground on which he treads and of the history of those who have tried to tell the story of Jack the Ripper. Its this in some senses for me is the best part of the book as it in some small way brings us back to our reality and remind us that we will never truly know who Jack was and why he did what he did. The dance also reminds us that we are merely viewers of a spectacle that has gone on for many years and will continue on long after we’re gone.
This second reading has changed my mind about this book, it is truly his best work and deserves more than the 4 stars I first gave it. This is a 5 star, disturbing, twisted and horrific masterpiece.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A horrifying treatise on sensationalism, misogyny and femicide, and way tha the whims of power men influence every aspect of society.
Even when I was in my more morbid phase as a teenager, I was never enthralled with Jack the Ripper, and as I grew, I just thought it was sad and weird that they never learned who did it. Of course, understanding that these were sex workers, women deemed to the lowest of the low, it's not surprising
This piece of historical fiction presents theories of a bloodthirsty doctor with a mind for ancient rituals, a secret royal baby and the crowd's desperation to clean up its scandal, even at the expense of its citizens, and scapegoats sacrificed for the "Good of england"...
Even when I was in my more morbid phase as a teenager, I was never enthralled with Jack the Ripper, and as I grew, I just thought it was sad and weird that they never learned who did it. Of course, understanding that these were sex workers, women deemed to the lowest of the low, it's not surprising
This piece of historical fiction presents theories of a bloodthirsty doctor with a mind for ancient rituals, a secret royal baby and the crowd's desperation to clean up its scandal, even at the expense of its citizens, and scapegoats sacrificed for the "Good of england"...
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
To call Alan Moore’s From Hell a book about Jack the Ripper is doing it a disservice; not because it isn’t a book about Jack the Ripper (in fact its an exceptionally well researched one), but because that just doesn’t capture what makes it so special. Wonderfully illustrated in scratchy, and where appropriate, manic lines, From Hell creates a world in which the Ripper is not only a mysterious fiend but a sort of evil lynch pin ushering in a world of sensationalized violence and popular madness. At times an uncomfortable read, its also intensely interesting and well written, one of my favorite experiences with comics so far.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol