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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
One of my best reads of 2022. Can't believe it took me this long to read this graphic novel. While the unspoken topics were different in my family, this novel felt like an arrow to the heart. A beautiful and heartbreaking and at times humorous window into a dysfunctional family from the perspective of the lesbian daughter. And damn brave book too. I must read James Joyce's Ulysses now, another read that as been on my list for decades. I now plan to read everything by Alison Bechdel.
what an interesting way to write an autobiography (of sorts). this book felt like both an insult and an homage to her father. relationships are complicated.
So, I loved the overall story and the visuals of the book, but I just don't think anyone but a hard core English major is the right audience for this book. She compared so many key relationships and moments to high-brow classic literature I have never and will never read, ie. The Odyssey and Proust. But I will say I loved sitting down for two hours and reading a book cover to cover that took me into a very different world and lived experience from my one.
emotional
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
I am glad someone found inspiration to turn this into a musical. I thought the musical was much more engaging and emotional.
Much more intense than I was expecting. The humour is there, but occasional and dry (and almost always involving some literary reference). The tone is frank and detached enough that you don't necessarily get sucked into a dark hole of how awful this man made his family life. You just kind of see it happening, again and again, with different elements or observations added in each chapter.
The "culturedness" of the family was a little overwhelming for me at times. What is this family which is highly-dysfunctional but writes long self-searching letters on literature to each other? They're described as distant but seem to have gone on many trips, been around, helped out with homework. Of course, that's the stuff that gets recorded, and the southern US is weird, but still.
Found myself smiling a lot at Bechdel's emotional reactions to things (her coming out, her OCD year, her absurd laughter in the wrong places). Somehow with a couple panels and a bit of text I'm able to nod along, "that's exactly how that works!"
(A reader at Comic Book Club pointed out that the novel itself only /baaaaarely/ passes the Bechdel test, with only a few love scenes between Bechdel and her college girlfriend having conversation between 2 women that is not about a man. XD)
The "culturedness" of the family was a little overwhelming for me at times. What is this family which is highly-dysfunctional but writes long self-searching letters on literature to each other? They're described as distant but seem to have gone on many trips, been around, helped out with homework. Of course, that's the stuff that gets recorded, and the southern US is weird, but still.
Found myself smiling a lot at Bechdel's emotional reactions to things (her coming out, her OCD year, her absurd laughter in the wrong places). Somehow with a couple panels and a bit of text I'm able to nod along, "that's exactly how that works!"
(A reader at Comic Book Club pointed out that the novel itself only /baaaaarely/ passes the Bechdel test, with only a few love scenes between Bechdel and her college girlfriend having conversation between 2 women that is not about a man. XD)
Very interesting read that hits on some deeper issues than just what appears on the surface. While it seems negative at first, the message, in the end, was quite clear.
Full review at: thebroll7.wordpress.com/2019/04/09/book-review-fun-home-a-family-tragicomic/
Full review at: thebroll7.wordpress.com/2019/04/09/book-review-fun-home-a-family-tragicomic/
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
I absolutely love the way this story was written. The way that the author uses moments from the past, fictional classics, and her father’s own passion for interior design as analogies, call backs, references is so good. Every time a chapter would end in a full circle moment where she connects her complicated feelings for a her father to some innocuous element that she introduced I would be left in awe. It seems that everything in her life connected, at some points a little too perfectly.
She also presents a complicated situation that she conveys to leave the reader feeling just as conflicted as she does. Through her vulnerability, I saw myself at times. Even when I didn’t I could empathize with her internal struggles and wonderment at her own feelings.
Although, when someone decides to be vulnerable you tend to see more than their soft white underbelly. Bechdel is blunt when displaying things of a sexual nature. Regardless of how you feel about sex and nudity, there are things that should be handled a bit more delicately such as children being exposed to sex. Throughout the story she is careless with showing this whether it’s talking about her dad’s victims or showing how her and her brothers were exposed to nude depictions by adults. Her casualty seems to be a result of her childhood. These scenes are a bit uncomfortable at the best of times and horrifying at the worst. It could be a subtle commentary on the environment she was raised in or she could be completely unaware of how it shows in the way she approaches and displays sex.
I actually found myself a bit annoyed with the scenes of her and her girlfriend which was surprised by. Some people have complained that her writing seems pretentious and I definitely see that when she talks about and shows her exploration into lesbianism. Self reflection can turn narcissistic since you’re just looking and thinking about yourself. Bechdel seems to fall into that with this entire book in general.
I still love the way she tells this story and this story in general was interesting and is something you just don’t hear about. I would recommend anyone read and contemplate the questions this book arises.
She also presents a complicated situation that she conveys to leave the reader feeling just as conflicted as she does. Through her vulnerability, I saw myself at times. Even when I didn’t I could empathize with her internal struggles and wonderment at her own feelings.
Although, when someone decides to be vulnerable you tend to see more than their soft white underbelly. Bechdel is blunt when displaying things of a sexual nature. Regardless of how you feel about sex and nudity, there are things that should be handled a bit more delicately such as children being exposed to sex. Throughout the story she is careless with showing this whether it’s talking about her dad’s victims or showing how her and her brothers were exposed to nude depictions by adults. Her casualty seems to be a result of her childhood. These scenes are a bit uncomfortable at the best of times and horrifying at the worst. It could be a subtle commentary on the environment she was raised in or she could be completely unaware of how it shows in the way she approaches and displays sex.
I actually found myself a bit annoyed with the scenes of her and her girlfriend which was surprised by. Some people have complained that her writing seems pretentious and I definitely see that when she talks about and shows her exploration into lesbianism. Self reflection can turn narcissistic since you’re just looking and thinking about yourself. Bechdel seems to fall into that with this entire book in general.
I still love the way she tells this story and this story in general was interesting and is something you just don’t hear about. I would recommend anyone read and contemplate the questions this book arises.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Pedophilia
This is such a rich, wonderful memoir - in story, in themes, in the storytelling. Beautifully written and drawn, funny and heartrending in turn.
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced