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chillcox15's review
3.0
Imagine Wanting Only This is a graphic memoir that doesn't say that much and shows it in a way that reflects that. Perhaps I just didn't hit the same wavelengths as Radke does, but I found the memories presented to be formless and sometimes lacking in detail, which could be credited to the smooth and flat illustration style. That being said, I don't have anything against Imagine Wanting Only This either, and could understand why it is connecting with certain audiences.
geck_h8's review
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
A very cute, informative, relatable graphic novel. I finished it quickly and I'm glad I picked it up. It's a big focus on family, finding self, changing direction, just life. Very down to earth
jwinchell's review
4.0
A total genre bender, this graphic memoir is cataloged 152.4 (attitude (psychology)). This makes sense because it is as much about grief as it is grappling with a congenital heart problem. So much about personal loss, it is about societal loss and how we come to terms with the ends of buildings and spaces and places we once inhabited. I loved the art. And even if Radtke has it good in terms of being able to up and travel wherever and whenever she wanted, her story here is about struggling for authenticity against looming, existential odds.
ondrobondro's review against another edition
2.0
veered between brilliant and infuriating. there's plenty of great reflections here on illness and impermanence, and some beautiful descriptions of historical events - but it veers a lot between that and self indulgence. while that's inescapably part of the memoir form for sure, Radtke takes it to new levels of selfishness. by far the most egregious was her stealing photos from an abandoned cathedral (that unbeknownst to her was a memorial for a Seth Thomas, local photographer), discovering that it was a memorial, neglecting to return the photos, and then taking them across Europe and losing them. For those photographs to then play such a tangential role in the book, and for her to handwave away having not returned them - it's not even self indulgent, it's grotesquely self absorbed.
Thomas's mother has written about the book here and having read that it has tarnished my opinion of the book considerably. It's disappointing because there's a lot to like here visually and textually, but Radtke's self absorption is deeply felt.
Thomas's mother has written about the book here and having read that it has tarnished my opinion of the book considerably. It's disappointing because there's a lot to like here visually and textually, but Radtke's self absorption is deeply felt.
audaciaray's review
3.0
The bleak nature of this book is what attracted me, and it definitely delivered in that department. But the author’s travels and explorations, her stated desire “I want to consume everything while there is still more to be had” really had me thinking about colonialism and the white American compulsion to consume and possess. It’s an unintentional message of the project, but a strong through line.
lkthomas07's review
4.0
Randomly picked this up at the library from the new graphic novel shelf. I hold a small place in my heart for ruins - usually more literally, but also figuratively, so I felt I'd probably enjoy it. Wow. It was just so much more than I expected. It went deeper than I thought it would, but didn't give you any answers. Just led you by the path where you could make your own conclusions or just continue to ask more questions. What an interesting piece!
balletbookworm's review
4.0
My last finished book of 2017 (which makes 201 books)!
This is a moving and thought provoking graphic memoir about a young woman’s meditation on permanence and memory. What determines how a place is remembered as it decays into picturesque ruins or a rotted blight? What are we, as impermanent residents of this earth, supposed to leave behind? Radtke’s journey in this book through ruins both physical and metaphorical is riveting.
This is a moving and thought provoking graphic memoir about a young woman’s meditation on permanence and memory. What determines how a place is remembered as it decays into picturesque ruins or a rotted blight? What are we, as impermanent residents of this earth, supposed to leave behind? Radtke’s journey in this book through ruins both physical and metaphorical is riveting.