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lucyblack's review against another edition
5.0
Days of the Bagnold Summer captures moments from a summer holidays at the home of Sue (52) and Daniel (15) Bagnold. This holiday is not very momentous. These beautifully drawn panels don't spotlight adventure or glamour, more, just, sitting around, malls, bike rides and telly. Sue is sad, Daniel is angst ridden and by the end of this relatively short book I was in love with them both. I want to be the dashing 50 something year old man who sweeps Sue off her feet and teaches Daniel to play the guitar. I want to cook them meals and make them sit around the table and talk to each other. I want to take them on holiday and see them lose their inhibitions while running through a waterfall. I want to read anything and everything put out by Joff Winterson.
pehall's review against another edition
3.0
Dour but well observed. Some funny touches and an ending that is slight up note.
ross_maclean's review
5.0
A perfect series of vignettes moving at a glacial pace towards the tiniest of victories. But really affecting.
emkoshka's review
3.0
A really poignant and moving exploration of a mother-son relationship which I read in one sitting, wondering whether or not to lend it to my mum. Captures beautifully the pathos and tension of adolescence and middle age. I wish it had been longer!
bashbashbashbash's review
4.0
If I had a comics nemesis, it would be the Slice of Life subgenre. But maybe I wouldn’t hate Slice of Life so much if there were more comics like “Days of the Bagnold Summer,” a bittersweet recounting of the uneventful days of shy librarian Sue and her reticent teenage son, Daniel. Not much happens to the Bagnolds, but a narrative gently emerges from six-panel accounts of the scuffles and minor successes of their daily lives. The end has a satisfying emotional payoff, too.
The characters are keenly and lovingly observed, their expression subtly rendered – Joff Winterhart draws faces as carefully and with as much nuance as Raymond Briggs and Terry Moore. And so, despite their humorous trappings characters take on some depth. Daniel’s friend Ky – a hatted young geek with a brash personality and limited self-awareness (but more than a little tenderness to him) – is a familiar figure found in any nerdy friend group. Sue’s librarian colleague is drawn with similar care, and though I’ve never worked with anyone exactly like her, I wouldn’t be surprised if I found her doppelganger employed in a branch library in some British suburb.
Another writer might push the story too far into bathos or banality, but Winterhart has a steady hand, and his quiet book succeeds.
The characters are keenly and lovingly observed, their expression subtly rendered – Joff Winterhart draws faces as carefully and with as much nuance as Raymond Briggs and Terry Moore. And so, despite their humorous trappings characters take on some depth. Daniel’s friend Ky – a hatted young geek with a brash personality and limited self-awareness (but more than a little tenderness to him) – is a familiar figure found in any nerdy friend group. Sue’s librarian colleague is drawn with similar care, and though I’ve never worked with anyone exactly like her, I wouldn’t be surprised if I found her doppelganger employed in a branch library in some British suburb.
Another writer might push the story too far into bathos or banality, but Winterhart has a steady hand, and his quiet book succeeds.
meepelous's review
4.0
A very well done slice of life comic. Aka on a surface level nothing ever happens, but on a deeper more subtle level EVERYTHING is happening. Honestly, while it would have been fairly easy for this short book to fall into at least some level of pretentiousness, I do feel like Winterhart manages to keep his pair of subjects pretty humble while not disparaging them either.
Now I'm trying to remember how many other mother-son comics I have ever read. I can't really recall anything, but I'm pretty tired right now so my brain might be failing me. That said, I do feel like I can pretty safely say that it is a bit rare. It really felt nice reading a comic about two people who, as the back cover attests, who could not be more forgettable. Winterhart treats them with such a deep sense of respect as normal living human beings. In a world full of inequality, competition and pride it was a super refreshing read.
A big theme that really pervades the entire series, but in a pretty subtle way, is breaking down assumptions. Neither of the characters ever really states their assumptions, so maybe it was all in my sleep adled head, but the way the characters are presented it felt like the characters, along we the readers. could easily jump to assumptions. Again, the way that Winterhart refutes these assumptions is pretty subtle, but neither of these characters are ever an easy answer to who a single mother or who a metal obsessed teenager could be.
The final thing that really struck me, as usual apparently with slice of life comics, was the ending. Much like with the manga Sunny, despite the fact that the story never really felt like it was going much of anywhere, the ending was extremely subtle and satisfying. Unlike Sunny, this book did have a time limitation (Summer Vacation) but the ending was a lot more than that.
