Reviews

2024: A Graphic Novel by Ted Rall

alex_watkins's review against another edition

3.0

I was browsing NYPL's graphic novel shelf (which was a disaster), and found this. Certainly a product of its time (2001), it is a retelling of 1984. The idea is clever and I often enjoy Ted Rall, this book I think lacked the humor of his others. It was more like hitting you over the head with it. This is kind of my problem with all parable dystopia type books. Which always have the opposite of the intended effect on me, like well it's not anything like this! so it's all good. This book reflects a lot of fear, and I think some of these fears were really justified. But it trying to complete his 1984 metaphor or something he comes of as a bit of a curmudgeon about youth culture. Apparently one he thinks has replaced real sentiment with Irony. Also us and our wikipedias! our changable knowledge etc. I think he failed to anticipate the progressive and quite good things that have came out of modern technology things like wikipedia and its spawn like wikileaks. I'm not sure how inspired he was by Wikipedia which was started in 2001 (I went to the wikipedia page for wikipedia, mind fuck), the same year as the book was written. I suspect it though. Anyways many of his warning should sound alarms but the overall book elides the good of the new with the bad without distinguishing.

jmanchester0's review against another edition

2.0

I loved the concept of this book.

But the execution was really lacking. An interesting idea, but I just couldn't get into the story, if you want to call it that. It ended up being a bit tedious.

chadrushing's review

3.0

After reading for a while you can tell where the book is headed even if you could not tell already by the the title. That being said the economy of the writing was well done. Rall's ability to say so much with only a few sentences or frames made for a quick and powerful read. But, ultimately I did not agree with his "we are all doomed" conclusion. Even if he is right.