Far from final, the ending of Days of the Bagnold Summer is what may prove to be a temporary realization, but Winterhart manages to deliver something that felt profoundly sweet while still avoiding anything dramatic or saceren. The changes in the characters are small, but they are important changes. Perhaps they are even changes that we as readers could take with us. Advice for cross-generational relations that doesn't beat one over the head.
Now I'm trying to remember how many other mother-son comics I have ever read. I can't really recall anything, but I'm pretty tired right now so my brain might be failing me. That said, I do feel like I can pretty safely say that it is a bit rare. It really felt nice reading a comic about two people who, as the back cover attests, who could not be more forgettable. Winterhart treats them with such a deep sense of respect as normal living human beings. In a world full of inequality, competition and pride it was a super refreshing read.
A big theme that really pervades the entire series, but in a pretty subtle way, is breaking down assumptions. Neither of the characters ever really states their assumptions, so maybe it was all in my sleep adled head, but the way the characters are presented it felt like the characters, along we the readers. could easily jump to assumptions. Again, the way that Winterhart refutes these assumptions is pretty subtle, but neither of these characters are ever an easy answer to who a single mother or who a metal obsessed teenager could be.
The final thing that really struck me, as usual apparently with slice of life comics, was the ending. Much like with the manga Sunny, despite the fact that the story never really felt like it was going much of anywhere, the ending was extremely subtle and satisfying. Unlike Sunny, this book did have a time limitation (Summer Vacation) but the ending was a lot more than that.
Far from final, the ending of Days of the Bagnold Summer is what may prove to be a temporary realization, but Winterhart manages to deliver something that felt profoundly sweet while still avoiding anything dramatic or saceren. The changes in the characters are small, but they are important changes. Perhaps they are even changes that we as readers could take with us. Advice for cross-generational relations that doesn't beat one over the head.
thebobsphere's review
5.0
A graphic novel about a teenage boy and his relationship with his mother.
Quietly depressing but addictive nonetheless.
guiltyfeat's review
4.0
There's some really good stuff in here. I'm not averse to reading a 60-page graphic novel that takes less than 45 minutes from cover to cover, but I do object to Jonathan Cape's pricing of these kinds of books. 9.99 is just too much. It doesn't provide value for money and it creates a bad user experience to borrow a term from business.
hollowspine's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this slice of summer vacation at the Bagnold household. Daniel is a 15 year old metalhead who lives with his mother, Sue, who works at the library. They've just found out that Daniel's father has just become a new dad again and subsequently Daniel's summer visit has been cancelled.
Stuck unexpectedly together at home the two attempt to make the best of it. Daniel's frequently moody, Sue's not sure what to do about this, she notes but doesn't comment on the spot he's worn in the rug in front of his bedroom mirror, nor does she push when Daniel continues to rebuff her attempts to buy him dress shoes for the wedding they need to attend.
Daniel is embarrassed by his mother's attempts for the most part and spends his time fantasizing about creating a metal band called Skull Slayer, briefly entertaining other ideas when his mother points out the name makes little sense. His confident and outgoing friend Ky only makes things more difficult for Daniel.
It was a melancholy graphic, but also sweet. I feel similarly to Sue, people seem to believe that the teenage years are something to be looked back on fondly, but like Sue, I only remember how awkward and difficult life was most of the time, as Daniel experiences. A very nostalgic story.
One note: Unlike most reviewers I realize that Sue is not a librarian. She is a "library assistant." I just irks me that because a woman wears thick glasses and sweaters that must mean she is a librarian. Librarians are more than glasses and sweaters people!
Stuck unexpectedly together at home the two attempt to make the best of it. Daniel's frequently moody, Sue's not sure what to do about this, she notes but doesn't comment on the spot he's worn in the rug in front of his bedroom mirror, nor does she push when Daniel continues to rebuff her attempts to buy him dress shoes for the wedding they need to attend.
Daniel is embarrassed by his mother's attempts for the most part and spends his time fantasizing about creating a metal band called Skull Slayer, briefly entertaining other ideas when his mother points out the name makes little sense. His confident and outgoing friend Ky only makes things more difficult for Daniel.
It was a melancholy graphic, but also sweet. I feel similarly to Sue, people seem to believe that the teenage years are something to be looked back on fondly, but like Sue, I only remember how awkward and difficult life was most of the time, as Daniel experiences. A very nostalgic story.
One note: Unlike most reviewers I realize that Sue is not a librarian. She is a "library assistant." I just irks me that because a woman wears thick glasses and sweaters that must mean she is a librarian. Librarians are more than glasses and sweaters people!
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